Sleep is a big part of burnout recovery. How can we get you sleeping again? Deep, restful sleep that doesn’t include crazy vivid dreams. Because if you’re having these vivid dreams that you remember the next morning, that indicates that you never hit the deep sleep, that delta wave sleep, that you need. You’re still running on adrenaline. So we want you to start having restful sleep again.
Millions of Americans are returning back to work after being home during the pandemic. While this has been exciting for many, some are feeling burned out by their work. What do you do if you are feeling burned out by your work? How do you reverse it? How can you “get your mojo back”? What can employers do to help their staff reverse burnout?
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ben Connolly, ND.
Dr. Ben Connolly, ND is a successful entrepreneur, naturopathic doctor, and Dad to two kids who is the CEO of Cornerstone Naturopathic — Canada’s leading center for natural healthcare. He is also the Co-Founder of Burnout Blueprint, an online course to help busy people recover from and prevent burnout. Together with his team, he’s treated thousands of cases of burnout over the past decade.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in a rural community with a family of seven. I was the middle child and I was always trying to keep up with my big brother and sister. It was a fun upbringing. Because we lived in the country, we didn’t really have a lot of organized sports or activities available to us and we couldn’t really afford those that existed, but that didn’t stop my siblings and me from keeping busy and active. We always found something to do on our own, to keep us out of — or in — trouble and I always had someone to play with. I loved that we always had people around us and now as a parent myself, I see how hard my parents worked to raise all of us. And I credit my parents for how they were able to raise and feed a family of seven with only one income, as my mom stayed home to take care of all of us and our home.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
I was always interested in medicine, but when I was a teenager I was ice skating with my brother and I ended up hitting a rut in the ice and tumbling. Someone skated over my hand and cut it up quite badly. Not too phased by it, I wrapped it up myself and walked home, I even stopped to rent a movie along the way. When my father saw it, he insisted we were going straight to the hospital. Turns out, it was worse than I had initially thought and I had broken bones in my hand. A plastic surgeon not only operated on my hand but walked me through the entire procedure while it was happening. It was at that moment I knew I really wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
I completed my Bachelor of Science and work placements and I volunteered at the hospital. The more I worked with doctors and spent time in the hospital, I began to realize that this career path wasn’t quite as glamorous as I had once thought — and it seemed to have a high potential for burnout. It was eye-opening, and I also realized that while there was an opportunity for learning, there wasn’t necessarily an opportunity for growth. I now know that those are two separate things. I realized I didn’t want the schedule, the on-calls, the routine… I wanted something that challenged me in a different way.
I still had no idea what my other options were until a family friend asked if I had thought about Naturopathic Medicine. I’ll admit, at first, I thought it was taboo. But then I went down the research hole and discovered there was actually quite a bit of science and research behind the profession. And it really jived with me. So I went to school for naturopathic medicine and I love it to this day.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
Absolutely! Her name is Dorothy Spence, Founder of Imaginal Ventures and she’s our business coach, our mentor, our business guru. She is the one who really challenged me by asking me — WHY. What are your goals? What are your dreams? She worked with me to grow as an individual, and as I grew the business grew too. It evolved. And I’m very thankful for her as I would not be where I am without her in my life.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
One of the moments that I still remember is the time that, when attempting to check all the “right” boxes about eating healthy, I inadvertently made a patient’s pain worse. Thankfully, it was a simple diet change that triggered it (so it was a simple diet change to fix it) but it continues to be a reminder that the real-world applications of the research are sometimes very different than the papers. A green smoothie, turns out, is not such a great thing for arthritis.
This is one of the hardest parts of medicine… learning to piece together what we know with trying to figure out what we don’t yet know and help people create lives they’re truly in love with living along the way. It’s a challenge that I love, but that experience reminds me to truly triple-check my work.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Asking yourself “what if” is the perfect reason to just do it.” You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to start to grow and truly be happy because that’s really where the magic happens.
