Burnout is not tiredness. It has three diagnostic signatures — emotional exhaustion, cynicism toward the work or the people in it, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment — and all three need to be present. A long weekend lowers the load. It does not change the system that produced the burnout, which is why patients typically relapse within a fortnight of returning.

Stage 1 — Restore the body

Sleep architecture, movement, daylight, basic nutrition. Without this, every other intervention runs at half power.

Stage 2 — Restore regulation

Cognitive Regulation work to bring the nervous system back to baseline reliably. This is where the alarm system gets recalibrated and the body learns to come down on cue.

Stage 3 — Restore meaning

The slow, often uncomfortable work of asking whether what you are spending your life on is what you actually want to be spending it on. This is where lasting change happens, and it is the stage most patients try to skip.