17 Dec 2025 · 2 min
Brian Johnson argues burnout comes from insufficient recovery, not overwork. He recommends micro breaks every 60-90 minutes, a daily shutdown routine, 7-9 hours of sleep, one day off weekly, and two to four weeks off yearly.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Continuing our theme of sharpening our saw and resting before we get tired, let's Figure out How to Avoid burnout Tal Ben Shahar wrote a great book on how to quit being a perfectionist. He tells us that the root cause of fatigue, anxiety, depression and burnout in the corporate world is not hard work. The problem is insufficient recovery. Think about that for a moment. The problem isn't that we work too hard per se. It's that we don't recover enough. Now that's a really powerful distinction, which of course begs the question, are you recovering enough? TAAL recommends we think about recovery on three micro plus mid plus macro. Micro level recoveries include things like taking a 15 minute break every 60 to 90 minutes. Mid level recoveries include things like making sure you you have a shutdown complete that helps you get seven to nine hours of sleep every night and that you take at least a day off every week. Macro level breaks include taking two to four weeks off every year. So let's do a quick inventory. How are we doing micro mid macro? Personally, I'm pretty good at the micro and mid level breaks and I'm pretty terrible at the macro level.
Needs work.
How about you? Where are you rocking it? Celebrate that. And where can you optimize just a little more? Get on that. Remember, it's not that we work too hard, it's that we don't recover enough. Here's to having fun, going hard, and an equal amount of fun recovering deeply.
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