You are not Broken. You are wired differently.
Take what helps, skip what doesn’t, and remember you don’t have to do this alone.
Save it to your computer. Print it. Write on it. It’s yours.
A worksheet from ND Hive. Pairs with the Burnout Phase Quiz.
What this is
You took the quiz. You know what phase you are in. This is what to actually do about it.
The recovery work is different at each phase. Doing the wrong phase’s work will not help and may make it worse. Find your phase below. Do the work there.
If you have not taken the quiz yet, take it here first.
Phase 1: Strain
You are tired but functioning. Standard recovery applies. The goal here is to keep this from compounding.
This Week
Stop:
- One commitment that is optional and draining
- One ongoing low-priority obligation you have been carrying out of momentum
Start:
- 8 hours of sleep, every night this week. Not as a goal. As a rule.
- One meal a day that is real food (not snacks, not “a bar”)
- One body doubling session (Hive Session, friend, focusmate)
Tell:
- One person you are starting to feel depleted. No fix needed. Just witnessed.
Watch for:
- Sleep stops working
- Rest stops feeling restorative
- The exhaustion stops responding to weekend recovery
If any of those show up, you have moved to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Depletion
You are past tired. The system is running on reserves. Weekend recovery is not enough anymore. You need weeks, not days.
This Week
Stop:
- All non-essential commitments for the next two weeks
- Saying yes to anything new
- Pretending you are fine when you are not
Start:
- Take real time off if at all possible. A full week. Disconnected.
- Reduce decisions. Eat the same breakfast. Wear the same clothes. Cut variety until your nervous system can handle it again.
- Sensory regulation: lower lights, quieter spaces, fewer simultaneous inputs.
Tell:
- Your partner or closest person, in clear words: “I am in burnout. I need help.”
- Your manager: “I need to reduce my load. Here is what I will keep doing. Here is what I am stepping back from for the next month.”
Watch for:
- Output drops but you start hiding it
- Masking gets heavier, not lighter
- You feel disconnected from yourself
- Rest still does not register
If those show up, you have moved to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Functional Burnout
You are masking the depletion. Output is dropping but you are hiding it. This is the most dangerous phase because you can sustain it longer than you should.
This Week
Stop:
- The masking. Some of it. Pick one situation a week where the mask comes off.
- Pretending at home. The household is where unmasking has to happen first.
- Adding anything to your plate. The answer to any new ask is no.
Start:
- Honest disclosure to at least one person at work AND one at home
- Block recovery time on your calendar and treat it as non-negotiable
- See a doctor. Rule out medical contributors (thyroid, hormones, B12, ferritin, vitamin D)
- Reduce your active project load by 50 percent. Not 10 percent. 50.
Tell:
- Your therapist (find one if you do not have one) that you are in functional burnout
- Your doctor about all of your symptoms, including the ones you have been hiding
- The person closest to you what you actually need from them
Watch for:
- You cannot do basic tasks
- Things you used to love feel inaccessible
- You have lost access to who you are
- Rest does nothing
- The shame is constant and loud
If those show up, you have moved to Phase 4.
Phase 4: Collapse
This is full burnout. The “real you” is offline. Rest alone will not fix this. This is medical territory.
This Week
Stop:
- Trying to handle this alone. You cannot.
- Pushing through. Pushing is what got you here.
- Pretending. The pretending is the load.
Start:
- Get medical support. Doctor. Therapist. Coach if accessible. Build the team.
- Take real leave from work if at all possible. FMLA. Disability. Sick leave. Use what is available.
- Reduce demands to zero where you can. Not “less.” Zero.
- Daily co-regulation with at least one regulated human. Body doubling. Hive Sessions. Family. Someone.
Tell:
- Your doctor everything
- Your therapist everything
- Your closest person: “I need help. I cannot do this alone.”
Watch for:
- Thoughts that you are a burden or that others would be better off without you
- Inability to do basic self-care for more than a few days
- Total disconnection from yourself
- Hopelessness that does not lift
If those show up, this is acute. Reach out today.
Crisis: 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, US). Available 24/7. Call or text.
For All Phases
Lower the sensory load. Quieter, dimmer, simpler environments make every other intervention work better.
Borrowed Activation is regulation, not productivity. Body doubling during burnout is medicine. Not a productivity tool.
Trust the slow. Recovery is not a vertical line. Bad days are not regression. Good days are not recovery. The arc is uneven.
The version of you that produced the burnout is not the version that comes back. The recovery is meeting a different self, the one underneath the compensation pattern. That is the work.
Notes Section
Use this space to track what is working, what is not, and what you are noticing.
This week I am stopping:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
This week I am starting:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
This week I am telling:
_______________________________________________
What I am noticing:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Reminder
You are not failing. You are not lazy. You are not weak.
You are running on a deficit nobody trained you to recognize. The recovery is real. It just takes longer than you think.
You will come back.
Be witnessed in your recovery. Try a Hive Session free for 7 days →
Read the full Authority page on ADHD Burnout →
Read the full Authority page on AUDHD Burnout in Women →
A worksheet from ND Hive. Print this page and write on it. Recovery does not require a digital tool.