Burnout: Your First Ten Steps

A practical easy-to-read guide to recognising and overcoming burnout and enjoying life again

Burnout leaves people exhausted, overwhelmed, struggling to cope, and desperately searching for a way out. Despite being common, many people avoid acknowledging they’re burnt-out, both to themselves and others.

Dr Amy Imms is a medical doctor who helps people overcome burnout, in this book she guides you through identifying whether you are burnt-out, and practical steps to get you on the road to recovery. It’s written for individuals who are burnt-out, but is also helpful for those supporting a loved one, colleague, or patient, struggling with burnout.

Clear information, illustrative anecdotes, and practical exercises take you through:

• What burnout is and how it affects your health.
• Reflecting on your situation, and clarification of your hopes for a better future.
• Examining your life to create time for prioritising self-care, focusing on your wellbeing, and getting appropriate medical support.
• Strengthening your relationships, maintaining your boundaries, and identifying and living in alignment with your values.
• Learning and experimenting with skills to manage stress promote mental wellbeing, including self-compassion, grounding, mindfulness, and gratitude.
• Identifying simple changes you can make to optimise sleep rhythms, nutrition, and exercise in a way that benefits your mental wellbeing.

This book is all about taking action, and a free accompanying workbook is available online. You won’t be swamped with information and research, but rather will receive evidence-based information to provide the understanding you need to proceed on your journey to recovery.

Whether you know you’ve been burnt-out and treading water for decades, or have just started wondering whether you’re burnt-out, this book is for you. Clear and practical evidence-based guidance, in a easy-to-read package.

Recovery from burnout is possible, and this is the first step.

“What a great read! This book not only explains burnout well, it also comes with practical tips that can easily be implemented to help the reader. The section on values was excellent - something we often lose touch with as we get distracted by our daily tasks!”
— Dr Yumiko Kadota, ex-Plastic Surgery registrar

“Written with empathy, compassion and understanding, this easy to read guidebook contains practical strategies that inspire hope. I couldn’t put it down!”
— Dr Bambi Ward, medical doctor, PhD creative writing, mother

“This book is a fantastic resource. I wish I had read it during my internship.”
— Dr Anna Elliston, mother, TAS

“Burnout, your first 10 steps is just what it says - an accessible, doable guide that helps stressed people figure out why they feel the way they do, understand that there’s hope to feel better, and bring about change to their day to lives and relationships in a lasting way – a must read for self-care!”
— Rose Jones, Registered Counsellor, VIC

“A practical and pragmatic approach to tackling a problem we usually are reluctant to acknowledge or address. Thank you for trying to move away from the ‘why me/how’ to the ‘what do I do about it’ of burnout.”
— Dr Srishti Dutta

“As a GP, I see many patients at varying stages of burnout, from people who just don’t understand why there’s no findable physical cause for their tiredness, to people in the middle of a full-blown breakdown. I feel that burnout is the modern epidemic, born of our increasingly hectic lifestyles, where everything needs to be instant, and technology keeps us switched on at all hours. This book is an easy to read guide to recognising symptoms of burnout and starting to plan the road to recovery. This is a handy reference for those experiencing their own burnout, or for those seeking to aid their friends. As an individual currently juggling busy work hours, a toddler and a sick family member, I don’t mind admitting that I can recognise aspects of my own life mirrored in this book, and took away some useful approaches for assessing and planning my time.”
— Dr Sarah Tedjasukmana, GP and mother, NSW

“In reading this book by Dr Imms I realised the vital difference between simple time off and actual constructive time off. ‘How would your life look if you could manage burnout well?’ was a game changer for me. Addressing burnout using strategy and activities gave me far better insight, and the values chapter in particular gave me an understanding of my future pathway within medicine.
Looking at the lifestyle I had during those early years of medicine, I realised that life was not meant to just happen in stolen moments. Addressing burnout directly and with purpose has been empowering, and undertaking the steps in this book has been pivotal for recovery.”
— Dr Niki Springett, medical registrar

“Not just a book but a valuable tool for readers, coaches and counsellors alike.”
— Dr Anthony Llewellyn, Doctor Coach

“Dr. Amy Imms has a brilliant understanding of what burnout feels like in the real world and unfailingly holds your hand as she leads you toward recovery.”
— Courtney Sharman, Masters Public Health, mother, TAS