Expert article: recognizing burnout before collapse
Expert author: Prof. Christina Maslach
Source: Maslach C, Leiter MP. Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry (2016). DOI: 10.1002/wps.20311.
What science says
Burnout is not a personal weakness. It is a chronic stress response to sustained job mismatch. The Maslach model identifies three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism/depersonalization, and reduced professional efficacy.
The six mismatch zones
Workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. The more these zones drift out of alignment, the higher burnout risk.
7-day prevention protocol
Day 1: map draining vs. energizing tasks.
Day 2-3: schedule two 10-minute recovery breaks daily.
Day 4: renegotiate one concrete workload boundary.
Day 5-7: apply a daily cognitive shutdown ritual.
UX micro-copy
"Your system is not failing. It is signaling sustained overload. We adjust the system, not your value."
Stopping before depletion is a high-performance skill.
