Balancing Act: Managing Workload

Wearing too many hats? Spinning too many plates? In this week’s episode of The Burnout Room, Dr. Courtney Keim and Sarah Burress explore workload, one of the biggest predictors of burnout. Together, they break down why mission-driven organizations frequently straddle the line of overload, how relying on employee passion can make it easy to normalize doing too much, and why sometimes the answer isn’t adding another program or process, but figuring out what we can take away. From email shortcuts, to running better meetings, to job crafting and setting boundaries, Courtney and Sarah talk about practical ways leaders and employees can reduce workload burdens, and whether there is actually enough capacity to really balance it all. Check out our TBR merch at Burnout Room Merch. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Kentucky Psychological Foundation to help support our work! Lezcano AM, Zajac SA, Johnson SK and Holladay CL (2026) Rethinking return-to-office: the positive impact of remote work on well-being, connection, and employee retention. Front. Psychol. 17:1848857. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1848857