How leaders can create workplaces that support nervous system resilience, not overload

If workplaces continue to treat burnout as an individual weakness, the cycle of overload will continue, writes Dr Kaitlin Harkess, PhD.

Leaders in 2025 are juggling a buffet of priorities: engagement, productivity, retention, wellbeing, inclusion; the list never ends. But there’s one dish missing from the table that should be front and centre. It’s the quiet saboteur driving the burnout, stress and exhaustion we’ve all started treating as “just part of the job”.

It’s called nervous system overload, and as a clinical psychologist, I wish more folks were not just talking about it, but actually doing something to fix it.

Nervous system overload happens when the body’s stress response is switched on so often that it never properly resets. The sympathetic nervous system, our fight–flight wiring, is designed to kick in when there’s a genuine threat and then hand it over to the parasympathetic system, which calms us down.

But in today’s world, the “threats” are endless: constant notifications, deadlines, doomscrolling, and conflict. The brain doesn’t distinguish between a tiger in the room and 47 unread emails; the stress reaction is the same. Over time, this leaves people bracing for danger all day long, feeling it in their bodies as racing thoughts, shallow breathing, tense muscles, poor sleep, and emotional edge. Without space to release the load, the nervous system gets stuck in survival mode, either hyper-alert and anxious or completely shut down and exhausted.

With all that going on, is it really a mystery why your team’s running on fumes? Or that people arrive at work feeling exhausted before the work day has even begun?

Think of it like carrying a backpack full of stones. A little weight builds strength. That’s the good kind of stress, the kind that fuels drive and growth. But if no one ever lets you put the backpack down, the stones just keep piling up. Deadlines. Scrolling. Emails. Back-to-back meetings. Worrying about childcare or bills on top of it all. Add a couple of historic boulders from the past (pressure from parents or old workplace scars), and suddenly you’re lugging around half a quarry.

The thing about carrying that much weight is that it doesn’t make you stronger. It makes you break. And that’s exactly what nervous system overload looks like at work: exhaustion disguised as productivity and “pushing through”, burnout disguised as “resilience”, and a whole lot of good people quietly crumbling under the load.

What leaders can actually do

The good news? Leaders can help shift workplaces from overload to resilience by embedding nervous system-friendly practices into everyday culture.

1. Understand stress lives in your body

Most of us treat stress and burnout like “head” problems. Can’t focus? Change your mindset. Feeling exhausted? Sleep more. Overwhelmed? Try meditating. But neuroscience tells us something different: stress doesn’t just live in your head, it lives in your body. Your nervous system is the one carrying the weight of long hours, constant notifications, blurred work-life boundaries, and the relentless 24/7 news cycle. That’s why the solution isn’t only about “thinking differently” but about actually working with your body. Getting out of your head and back into your body is the game changer. And the good news? It doesn’t take hours of yoga or chanting on a mountaintop.

2. Respect boundaries

Constant access to emails and apps has left many staff permanently “on”. Leaders set the tone. If you’re sending 10pm emails, your team’s nervous systems never get a chance to reset. Protect start and finish times. Schedule emails if you need to. Make clear that rest is part of performance. It’s not just “one quick email”, it’s one more spike of adrenaline, one more signal to stay on guard, one more reminder that work never really ends. Boundaries aren’t about being soft; they’re about keeping people sharp when it actually counts.

3. Build in recovery, not just output

Elite athletes cycle between stress and rest. Knowledge workers rarely do. Micro-practices like a two-minute breathing exercise before a meeting, or encouraging staff to step outside between calls, create space for the parasympathetic nervous system to activate the body’s “rest and digest” mode.

3. Model calm, not chaos

Your nervous system state is contagious. If you’re constantly frantic, your team will mirror it. Practice slowing your speech, grounding yourself with a breath, starting meetings with an intentional breathing exercise, or visibly closing your laptop at the end of the day. These micro-signals give others permission to regulate too.

4. Encourage movement

Stress is energy that needs somewhere to go. Support walking meetings, quick stretches, or movement breaks. Again, these aren’t ‘soft’ or nice-to-haves. They’re strategies for discharging the physiological stress that otherwise builds into illness.

5. Train for psychological flexibility

Resilience doesn’t mean toughing it out. It means adapting and choosing wisely under pressure. Psychological flexibility, the ability to stay present, separate from your thoughts, and align with values even in stress, is a teachable skill. Leaders can embed this through coaching, reflective questions, and supportive policies.

If workplaces continue to treat burnout as an individual weakness, the cycle of overload will continue. In organisations, stress-related illnesses drive absenteeism, presenteeism, high turnover, and reduced creativity. And yet, when leaders support nervous system resilience, the benefits flow: calmer teams, sharper focus, stronger collaboration, better problem solving, and ultimately, more sustainable results.

So, ask yourself: what are your people carrying? And what are you carrying? If your culture loads the backpack without ever letting people put it down, something has to change. Start with boundaries. Add in recovery. Get your people moving. And remember that resilience isn’t about thinking harder; it’s about creating workplaces where people can put the stones down, reset their nervous systems, and return stronger.

Dr Kaitlin Harkess, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, yoga instructor, meditation instructor, academic researcher, and author of The Somatic Workbook for Nervous System Regulation and Anxiety Management: 85+ Body-Based Practices for Deepening Awareness, Navigating Emotions, and Building Resilience.