This Burnout Coach’s Viral Advice Is Terrible. A Nobel Laureate–and a Ton of Science–Says to Do the Exact Opposite

Both science and common sense tell us that TikTok is not the best place to go for high-quality financial or relationship advice. But you might be seduced by the tips of product manager turned burnout coach Gabriella Flax. 

Many people have been. Her viral recommendations for how to regain your energy and sense of agency at work have been shared by millions of people and featured in publications like Upworthy and The New York Post. 

After all, many of them seem like sensible-sounding ways to cut distractions and save time when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Put your phone on focus mode? Sure, plenty of experts suggest that. Get an automatic feeder bowl for your pet? Why not? Take pictures of things you need to buy at the supermarket so you don’t forget them? Clever, I think I’ll try it. 

But as someone who has been writing about what causes burnout and what the latest science suggests you need to overcome it for well over a decade, one central part of her advice strikes me as misguided. In fact, a host of experts (including one Nobel laureate) say you should do the exact opposite. 

Can you beat burnout by being boring?  

Flax groups a lot of these tips under one simple, master tip — if you’re feeling burnt out, you need to be more boring. Here’s a sample video: 

Now, I understand what she’s getting at here. Burnout makes you exhausted. If there are areas of your life where petty decisions are creating unnecessary stress, then eliminate those decisions. Mark Zuckerberg used to wear the same type of T-shirt every day for this reason. I eat the exact same (boring) breakfast every day to ease the burden on my brain before 10 a.m. 

But where this straightforward-sounding bit of advice runs into problems is if you feel compelled to cut back in areas of your life that bring you joy — maybe for you that’s fashion, or food, or hobbies — in an effort to streamline your days. Because a host of experts suggest that what will bring you out of burnout isn’t fewer decisions and less stimulation, but more fun. 

Experiences are more energizing than rest. 

You can see this on a smaller scale when it comes to weekends and vacations. When you’re teetering on the edge of exhaustion after a period of work, what do you do? Your first impulse might be to plant yourself on the couch and binge on Netflix or a good book, but science suggests this kind of rest isn’t the best way to recharge. 

Recent research by organization psychologist Sabine Sonnetag (highlighted by Adam Grant on his podcast) found that, if you truly want to recharge, the best approach is getting out and doing things you like that challenge you, so that you have more of what she terms mastery experiences.

Whether it’s a class or a bit of rock climbing, these sorts of experiences require energy but leave you with a sense of competence and accomplishment, and that’s likely to give you back more energy long term. 

Author and time use expert Laura Vanderkam discovered something similar when she interviewed high achievers about how they spend their weekends. Rather than try to recharge by being boring on their breaks, they instead engage in sports, hobbies, volunteering, or other meaningful activities.

“Other kinds of work–be it exercise, a creative hobby, hands-on parenting, or volunteering–will do more to preserve your zest for Monday’s challenges than complete vegetation,” Vanderkam has written. 

Fun gives you energy and ideas. 

Being boring about boring things is fine. Being so boring that you miss out on the kind of fun that reminds you that you have the capacity to drive your life in a positive direction is not likely to help you beat burnout. 

And fun isn’t just important because it reminds us of our autonomy and abilities. Fun also generates its own energy and creativity. Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman discovered this through personal experience. As he explains in his autobiography, at one point in his illustrious career he was so burned out he couldn’t continue with his research. 

What saved him ultimately wasn’t resting. It was playing. By goofing around figuring out the mathematics governing the spin of a cafeteria plate thrown in the air, he rediscovered his intrinsic motivation for his work. It became pleasurable and energizing again. His brain broke out of the rut it was stuck in and started down the path that would lead to some of his biggest breakthroughs. 

This isn’t just true of oddball geniuses writing equations about lunch trays. Here are essays by an executive coach and a pair of writers sharing analogous experiences. When they were in the depths of burnout, what saved them wasn’t rest alone, but also a big dose of play, fun, and joy. 

Simplify, but leave room for joy. 

All of which isn’t to say you shouldn’t buy that automatic pet feeder or streamline your wardrobe. Flax is clearly right that lightening the load of nonsense your brain is carrying is a great way to start fighting back against burnout. Sometimes the trouble really is too many obligations and decisions cluttering your brain. 

But I worry that when she encourages people to “be boring,” some will take that as an instruction to just rest quietly and strip all the fun out of their lives. And that’s not really how you bring back your zest for working. 

Rest may be an essential first step, but the ultimate antidote for burnout is mastery and play. It’s putting on that over-the-top yellow dress, baking that elaborate cake, or engaging in that energetic hobby so you remember how to feel in control and joyful again. Not wearing the same gray outfit as you eat the same sad salad day after day.