Burnout is Biological: Surviving High-Pressure Roles

Burnout is biological, not a lack of willpower.

Middle management is arguably the most physiologically expensive role in the corporate world. You are caught in “The Squeeze.” You absorb stress from your Directors above you, and you manage the emotions of the team below you.

You spend your day code-switching: being tough on strategy calls, then empathetic in 1:1s. By 5:00 PM, you haven’t just worked a full day; you have run a mental marathon.

If you find yourself lying in bed at night, exhausted but unable to sleep, scrolling through emails you don’t need to read, you aren’t just “stressed.” You are stuck in an unfinished biological cycle.

The Science: The Unfinished Stress Cycle

We often confuse “stressors” (the emails, the deadlines, the difficult boss) with “stress” (the chemical reaction in your body).

You might finish the project (remove the stressor), but your body is still flooded with cortisol (the stress).

In the wild, if a threat (like a lion) chases you, you run. If you survive, you shake, take deep breaths, and return to the tribe to celebrate. You physically “complete the cycle.” Your brain receives a somatic signal that the danger has passed.

In the office, the threat is a passive-aggressive Slack message. You can’t run. You sit still, smile, and reply, “Will do.”

Because you didn’t physically discharge the energy, your nervous system keeps the “Danger” switch flipped on. This destroys your sleep architecture. You might be unconscious for 7 hours, but you aren’t resting—you are idling in high gear, waiting for the lion to come back

The Hidden Cost: The Biology of Code-Switching

Why is the manager role specifically so draining? It comes down to Neural Cost.

Every time you switch contexts, your brain has to dump the data from the previous task and load the data for the new one.

• 9:00 AM: You are a “Subordinate” listening to your VP (High Alertness).
• 10:00 AM: You are a “Boss” coaching a junior employee (High Empathy).
• 11:00 AM: You are an “Analyst” reviewing a budget (High Logic).

This constant “Code-Switching” consumes massive amounts of glucose and norepinephrine. By the end of the day, your decision-making battery is flat. This is why you might struggle to choose what to eat for dinner, you literally do not have the biological fuel left to make one more choice.

The Protocol: Closing the Loop

To survive the squeeze of management, you must manually complete the stress cycle before you try to sleep.

1. The “Transition” Walk You cannot go straight from a Slack message to the dinner table. You need a buffer.

• The Move: A 20-minute walk immediately after work (or a “fake commute” walk if you work from home).
• The Biology: Rhythmic movement signals to the brain that the “chase” is over. It burns off the excess adrenaline accumulated from sitting still during tense meetings.

2. The 3-Column Brain Dump Middle managers carry the mental load of “open loops”—tasks started but not finished. The brain perceives open loops as threats, keeping you awake.

• The Move: Before bed, draw 3 columns on paper:
  1. What I finished. (Dopamine hit).
  2. What I’m blocking for tomorrow. (Plan).
  3. What is out of my control. (Release).
• The Biology: Writing it down offloads the data from your working memory, allowing the brain to enter Deep Sleep (physiologic repair) rather than REM (anxious processing).

3. Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) If you can’t sleep, stop trying to force it.

• The Move: Lie down and listen to a 10-minute Yoga Nidra or Body Scan audio.
• The Biology: This mimics the brainwave state of sleep, allowing your nervous system to recover even if you are awake. It is a manual override for a racing mind.

Are you leading on fumes?

You cannot support your team if your own foundation is crumbling. The “Squeeze” won’t go away, but your biological reaction to it can change.

At NEST, we help managers build the recovery protocols necessary to sustain a career without sacrificing their health.

REFERENCES

Nagoski, E., & Nagoski, A. (2019). Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Ballantine Books.

Walker, M. (2017). Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. Scribner.

Huberman, A. (2021). Master Your Sleep & Be More Alert When Awake. Huberman Lab.