Why Calm Feels Uncomfortable After Burnout
Leaving the job doesn’t end the burnout.You finally did it. You left the job that drained you. Everyone congratulated you. You expected to feel lighter, maybe even free. But instead, you’re sitting in your new role feeling… uneasy. The pace is slower. The people seem kind. The work isn’t crushing you. But somehow, your shoulders are still tense, your sleep is restless, and your mind keeps scanning for what could go wrong. That’s your nervous system doing what it was trained to do. When you live in survival mode for too long, your body starts to associate stress with safety. Urgency becomes normal. Chaos becomes familiar. So when things finally calm down, your system doesn’t know how to trust it. It’s like your brain is saying, “Where’s the next fire? Why does it feel so quiet?” This is one of the hardest parts of burnout recovery... learning to believe that calm isn’t a trap. It’s also the work most people skip. We jump from one job to another and call it healing, but our systems are still wired for crisis. That’s why the aftershocks show up: the lingering fatigue, the self-doubt, the overfunctioning in environments that don’t demand it. Here’s what I tell my clients: real recovery starts when you teach your body that steady is safe. That’s not spa days or weeklong vacations. It’s repetition. Predictable meals, regular rest, short walks, and small commitments you actually keep. Every time you follow through, your nervous system gets a little more proof that it’s okay to exhale. When calm becomes familiar again, your energy starts to rebuild. Your brain stops scanning for danger. Your decisions get clearer. That’s when you finally start to feel like yourself—not the overworked version of you who was surviving, but the grounded version who’s actually living. If this sounds like you, you'll want to listen to this week's podcast episode. I break down why your body doesn't know you're safe yet, and what you can do to rebuild trust in calm (along with some other tips for your burnout recovery).
You didn’t just need a new job. You needed a new baseline. And it’s possible to build it one steady day at a time. Take care, Tara |