When we ask ourselves “what if” we are giving ourselves time to make up excuses about why we shouldn’t, or alternatively why we should, do something. When I come across a “what if” in my day-to-day, I’ve somewhat programmed myself to respond with “why not.” It’s far more fun in the long run.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
My partner and I recently launched Burnout Blueprint, an online course to help busy people recover and prevent burnout. We have a combined clinical experience of over 14 years and over that time, we have designed and implemented tools in our clinical practice that actively support our patients’ recovery from burnout. These tools have been tried and tested on thousands of patients, and Burnout Blueprint was born from that work. This course is years of research, testing, papers, and practice condensed into 11 modules specifically designed to support burnout in a sustainable way.
I’m also very passionate about living my life as an impact entrepreneur. I like to think about this, and my work, like a ripple from throwing a pebble in the water. The work I do might be the pebble hitting the water (helping my patients understand burnout, sleep better, fuel their bodies appropriately, and recover from burnout symptoms) but the ripples are far greater than that. When people become healthy they change the world — and that impact is exactly what my work as an entrepreneur is all about.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
First is a thirst for knowledge. When I graduated and started my clinical practice, I quickly realized that I didn’t know how to be a highly effective leader AND a doctor at the same time. So I needed to learn, and that joy of continuous learning and growth is amazing. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. And this became very apparent when treating burnout. Burnout can look very different from one patient to another because everyone’s lives are different. Once you treat so many cases of burnout, you start to learn and recognize patterns. And that learning process not only better prepares you to treat future patients who are experiencing or recovering from burnout, but those who want to prevent burnout too.
The second is to keep your nose to the stone. Don’t shy away from hard work. You need to be willing to put in the time and hard work to make your dreams a reality. When you start your business, you are literally in the trenches digging a hole to build the foundation that your business will grow upon. This work is critical, and I’m so glad we had Dorothy around to reinforce this work. You absolutely must have the drive, desire, and willingness to succeed, otherwise, you won’t be able to reap the rewards of your hard work.
Lastly, there’s something to be said about being present and knowing where you are in the process, and being OK with that knowledge. It’s not always easy to do, but focusing on being in your moment instead of comparing yourself to where others are is a skill. You really must appreciate where you are at each point in your journey and ensure that you have goals for where you’re headed. Everyone’s journey is different. Knowing that helps you stay grounded and not rush things.
For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority about the topic of burnout?
As a Naturopathic Doctor, I’ve been working with executives, busy parents, and high achievers since 2011. I manage their pain, I support their sleep and I help boost their energy. And over the last ten years, after seeing about 3000 patients a year, I found that although my patients were complaining about low energy and sleep, they were also inflamed, reacting to foods differently, having headaches, and experiencing bloating. And that’s just to name a few commonalities. I quickly discovered that they weren’t experiencing just one issue, but it was a whole syndrome of symptoms and that syndrome is called burnout.
It wasn’t until I experienced burnout firsthand, in the aftermath of my divorce, that I began to search for a different way to approach it with my patients. The stressors of day-to-day life were not going anywhere. They would keep coming and creating “breaks” in people’s day wasn’t enough to help them get over these stressors. There was a huge gap in the conversation and burnout needed to be taken seriously.
Today, burnout is something that I treat in nearly every single patient, no matter what they come into my office with initially. It affects people of all ages, backgrounds, and situations. From corporate executives to stay-at-home parents to teenagers. You start to see it all and you begin to recognize the patterns. When I realized I couldn’t help everyone in my office, I knew there had to be a bigger solution and that’s when my partner and I created Burnout Blueprint to help more people recover and prevent burnout.
Ok, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about beating burnout. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define a “Burnout”? Can you explain?
The true definition of burnout is the occupational definition and that is the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI measures three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. So when you’re burnt out, you’re experiencing depressive thoughts, feelings of apathy, and a decrease in productivity. But this must be occupationally based. Where people sometimes get confused is that they associate occupationally based with burnout only being tied to working a nine-to-five job, when in reality, occupation doesn’t have to be a nine-to-five. It can be parenting, caregiving, being a student, volunteering, and more.
If you’re experiencing depressive thoughts, feelings of apathy, and a decrease in productivity, regardless of whether you go to an office and bring home a salary or if you’re a stay-at-home parent, you can be experiencing burnout. That is the true medical definition.
