What to Do When You’re Burning Out: A Practical Guide for NZ Business Leaders

If you’re feeling knackered right now, you’re not alone.

Burnout is rising across New Zealand and it’s increasingly showing up in leaders, teams, and SME owners just when capacity matters most. According to the 2025 TELUS Health Barometer, 63 % of New Zealand employees report feeling somewhat or extremely burnt out, and persistent stress and workload pressure are cited as major contributors. HCAMag

This isn’t just a “holiday season feeling.” It’s a sustained pattern, and for leaders juggling decisions, people, and performance every day, it’s a real operational issue - not just a wellbeing problem.

Knackered vs Burned Out: Why the Difference Matters

Knackered is short-term exhaustion.

You’re stretched. You’ve had a big week or a high-stress period. Sleep has been patchy. But after a proper break, you bounce back. Motivation returns. You still care. Your performance resets.

Burnout is different.
It’s chronic and it doesn’t resolve with a long weekend or a short holiday. Burnout often shows up as:

Emotional exhaustion and irritability
Cynicism or detachment from work you usually care about
A constant drained feeling that snaps back quickly after rest

If that sounds familiar, you’re not failing. You’re responding to sustained pressure - something many NZ business leaders have been carrying for years, not months.

Why Burnout Is a Serious Leadership Risk

When leaders burn out, the ripple effect is immediate. We see it across SMEs, tech firms, and owner-led businesses:

Decision quality drops
Emotional regulation disappears
Strategic thinking narrows
Teams sense uncertainty, fast

Burnout quietly erodes trust, clarity, and momentum. Left unchecked, it becomes a business risk, not just a wellbeing issue.

Early Burnout Signs Leaders Shouldn’t Ignore

Burnout rarely arrives suddenly. It creeps in. Common warning signs we see with senior leaders include:

Emotional depletion
Feeling flat, numb, or disconnected from the care you usually bring.
Cognitive fog
Simple decisions feel heavier. Thinking slows or feels cluttered.
Detachment
Pulling back from people, clients, or work you’d normally engage with.
Reduced capacity
Tasks that were once manageable now feel overwhelming.

If you notice the fog, the detachment, or the thought “I just don’t care like I used to” that’s the moment to intervene. Not when you’re already at breaking point.

If You’re Already Burned Out: Focus on Stabilising First

If you’re in it right now, the goal isn’t transformation. The goal is getting yourself out of the danger zone.

Practical steps that help immediately:

Lower the bar (temporarily).
For now, done is better than perfect.
Reset your nervous system.
Step outside. Take three slow breaths. Go for a five-minute walk. You’re creating space, not solving everything.
Delegate one thing.
Just one. Momentum matters.
Identify two things that can wait until the new year and say so.
Clear communication reduces pressure more than silent endurance.

At this point of the year, major systemic change can feel unrealistic. That’s okay. Stabilisation comes first.

Shifting Out of Burnout (What Actually Works Long Term)

Once you’ve stabilised, recovery requires more than pushing through.

1. Prioritise sleep and real rest

Burnout doesn’t negotiate. If you don’t rest, your body eventually makes the decision for you. Good sleep hygiene, firm boundaries, and consistent routines genuinely matter.

2. Use stress-reduction practices (yes, really)

Mindfulness isn’t a trend, it’s evidence-based.

That might look like:

Box breathing
Gentle movement
A daily gratitude practice
A silent five-minute walk (no phone)

There’s no perfect method. The only requirement is consistency.

3. Fix the system, not just yourself

Burnout rarely shifts through self-care alone.

Often, burnout persists because the structure around you hasn’t changed:

Workload
Boundaries
Expectations
Decision load
Who you rely on

Cut what’s unnecessary. Reclaim control where you can. Draw hard lines around hours, capacity, and support. Recovery sticks when the system changes, not just your intentions.

4. Accept that recovery isn’t a quick fix

Severe burnout can take months to recover from properly. The turning point comes when you treat recovery as ongoing maintenance:

Sleep
Boundaries
Energy management
Environmental change

Not a one-off reset.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

When you’re burned out, the very actions that help you recover feel harder to take.

That’s exactly why support matters. Talk to someone you trust - a mentor, coach, GP, or fellow leader. Often, naming what’s happening is the first step toward making the changes you actually need.

How Sprout Can Help

At Sprout, we work with NZ business leaders who are carrying too much for too long. Through 1:1 or group leadership coaching, organisational design, and practical reset work, we help leaders:

Reduce decision overload
Rebuild sustainable leadership rhythms
Fix the systems that drive burnout, not just manage the symptoms

If this resonates, and you want support that’s grounded, practical, and built for real businesses, let’s talk.