Burnout Signs & Solutions in Modern Workplaces – Claire Plumbly
Burnout isn’t just about dramatic crashes or sudden breakdowns – far more often, it creeps in slowly, going undetected until leaders and high performers find themselves exhausted, cynical, and detached. It’s an uncomfortable reality, particularly in workplaces where relentless pace and hyper-productivity can masquerade as success.
I spoke with Dr Claire Plumbly, psychologist and founder of Plum Psychology, who specialises in helping professionals recover from burnout. We challenge assumptions around burnout – as Claire says, it isn’t simply a workload issue, and it’s certainly not a badge of honour. Burnout can exist on a continuum: you can be hitting every marker for burnout and still function, still deliver. That’s often missed by leaders and managers, especially when high output is mistaken for wellbeing.
The conversation moves beyond the familiar territory of “resilience” and “stress management”, and digs into the deep-seated organisational factors that keep burnout hidden or, worse, normalised. We explore how team culture, boundaries, and everyday interactions can either perpetuate burnout or be used to genuinely create thriving, healthy teams.
I’m all about provoking leaders to think differently. It isn’t enough to simply identify stress signs; the real impact comes from regular, genuinely caring one-to-ones, creating true psychological safety, and holding space for rest and reflection – rather than cramming more into every vacant minute.
Key takeaways are practical: model healthy boundaries, celebrate the power of pausing, and rethink what performance really means. Your self-worth and value cannot simply be measured by what’s ticked off a to-do list each day. Sustainable high performance comes from the rhythm and rituals of work, not the heroics of overwork.
Claire’s book and resources offer insight for leaders who want to support teams to feel connected, valued, and safe. Burnout flourishes in silence – the antidote is care, conversation, and culture. The show notes have the links you’ll need.
Let’s be clear: work should enable people to thrive, not merely survive.
More about Claire:
Dr Claire Plumbly is a Clinical Psychologist, author of Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You, and founder of Plum Psychology – a team of psychologists offering trauma-informed burnout recovery both in-person and online. Through one-to-one work, intensive-therapy, and workshops, she helps busy professionals shift out of survival mode and into sustainable success.
Links to contact Claire:
LinkedIn: Dr Claire Plumbly
Facebook: @drclaireplumbly
Instagram: @drclaireplumbly
TikTok: @drclaireplumbly
Website: www.plum-psychology.com
Resources & References
Insight to Action: Burnout Intervention – Downloadable Resource
Super Humans Burnout Too (itstimeforchange.co.uk)
A Conversation About Tackling Burnout (itstimeforchange.co.uk)
The 5 step method to switch off after work
Claire’s playlist of other podcasts, discussing issues that inter-relate with burnout like grief, ADHD, extra stresses of running your own business, peri-menopause etc: spotify.com/playlist
Contact details for Lisa LLoyd:
LinkedIn: lisapsychology
Website: itstimeforchange.co.uk
Sign up to be kept in the loop: itstimeforchange.co.uk/jointheclub
Contact me: itstimeforchange.co.uk/contact
Email me for a friendly chat: lisa@itstimeforchange.co.uk
