Stress, burnout, and the road to resilience
Published:
June 16, 2026
We live in a world where we are constantly connected. Phones pinging, laptop screens causing headaches, and an expectation to respond to whatever or whoever needs our attention in that moment.
Exacerbated by the Covid-19 lockdown where working from home became the new normal, there are now blurred lines and limited boundaries in terms of appropriate response times. It’s easy to stay up late working away to ‘make it easier’ on yourself, but that determination often results in exhaustion, time away from whānau, friends, and hobbies that you actually enjoy.
Workplace burnout is more common than you think. A Massey University study found that one in two Kiwis reported experiencing severe burnout. It could be any one of your colleagues, friends, whānau, or even yourself.
What is stress, and how does it lead to burnout?
To understand burnout, it helps to first understand stress. Stress is our internal response to external events. It is what our body and mind experience as we adapt to a continually changing environment. It comes from all areas of life, not just work, and it can affect the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our life.
It’s not always negative. Stress can be caused by positive experiences like falling in love, having a baby, getting a new job or taking an overseas trip. In these situations, stress can motivate us into action and bring a sense of excitement into our lives.
What are the different kinds of stress?
- Routine stress – the daily life events that cause stress from things like getting the kids off to school, travelling to work, paying bills, caring for elderly relatives.
- Acute stress – short-term stress from a challenging or new situation, like a tight work deadline or doing a bungy jump. The stress drops away when the event is over.
- Chronic stress – stress that lasts more than a few weeks or months, which people can become used to or find hard to break out of.
- Sudden negative stress – caused by an unexpected event like a relationship break-up, job loss, sudden illness, or car accident.
It is human nature to feel overwhelmed and stressed at work. Deadlines are tight, facing new challenges, and pressure from all sides. Normally, a break like a long weekend or a holiday can help you recharge and take on the next week with a fresh mindset.
But sometimes, that stress doesn’t go away even after you’ve had a rest. When stress becomes chronic and goes unmanaged, particularly in the workplace, it can lead to something more serious: burnout.
What is burnout?
The World Health Organization describes burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.”
Work stress and life stress can overlap, each exacerbating the other. Stresses we don’t attend to can get bigger over time and become the new normal, which means we may not be in the best space when other life events occur. Sometimes we may feel ourselves reaching our ‘Line of Vulnerability’ the point where stress has built up so much that we can no longer cope.
Signs and symptoms
Experiencing burnout might feel like you have no energy, a negative mindset, are emotionally distanced from your job, and feel like you aren’t getting things done even when you are completing tasks.
Common signs and symptoms include:
- difficulty concentrating
- feeling disconnected and isolated
- always feeling emotionally tired
- needing a lot of time off, wanting to avoid going to work
- feeling less productive at work
- feeling dissatisfied with your job
- troubled by headaches, gut problems, or trouble sleeping.
What can you do?
You might feel like you experience the signs and symptoms of burnout. Or maybe you have noticed the signs in a colleague, whānau, or friends.
How we respond is determined by many factors. These include how well we use coping strategies, our physical health, and the support we have from the people around us.
To manage stress, we need a healthy diet, quality sleep, regular exercise, and stress management techniques. If any of these are missing, our body and mind can become overwhelmed, showing up in different ways depending on the person.
Start by identifying the cause:
- Where am I?
- What am I doing?
- Who am I with?
- What is within my control?
- Can I make any immediate changes?
Then implement strategies to reduce the stress. These could include:
- practicing mindfulness
- journaling
- meditation or prayer
- nature walks
- art, crafts, gardening, or playing an instrument
- prioritise healthy eating and exercise
- make time for self-care
- spend time with whānau, friends and people who lift you up
- review task lists to reduce your workload, at home and at work.
Implementing too many strategies at once can feel overwhelming, so take small steps. Sometimes making small changes will make a difference.
Stress, Resilience and Wellbeing
Building resilience can help with managing stress and supporting your wellbeing across all aspects of your life.
At Blueprint for Learning, our Stress, Resilience and Wellbeing workshop can help you understand your experiences and give you strategies that will work.
Our workshop gives you the tools to reduce high levels of stress, build resilience, and better manage your mental health and wellbeing, as well as supporting others when they need it.
It’s about combining the skills you already have with new knowledge and resources that will make a big difference. The more resilient you are, the better you’ll be able to cope with life’s challenges.
If you or your organisation is interested, we invite you to learn more about our workshop.
