Telling yourself a stressful event is over doesn’t end it for your body. It needs more.

We’re continuing our deep dive into burnout, as it’s more prevalent than ever. Last week, we offered a self-assessment and then explored the three components of burnout. This week and next, we’ll share a different strategy daily to combat burnout. These strategies come from doctors Emily and Amelia Nogoski, authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.

Before beginning to share the strategies, though, a word on stress (credit again to the authors of Burnout).

We think that if we get rid of the stress itself (e.g. that project deadline, finally potty training your toddler, a toxic relationship), then it’s over. Right? Turns out that this isn’t the case for our bodies. When we are stressed, distress signals go off in our brains, hearts, muscles, digestion, immune functioning, growth and tissue repair, and reproductive functioning.

While we may rationally understand that the stress has ended, our body doesn’t understand “I had that crucial conversation.” Until we complete the stress cycle for our bodies, we’ll remain stuck in the stress. Over time, this can have serious negative impacts on our physical and mental health.

Self-care for stress includes our bodies completing the stress cycle. We’ll start sharing how tomorrow.