When Everyone Is Running on Fumes: A Collective Pause at the Edge of the Year (Part 1)
- Yvette E. McDonald, LCSW-QS, CMNCS
- Dec 2, 2025
- 4 min read
Lately, the therapy room has been echoing with the same quiet confession.
“I’m exhausted.”
“I’m burnt out.”
“I don’t even feel like the holidays will be restful.”
And it’s not just one type of person or one kind of life. Parents. Professionals. Caregivers. Teens. Highly capable, deeply conscientious people who have been holding a lot—for a long time.
There’s a collective sense that we’ve been running on fumes… and winter is arriving anyway.
This time of year is supposed to be about slowing down. Rest. Family. Reflection. Connection. But for many people, it doesn’t feel restorative at all. It feels like one more thing to get through—one more demand layered on top of an already overextended system.
If that’s you, I want to say this clearly:
You’re not failing at rest.
You’re responding normally to prolonged strain.
Why Burnout Lives in the Nervous System
Burnout isn’t just emotional or mental—it’s physiological.
When life requires us to stay “on” for too long—managing stress, meeting expectations, navigating uncertainty—our nervous system adapts. It prioritizes survival over restoration. Hormones like cortisol and adrenaline stay elevated. Blood sugar becomes harder to regulate. Sleep becomes lighter or more fragmented. Even moments of “downtime” don’t land the way they used to.
Over time, the body forgets how to fully shift into repair mode.
That’s why slowing down can feel uncomfortable instead of calming. Why rest can feel boring, agitating, or even guilt-provoking. Your system hasn’t had enough consistent signals of safety to truly exhale.
This isn’t a mindset issue. It’s a state issue.
A Different Invitation for the Remainder of the Year
Instead of treating the end of the year like a finish line—or a performance review—we might consider it a threshold.
Not a time to push harder.
Not a time to fix everything.
But a time to gently reorient.
Winter naturally invites a quieter pace. From a biological standpoint, this is a season meant for conservation, repair, and reflection—not expansion.
What if we worked with that instead of against it?
1. Shift from “Rest as Escape” to “Rest as Repair”
True nervous system repair doesn’t come from collapsing on the couch once you’re already depleted. It comes from predictability and gentleness over time.
That might look like:
Eating regularly to stabilize blood sugar
Prioritizing sleep consistency over perfection
Choosing fewer social obligations—even if it feels uncomfortable
Allowing your days to be simpler than you think they “should” be
Repair happens when the body feels reliability, not when it’s forced to relax on demand.
2. Use This Season to Reassess What You’re Carrying
Burnout often reveals a misalignment between what we value and what we’re spending energy on.
As things slow, notice:
Where am I overextending out of obligation?
What responsibilities feel heavier than they used to?
What would feel relieving to release or renegotiate?
You don’t need immediate answers. Awareness itself is regulating.
3. Create Realistic Expectations for the New Year
Many people enter January already depleted, armed with resolutions that ask even more of them.
Instead, consider organizing the year ahead around:
Capacity, not comparison
Sustainability, not intensity
What supports your nervous system, not just your goals
The question isn’t “What should I accomplish next year?”
It’s “What kind of life can my body realistically support?”
4. Name the Collective Weight We’re All Feeling
There is real financial strain right now.
Real uncertainty.
Real pressure to do more with less.
Feeling worn down in this climate doesn’t mean you’re failing—it means you’re attuned.
Sometimes the most regulating thing we can do is stop convincing ourselves we should be fine.
If this year has left you tired in ways sleep hasn’t touched, you’re not alone.
Let the remainder of the year be less about catching up and more about coming back to yourself. Not to reinvent your life overnight but to quietly remember what matters, what’s sustainable, and what you want to protect moving forward.
You don’t need to emerge from this season renewed.
You just need to emerge listening.
That’s where real repair begins.
What Helps When You’re Burnt Out (Without Asking More of You)
(You might try one or two — not all. Less is more here.)
1. Predictability Over Productivity | Your nervous system calms when it knows what to expect. Simple routines—regular meals, consistent sleep times, gentle daily rhythms—often do more for burnout than any big reset. |
2. Stabilize Before You Optimize | When you’re depleted, growth comes from steadiness, not intensity. Focus first on sleep, nourishment, and pacing before adding goals or “improvements.” |
3. Choose Rest That Signals Safety | Rest doesn’t have to be passive. Sometimes safety comes from:
|
4. Reduce Input | Burnout thrives on constant stimulation. Less news. Fewer decisions. Fewer commitments. Creating small pockets of quiet gives your system room to reset. |
5. Name What’s Real | Acknowledging strain—financial, emotional, relational—is regulating. You don’t have to stay positive to heal. You have to stay honest. |
6. Let This Be a Season of Repair, Not Reinvention | You are allowed to conserve energy. Restoring capacity now makes future clarity possible. |
If nothing on this list feels accessible right now, that’s information—not failure. Start where you are. Repair begins with compassion, not compliance.
Reflection Questions
You might sit with one or two of these—no need to answer them all.
Where in my life do I feel most depleted right now?
What has been asking too much of me for too long?
How does my body let me know when I’m nearing burnout?
What kind of rest feels most accessible to me right now—not ideally?
What would it look like to enter the new year with fewer expectations and more support?
If I trusted my capacity, what might I gently let go of?
Yvette is a psychotherapist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), and Certified Mental Health and Nutrition Clinical Specialist (CMNCS) who takes a holistic, neuroscience-based approach to mental health and wellness. She integrates psychology, nervous system education, and nutrition to help individuals understand the deeper “why” behind emotional exhaustion, burnout, and dysregulation. Through her practice, Nourivida Wellness, Yvette offers concierge mental health services for neurodiverse individuals, couples, and those navigating seasons of overwhelm and transition. Looking for support that honors both your capacity and your humanity? Learn more at Nourivida Wellness.
