How to Recover From Burnout: A 2026 Guide (video) by Sarah Oelschig

Episode Type	Expert Insight Interview
Guest	Sarah Oelschig, ICF-Certified Coach & Author, Sarah Oelschig Coaching
Guest Website	sarahoelschigcoaching.com
Listen	View on Sales POP! Podcast Page

Key Takeaways

Sarah Oelschig defines burnout as more than workplace stress: it follows you home and shows up as exhaustion, irritability, and quiet disengagement.
To recover, Sarah Oelschig says you must subtract commitments from your life, not add more self-care tasks, then reconnect with what matters to you.
Sarah Oelschig recommends starting recovery with tiny steps, like two minutes of phone-free reflection, because big changes trigger relapse for burned-out people.
For leaders, Sarah Oelschig urges building psychological safety and watching for disengagement instead of celebrating the always-on employee.

Episode Overview

How do you recover from burnout when the usual advice only adds to your plate? Sarah Oelschig, ICF-certified coach and author of Unburned, argues that recovery starts by subtracting, not adding.

In this Sales POP! Expert Insight interview, Sarah Oelschig explains why burnout hides in plain sight, how to reconnect with yourself, and what leaders can do to build healthier teams.

Key Insights

Why doesn’t burnout stay at work?

Sarah Oelschig rejects the idea that burnout lives only at work. You carry it home, where it strains your relationships and your time off. The World Health Organization calls burnout an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress, but Sarah Oelschig says that definition misses how a Saturday text or a stray work thought can trigger your reaction to everyone around you.

How do you recognize burnout in yourself?

Sarah Oelschig explains that burnout is often internal, so coworkers may insist you are doing great while you run on empty. Watch for exhaustion that no amount of sleep or caffeine fixes, irritability that makes you snap at the people closest to you, feeling everything or nothing at all, and pulling back from work you once volunteered for.

Why does adding more self-care make burnout worse?

Sarah Oelschig warns that piling on new habits backfires, especially for high achievers who treat recovery as another to-do list. Her thesis is the opposite: you have to subtract from your life to recover, then reconnect with what you need and what matters to you. Recovery means removing obligations and asking honest questions like, when did I last feel joy?

How can managers spot and prevent burnout on their teams?

Sarah Oelschig tells managers to watch for disengagement, quiet requests for help, and a rise in last-minute sick days. She urges leaders to build psychological safety by being transparent, naming the hard stretch, and showing there is an end in sight. When people trust you, they come to you before they burn out or quit.

Why is praising your most overworked employee a mistake?

Sarah Oelschig cautions that holding up the always-on employee as a role model quietly resets everyone’s expectations. Praising the person who stayed on at 10 p.m. tells the whole team that late nights are the standard. At a past employer, Sarah Oelschig saw praise reserved for people who went above and beyond drive real attrition over time.

Quotes

“You actually have to subtract from your life in order to recover.” — Sarah Oelschig, ICF-Certified Coach, Sarah Oelschig Coaching

“It’s putting down the phone and, in some cases, having to be very, very aggressive and set boundaries around it.” — Sarah Oelschig, ICF-Certified Coach, Sarah Oelschig Coaching

“I do think of burnout as a series of bad habits that have been formed over time.” — Sarah Oelschig, ICF-Certified Coach, Sarah Oelschig Coaching

“You have to reconnect with yourself and what you need and what is important to you.” — Sarah Oelschig, ICF-Certified Coach, Sarah Oelschig Coaching

Burnout Recovery: Key Statistics from Sarah Oelschig Coaching

Statistic	Detail	Source
Nearly half of workers report burnout	Nearly half of workers, and over 60% of parents, report feeling burned out, a figure the host cited to frame the discussion.	Cited by host, Sales POP! interview, 2026
WHO classifies burnout as occupational	The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress. Sarah Oelschig argues it also follows people home.	World Health Organization, discussed in interview
Burnout is a person and environment mismatch	Researcher Christina Maslach describes burnout as a mismatch between a person and their environment, a framing Sarah Oelschig applies to recovery.	Christina Maslach, cited by Sarah Oelschig, 2026
Reflection starts at two to five minutes	Sarah Oelschig recommends beginning with two to five minutes of phone-free reflection rather than long journaling sessions.	Sarah Oelschig, Sales POP! interview, 2026
New habits start at one 20-minute session	Sarah Oelschig advises starting exercise or any new habit with one 20-minute session per week, then building up, to avoid relapse.	Sarah Oelschig, Sales POP! interview, 2026
Recovery is nonlinear	Sarah Oelschig describes recovery as “two steps forward, one back,” not a single breakthrough moment.	Sarah Oelschig, Sales POP! interview, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What is burnout, according to the World Health Organization?

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress. On Sales POP!, coach Sarah Oelschig adds that burnout does not stay at work. You carry it home, where it affects your relationships and your time off.

How do you recover from burnout?

Sarah Oelschig, author of Unburned, says recovery starts by subtracting commitments rather than adding self-care tasks. Reconnect with what matters, put down your phone, and rebuild with small habits, starting with as little as two minutes of reflection a day.

What are the signs of burnout at work?

According to coach Sarah Oelschig, common signs include constant exhaustion despite sleep, irritability with the people closest to you, feeling everything or nothing, and disengaging from work you once volunteered for. Because burnout is internal, coworkers often miss it.

How can managers prevent employee burnout?

Sarah Oelschig advises managers to watch for disengagement and rising sick days, build psychological safety through transparency, and stop celebrating the always-on employee. Praising overwork, she warns, resets team expectations and can drive attrition over time.