E8: Playing with Fire: Burnout, Work, and Learning to Stop, Drop & Roll

In this episode of Work Sucks, But I Like It, host Tony Tenaglier takes us deep into the fire of workplace burnout — a blaze fueled by exhaustion, cynicism, and a sense of ineffectiveness. Drawing from both personal experience and psychological research, Tony shares how he went from marathon-running yoga teacher to sitting in a doctor’s office hearing the word "burnout" for the first time.🔥 Spoiler: Burnout isn’t just about long hours — it’s about losing the spark that once made work meaningful.Using the metaphor of fire safety we all learned as kids — Stop, Drop, and Roll — Tony explores how we can identify burnout early, manage it skillfully, and prevent it from taking over our lives and careers. He’ll also walk you through:The psychology behind burnout and what the latest I/O research saysReal interventions you (and managers) can use to build engagementHow success isn’t good luck — it’s the result of good skills (and smarter boundaries)Plus, you’ll get a candid look at how even high-performing, purpose-driven professionals can hit a wall — and how to rise from the ashes like a phoenix.📚 Bonus: Tony includes academic references and resources in the show notes, so you can dive deeper and take control of your burnout before it controls you.Resources Denunzio, M. (2017). Engagement. In S. Rogelberg (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of industrial and organizational psychology, 2nd editionGreen, P. I., Finkel, E. J., Fitzsimons, G. M., & Gino, F. (2017). The energizing nature of work engagement: Toward a new need-based theory of work motivation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2017.10.007Kao, J.-C. (2024). The Effect of Supervisors Making after-Hours Work Requests on Employees’ Job Stress: The Cross-Level Contextual Effect of Social Support. Policing: An International Journal, 47(4), 617–634. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2023-0081Knight, C., Patterson, M., & Dawson, J. (2017). Building work engagement: A systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the effectiveness of work engagement interventions. Journal of Organizational Behavior (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), 38(6), 792–812. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2167Parker, S. (2017). Job satisfaction. In S. Rogelberg (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of industrial and organizational psychology, 2nd editionSupport the showWant to find out more? Check out the website:www.worksucksbutilikeit.com