But here’s the thing. Medical definition aside, burnout is not just an individual issue. Many companies and corporations treat it like it’s the burnt-out employee’s job to fix it but it’s not. While it might be an individual experiencing symptoms, it’s an organizational issue too. There’s a business conversation that needs to happen in addition to that employee seeing their healthcare provider about the symptoms they’re experiencing.
How would you define or describe the opposite of burnout?
The opposite of burnout is thriving — not just getting through the day. The opposite of burnout is the true definition of living. You enjoy the challenge, you embrace the challenge, you face it head-on and at the end, you have a sense of accomplishment that overflows into all aspects of your life. The opposite of burnout is that you’re a happy person at home, at work, and in your hobbies. You’re successful both professionally and personally. In short, the opposite of burnout is not just being NOT tired. You’re working towards achieving your purpose because the true treatment of burnout is finding purpose.
This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Some skeptics may argue that burnout is a minor annoyance and we should just “soldier on’’ and “grin and bear it.” Can you please share a few reasons why burnout can have long-term impacts on our individual health, as well as the health and productivity of our society?
The long-term impact of burnout should not be taken lightly. Long-term implications are not limited to anxiety and depression, and these symptoms will overflow into both your work and home life. You will experience a decrease in productivity and employers will inevitably see an increase in employee turnover. There is a reason why, in 2019, the World Economic Forum estimated that burnout’s global price tag is around 322 billion dollars. And that was prior to a global pandemic.
I can’t stress enough that burnout is not an individual issue, it’s an organizational issue. If an organization’s handling of burnt-out employees is to encourage them to soldier on and to live with chronic workplace stress, then that organization should brace for the long-term impact of unproductive employees and high turnover rates as employees become disengaged, lose interest in their work, and question their purpose.
From your experience, perspective, or research, what are the main causes of burnout?
In the case of burnout, you can’t pinpoint one single cause because, in reality, the problem is that people are trying to do it all. People are measuring their own life by someone else’s yardstick. They’re trying to do it all at work and at home because they see these things on social media and online. This becomes especially true when looking at burnout in women. We’re not our ancestors. Many women work full-time jobs and then they are also expected to work another 3–5 hours of unpaid labor a day when they get home from work. Unpaid labor can be things like cooking dinner for the family, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, walking the dog, or getting the kids bathed and into bed. And this unpaid labor combined with a full-time job is burnout just waiting to happen for both women and men. The 40-hour workweek was initially designed so that someone else would do the childcare, housework, etc. but that’s not the case anymore in 2021 when you have two working parents. Parents today are doing it all and there are cultural shifts and discussions that need to happen to change this.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our discussion. What can an individual do if they are feeling burned out by work? How does one reverse it? How can you “get your mojo back?” Can you please share your “5 Things You Should Do If You Are Experiencing Work Burnout?”. (Please share a story or an example for each.)
First, I want you to stop and take a breath. Take an inventory of how many balls are in the air in your life. Things like your job, your family, your relationships, further education, your car, the kid’s playgroup, your ultimate frisbee team. Look at all of the balls and see where your time is being pulled. Then, recognize how many of those balls are glass balls and how many are plastic. Your glass balls are the ones you cannot drop, your plastic balls are things that will “bounce” if dropped. Once you have identified these, back up and focus on your glass balls, removing as many plastic balls as possible so that you have time to recharge and take care of yourself. When you can get all of this down on paper, you’ll quickly realize those plastic balls are a huge amount of energy in your life.
Sleep is a big part of burnout recovery. How can we get you sleeping again? Deep, restful sleep that doesn’t include crazy vivid dreams. Because if you’re having these vivid dreams that you remember the next morning, that indicates that you never hit the deep sleep, that delta wave sleep, that you need. You’re still running on adrenaline. So we want you to start having restful sleep again.
How can you get your mojo back? Do things that feed your soul. And maybe that’s not sitting on the board or volunteering at the food bank right now. Even though you know it’s a good thing to do if it’s not feeding your soul right now, it’s OK to take a step back. Feeding your soul can look like reading a book or going for a walk in the woods with a friend. Sometimes trying to do all of the activities is making your burnout worse, even if those activities are supposed to be healthy for you.
