Meeting Guide
Breaking The Burnout Cycle: Circle Discussion Guide
Overview
Tilted: A Lean In Podcast brings you conversations at the intersection of gender and culture. We dig into topics we’re curious about, highlight inspiring people and stories, and share expert advice to help you make the playing field a little less tilted. Individually or as a group, listen to “Breaking the burnout cycle with Arianna Huffington & Emily Nagoski,” the second episode in Season 2 of Tilted (available here). Use the questions below for a group discussion on the themes and ideas shared in the episode.
About this episode
- Exhausted. Stressed. Anxious. Berating yourself for “not doing enough.” These are all signs of burnout—and too many women are intimately familiar with them. For years, we’ve known burnout affects women more than men, and now COVID-19 has made it even worse. In this episode, we’re talking with two experts on burnout: Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and Thrive Global, and Emily Nagoski, author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Arianna and Emily tell personal stories about burnout, teach us how to recognize it, and share tips for preventing and addressing it in our own lives.
Check-In
Group activity
5 minutes or less
An icebreaker is a powerful tool to help us become present with one another and ourselves. Use this icebreaker to see how your Circle members currently feel. Go around your Circle and share an update on how you’re feeling using the traffic light colors:
- Green (mostly good)
- Yellow (mixed feelings, unsure, or just OK)
- Red (mostly not doing great)
You can also briefly share why you’re feeling that way if you’d like.
Discussion Questions
Group activity
Approx. 35 minutes
These questions are designed to help you and your Circle members process and discuss the findings of the episode.
Have someone in the group read aloud the key takeaways from this episode, summarized below:
- Burnout is more than just stress—it's cumulative stress that leads to exhaustion, pessimism, and anxiety, and that can eventually cause long-term health problems.
- It’s helpful to identify and differentiate between the stress and the stressors. Stressors (such as relationships, financials, and work performance) are what cause your body’s stress response cycle.
- There are many things you can do to complete a stress response cycle—exercise, sleep, and connecting with others or with nature are good places to start.
- Gratitude can be an antidote to stress—try starting or ending your day by thinking about what you’re grateful for and how it came to be.
As a group, discuss the following questions. Pick one question to start with and move on to the other questions if you have time.
- “Burnout is the feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted by everything you have to do, while still worrying that you are not doing enough.” Does Emily Nagoski’s definition of burnout resonate with you?
- Have you experienced burnout? Looking back, what do you think contributed to your burnout, and what would have helped?
- Which strategies from the episode resonated with you most?
- Asking for help can be difficult. Reflecting on your past experiences as well as what you learned from the guests, what do you think is an effective way for you to ask for help?
- As Emily Nagoski shared, self-care alone cannot prevent burnout—we all need to care for each other. Is there someone in your life that you’re worried might be burning out? How might you help them?
One Action
Group activity
Approx. 10 minutes
Come up with a One Action
Individual activity
Approx. 5 minutes
We recommend you close every meeting by committing to a “One Action”—one concrete thing you’re going to do before your next Circle meeting to step outside your comfort zone, practice a new skill, or try something new, based on what you’ve discussed today.
Next time you meet, update your Circle on your One Action (what you did and how it went).
This month, think about an action you can take to prevent or address burnout in your life.
Take a few minutes and ask everyone to write down their One Action.
Share your One Action with your Circle
Group activity
Approx. 5 minutes
One by one, go around your Circle and and complete the following statement: I commit to [small step] to be more inclusive of different gender identities or expressions in my daily life.
Move quickly from member to member, and consider cheering one another on as you go.
Wrap-Up
Group activity
Approx. 10 minutes
Finalize logistics of your next meeting
Group activity
Approx. 5 minutes
Before you break, make sure you have the basics covered for your next meeting, including day and time. Decide what you’re going to do, when you are going to meet next, and who is going to send out ideas. You may also want to talk through what worked—and what didn’t—in today’s meeting so you can brainstorm improvements going forward.
Close on an uplifting note
Group activity
Approx. 5 minutes
Think of one small moment of joy you can plan for this week. Go around your Circle one by one and share what you’ll do. Alternatively, take a few minutes to write down something you’re grateful for—and share it with the group, if you’d like to.
