You’re Not Burned Out. You’re Under-Recovered.

Ever wonder why you're always tired? One thing I've noticed over the last few years Daytona Health: Most Americans go to sleep tired, and wake up tired. A national survey found that 32% of women and 21% of men rarely or never wake up feeling well-rested, and that daytime sleepiness affects about 75%+ of adults on a daily basis.

You’re not lazy. You’re not broken. And you’re probably not burned out in the way you think.

What you are… is under-recovered.

And there's a difference.

We glorify hustle, but ignore the biology of recovery. We optimize our calendars and inboxes, but neglect our nervous systems trying to keep up with it all.

Performance doesn't die from overuse. It dies from under-recovery.

And I want to unpack this because we've all been there...

Think of your body as a battery.

(But Not the Way You Think.)

Most professionals treat their energy like it’s infinite: caffeine, back-to-back zoom meetings, late-night emails—on repeat.

But your body’s more Tesla than Terminator: it needs to recharge, regulate, and recalibrate.

Chronic stress is exhausting because it rewires your brain. Long-term stress shrinks the prefrontal cortex (your decision-making HQ) and empowers the amygdala (your threat detection center).

Simply put, this means you become worse at thinking clearly and better at panicking.

Burnout Isn’t Caused by Too Much Work.

It’s caused by too little recovery between work. (I realize this isn't the only factor: environment, lack of autonomy, values mismatch, etc. all play a role)

We’ve romanticized exhaustion. But the best athletes in the world don’t train 24/7. They prioritize recovery.

It's not about just the effort, but incomplete energy cycles.

Treat Recovery as a Skill. Here’s How to Build It.

You don’t need a sabbatical in Bali to be better at recovery. You need consistent, compounding micro-recovery moments:

1. Nervous System Check-Ins → Just 60–90 seconds of slow breathing can shift you into a fight or flight sympathetic mode to a rest and digest parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) mode.

2. Sunlight + Movement in the Morning → 5 minutes of morning sunlight helps reset your circadian rhythm and cortisol levels.

3. Deep Work, Then Deep Rest → 90-minute focus blocks followed by 10–20 minutes of downtime = elite productivity. At times do we need to pull the occasional all nighter? Yes, but don't make this the default.

4. Sleep is your super power → Less than 6 hours per night? Your cognitive function drops as if you were legally drunk.

The Smartest Professionals Are Recovery-Obsessed.

• CEOs, founders, and athletes are now tracking HRV (heart rate variability) (mostly through wearables) like their livelihoods depend on it.

• Elite teams are building cultures of resilience. Not just grit.

Recovery isn't the reward for performance. It's a requirement.

Final Takeaways:

Yes we are machines but living systems are different than mechanical robots.

Stop treating rest like a luxury or as a "nice to have." It's a must have.

Start treating it like the operating system upgrade it actually is.