Unburned: A Slightly Messy, Mostly Honest Guide to Life After Burnout with Sarah Oelschig
🎙️ Welcome to Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy!
In this deeply relatable episode, Mary Meyer sits down with Sarah Oelschig, author of Unburned: A Slightly Messy, Mostly Honest Guide to Life After Burnout. If you’ve ever kept up a flawless facade while quietly falling apart inside, this conversation will feel like a warm, understanding hand on your shoulder. Sarah shares her own turning point, a moment of sitting frozen after a Zoom call, unsure how she’d even gotten there, and the gentle, human path she took back to herself.
Together, she and Mary explore the real difference between burnout and depression, why high achievers are so susceptible, and how to navigate burnout at work, at home, and in the quiet spaces in between. But this isn’t a ten-step plan to add to your already overflowing to-do list. Sarah’s message is refreshingly freeing: you don’t need to do more, you need to come back to what’s already within you.
From rediscovering childhood joys to loosening the grip of your phone, this episode is full of compassionate, doable wisdom. You’re not alone if you’re feeling worn down, and life after burnout is absolutely possible.
🌟 Topics Covered:
- How burnout differs from depression and perimenopause
- Why high achievers are especially prone to burnout
- Navigating burnout at work, and asking for help
- The “mismatch” between person and workplace
- Gentle reflection over exhausting new routines
- Loosening the grip of your phone for better sleep
- Rediscovering the things that once brought you joy
- Reconnecting with family, and with yourself
Key takeaways:
- You can keep functioning through burnout while crumbling inside
- Recovery means subtracting, not adding more to your plate
- Small shifts back to yourself outlast big, rigid plans
- Everything you need to heal is likely already within you
- Rediscovering childhood joys can reconnect you to yourself
- Give yourself grace; recovery is a journey, not a destination
Some questions I ask:
- How did this book come about?
- What changes did you make, or would you recommend, at work?
- Did you make any diet changes as part of the burnout recovery?
- What did you do to help yourself get better sleep?
- How did your relationships with family change along the way?
- Tell us about the friend who asked what you loved to do as a kid.
- What does it really mean to “come back to yourself”?
- Where can people find your book?
Learn more about Sarah Oelschig:
Book: Unburned: A Slightly Messy, Mostly Honest Guide to Life After Burnout by Sarah Oelschig
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million (paperback and ebook; audiobook forthcoming)
Resource List:
- Books mentioned: Unburned by Sarah Oelschig; Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Apps or tools mentioned: app timers/blockers (such as one referenced as “Refocus”), grayscale phone mode, phone-app blocking devices, “dumb” or minimalist smartphones (a startup referenced as “Sleke”)
- Research referenced: Christina Maslach’s work on workplace burnout; Mayo Clinic burnout resources
- Concepts referenced: person-workplace mismatch, psychological safety and trust at work, circadian rhythm and morning sunlight, blue light versus red light
Listen to More HHWW Episodes on Mental Health
Connect with Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy Podcast:
Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy is now connecting business owners, startup founders and real estate investors with necessary funding.
🌟 Connect on @Instagram, @Facebook, @TikTok and @LInkedIn @HealthyHappyWiseWealthy
https://www.youtube.com/@HealthyHappyWiseWealthyNetwork
Listen on @Spotify, @Audible, @Applepodcasts, @iHeartRadio, @Pandora and more
Know someone who should be a guest? Email healthyhappywisewealthy@gmail.com
Mary Meyer is a podcast host, actor, sales professional, mother and entrepreneur helping people and organizations share meaningful conversations that support health, wisdom, clarity, and growth.
Produced by the All-Talented Erika Christie
Sponsor Information:
We are excited to have IT company Mindiii as a podcast sponsor.
Founded in 2015, MINDIII is a Product Development and Data + AI Company that builds scalable digital products and intelligent data platforms. They help businesses design, engineer, and launch high-impact web and mobile applications, powered by modern data engineering, analytics, and AI solutions.
Specialities:
Product Strategy & Full-Stack Development
AI-Powered Web & Mobile Apps
Data Engineering & Analytics
AI & ML Solutions
Cloud & DevOps Solutions
IT Consulting & Dedicated Teams
UI/UX & Workflow Automation
Software Testing, Maintenance & Support
#Burnout
#BurnoutRecovery
#Unburned
#MentalHealth
#SelfCompassion
#HighAchievers
#WorkLifeBalance
#Mindfulness
#DigitalWellness
#ReconnectWithYourself
#HealthyHappyWiseWealthy
#SarahOelschig