Combating Burnout

So many burnt out overachievers come to therapy wishing to “get focused” or “improve motivation” as their primary goals for investing this time and money into themselves. What I wish that they knew was that simply reducing their obligations and just spending more time and money on themselves is the solution! Dr. Devon Price notes this directly in their book, Laziness Does Not Exist, “Research has repeatedly shown that a person on the verge of burnout will have trouble staying focused and productive. No amount of pressure and stress can magically help a person overcome that lack of focus and motivation. The solution is to cut back on expectations for a while.” Due to this, a lot of therapy dives into the emotional reasons why we aren’t giving ourselves more time and space to relax, because the need to constantly be focused and motivated IS the problem.

“Research has repeatedly shown that a person on the verge of burnout will have trouble staying focused and productive. No amount of pressure and stress can magically help a person overcome that lack of focus and motivation. The solution is to cut back on expectations for a while.”

~ Laziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price