I used to think boundaries were for people who wore linen and drank herbal tea. You know, the ones who replied to emails on time, said no without breaking into a full body sweat, and somehow left work at 5 p.m. without dragging the weight of the entire NHS behind them.

Turns out, boundaries aren’t a luxury. They’re a survival skill - especially in healthcare and social care.

Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth.

You didn’t burn out because you weren’t resilient enough.
You didn’t burn out because you didn’t meditate enough.

You burned out because you were working in a system that rewards self-abandonment and calls it “professionalism.”

Here’s a hard truth no one tells you when you're spiralling into burnout: recovery is deeply unsexy.

There are no confetti cannons. No dramatic breakthroughs. No euphoric walk into the sunset where everything finally makes sense.

Mostly, it’s boiled eggs. Saying no to things that technically sound fun. Crying in the bath and then cleaning the bath because your brain couldn’t handle the chaos. It’s unlearning the belief that your worth is tied to your output. It’s small, boring choices that add up slowly.

You can’t bubble bath your way out of systemic overwhelm. And you definitely can’t gratitude-journal your way through emotional depletion if your nervous system is fried and your brain feels like it’s buffering.

Burnout is not just tiredness with better branding.

It’s not a bad day.