Next, it’s all about consistency. It matters more that you do one thing consistently than five things for a week that you can’t maintain. A lot of people think that in order to recover from burnout, they need to be healthier so they get a gym membership, buy healthy groceries, try to do a cleanse, start training for a 10K. This isn’t sustainable and it’s only going to make your burnout worse. Start with one thing consistently. Maybe that’s committing to 20 minutes of movement a day or adding some greens to your diet. Set SMART goals that you can not only measure but achieve.
Lastly, change your environment. Rates of stress leave have significantly increased as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. People are returning to work, already burnt out, and going out on stress leave again, quitting or looking for new jobs. We need to be having conversations with our employers and our team about the support we need when returning to the office. Be clear about what you need and what you will and won’t do. For example, it’s unrealistic to be expected to answer calls or emails in the middle of the night. If that is something that is expected of you at work, be very clear on why this won’t work for you and your well-being. And if you’re experiencing work burnout, take inventory of all of the projects that you’re working on and ask for help. We’re all too afraid to ask for help because we think it’s a sign of weakness. We are only humans and we are better together as a team. Ask for help.
What can concerned friends, colleagues, and life partners do to help someone they care about reverse burnout?
We can all start by being aware that the more we learn, the more we are able to help our friends and family. You might think your friend needs a night out on the town with loud music and crowds, but that’s only going to get their adrenaline pumping which is bad for burnout. Instead, take them for a nice long hike in the woods with a picnic. Do something calming. Truly check in on them, ask them how they’re doing, ask them if you can take any balls out of the air for them. The other thing you should know about burnout is that it makes it very hard for people to make decisions. Your fear response increases when you’re burnt out, so burnout is the perfect combo of overreacting to situations and not being able to make decisions as a result. Changing the conversation with a friend from “Let me know what you need.” to “I’m going to your favorite restaurant and I’m going to bring you back that dish you love for you.” It eliminates decision-making. If you’re at their house and there’s a basket of laundry, just start folding it for them. These are examples of the type of support those in your life experiencing burnout need right now.
What can employers do to help their staff reverse burnout?
Ultimately, an employer must ask themselves this question: “Do I have a supportive culture where our employees can feel safe and listened to?” A wellness strategy is NOT a burnout prevention strategy. Offering an enticing health plan, massages, and in-office yoga is not a burnout prevention strategy. Do you know what is? Actually sitting down and checking in with each employee on a regular basis. Ensuring that they have what they need. Ensuring that they don’t feel overwhelmed. Offering to take projects off their plate or adjust timelines and due dates. Employers should be putting their staff first before the outcome. A super cool break room and a foosball table are not going to prevent burnout, but frequent and intentional communication with your employees can.
These ideas are wonderful, but sadly they are not yet commonplace. What strategies would you suggest to raise awareness about the importance of supporting the mental wellness of employees?
Owners, managers, supervisors need to approach their role in the company as though they are a coach for every single one of their employees. Their goal is to help each and every single employee become successful and achieve their own dreams. And maybe those dreams mean that they stay and grow with the company or maybe that means they grow so much that they outgrow the company. That’s OK too. But at the end of the day, that should be the ultimate goal for any employer. Help your employees be their best selves, help them to find purpose.
What are a few of the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they try to reverse burnout in themselves or others? What can they do to avoid those mistakes?
This goes right back to trying to do too much, too soon. Don’t start a health regimen, a cleanse, or train for a marathon. Setting lofty goals for yourself just adds more things to your plate. Prioritization is key here but not in the way you might think. People think they need to prioritize better but you actually need someone to help you prioritize. Someone needs to help you determine the priority. You can ask for help with this at work and at home.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
As an impact entrepreneur, it’s my dream to see a balance of unpaid labor at home. That would solve so many issues for both women and men. But unpaid labor isn’t only an issue at home, it’s an issue in the workplace too. I want to see more people and companies become comfortable recognizing, discussing, and addressing unpaid labor. Just look at how many women left the workforce during the pandemic. We can’t ignore the fact that the past year has set women back and we’re not going to recover from this without having the uncomfortable conversations that will lead to positive improvements and change.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
I’ve always wanted to have dinner with Tina Fey. She’s so smart with her business, her career, and how she’s grown. But I especially love how she has been able to balance her career and her family. I’d love to meet her.
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