I've just come back from a birthday weekend in the North York Moors, tucked away in a shepherd's hut with someone I love, walking, being outside and doing very little that could be described as productive.
And I loved it.
Since burning out, I've started paying much more attention to moments like these.
The things that give my energy back, rather than constantly take from it.
Before burnout, I had become very good at doing what needed to be done.
Work. Responsibilities. Deadlines. Keeping everything moving.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped asking myself a much simpler question:
What actually brings me joy?
Burnout forced me to slow down.
And when I did, I started reconnecting with the things I had quietly pushed aside.
- Nature.
- Plants.
- Creativity.
- Walking.
- Making things with my hands.
- Meditation.
- Journalling.
- Learning.
The things that made me feel more like myself.
The more I followed those small sparks of interest, the more I realised that joy was giving me information.
It was showing me what gave me energy.
And that has changed the way I think about workplace wellbeing too.
We talk a lot about what drains people
Stress. Pressure. Workload. Burnout. And rightly so.
CIPD research found that 23% of UK employees regularly feel exhausted at work, while 21% feel under excessive pressure.
But perhaps we also need to ask the opposite question:
What gives people energy? What helps someone feel interested, connected and engaged? What creates space for creativity? Where are the moments of enjoyment?
Because people can still be turning up, answering emails and getting the work done while feeling completely disconnected underneath it all.
I know, because I did.
Joy isn't frivolous
I think we sometimes treat enjoyment as something separate from "serious" work.
But creativity, curiosity, connection and enjoyment all influence how we experience our working lives.
Gallup's latest State of the Global Workplace research found that just 12% of employees in Europe are engaged at work.
That makes me wonder whether workplace wellbeing needs to be about more than helping people cope.
Maybe it should also help people reconnect. Pause. Create. Talk. Do something different. Remember that they are human beings rather than just employees.
Burnout taught me to pay much closer attention to what takes my energy. But perhaps the more important lesson has been learning to notice what gives it back.
Maybe workplace wellbeing isn't only about reducing stress
Maybe it's also about helping people reconnect with the parts of themselves that make them feel energised, creative and engaged.
That's something burnout taught me personally, and it's something I now think about a lot in the work I do.
Not just: What is draining people?
But: What gives them something back? What helps them pause? What helps them connect? What helps them feel more like themselves?
Because people can be functioning, productive and present — and still feel completely disconnected underneath it all.
So perhaps one of the most useful questions we can ask in workplace wellbeing is:
What helps people feel alive?