Recovering from Burnout: A Six-Week Plan

Recovering from burnout isn't rest and it isn't a vacation. It's a sequence of steps where the body comes back first, then boundaries, then meaning. The order matters: trying to start with a search for meaning when you're sleeping five hours a night usually leads nowhere.

The six-week plan below isn't a rigid program or a promise that in six weeks you'll be as good as new. It's a guide: it shows the order in which your strength returns and why you can't skip stages.

Everyone's pace is different. Some people go through six weeks in six; others need three months. If you're stuck at some stage, that's not a failure — it's information: it means the load is still too heavy, or you need help.