Rest Won’t Save You From Burnout

How gifted and neurocomplex minds burn out under the weight of self-expectation, even in seasons of rest.

Some forms of burnout arrive quietly. They don’t come from twelve-hour workdays or impossible deadlines. They come when the calendar is light, the inbox is manageable, and yet you still feel as though you have run a marathon you do not remember signing up for. WTF?

There is a particular kind of burnout that does not make sense on paper.

You look back at your calendar and it is not overflowing. You did not endure a week of relentless deadlines or a punishing travel schedule. There were afternoons when nothing was scheduled. You slept in. You even turned down extra commitments.

And yet, your brain feels like it has been wrung out like a sponge.

This is the kind of burnout that unsettles people because it does not match the dominant story. Most people think burnout is always the result of doing too much. But for many gifted, AuDHD, and neurocomplex people, there is another truth.