Burnout Isn’t a Badge of Honor

In this episode of Burnout & Breakthroughs, we dive into the hidden costs of nonprofit burnout — from skipped vacations to guilt around setting boundaries. I share real stories and practical strategies to help you protect your capacity and reclaim your humanity while at work.

Key Takeaways

• Why boundaries feel hard in service-based work

• How guilt shows up when we start saying “no”

• Real-world boundary-setting examples you can try this week

Want to go deeper? Here are some great books and articles I mentioned in today’s episode:

• Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout: A brief history and how to prevent it. Harvard Business Review.

• Baird, K. (2021). Nonprofit workers are stressed, burned out, and leaving. Stanford Social Innovation Review.

• Schwartz, H. L., & Pines, A. M. (2000). Preventing burnout: A handbook of organizational and personal strategies.

• Sawaoka, T., & Fiske, S. T. (2023). The cost of compassion: Emotional labor and burnout among nonprofit workers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

• National Council of Nonprofits. (2022). The nonprofit workforce shortage crisis.

• Gorski, P. C., & Chen, C. (2015). “Frayed all over”: The causes and consequences of burnout among equity-focused social justice education activists. Urban Education.

• van der Kolk, B. (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.