My story, my science, my solutions: multi-level burnout prevention strategies 

Imagine if you could thrive not survive. What if you didn’t have to make excuses to take your loved one to the doctor? What if it felt safe to talk about your mental health at work? What if you could bring your whole self to work? Society will benefit. The economy will benefit. Families will benefit.

Job burnout is recognized by the World Health Organisation, but there is also caregiver burnout, emotional burnout, and parental burnout. While self-care helps you manage your stress, it does not solve the structural inequalities that cause burnout. We need to use behaviour change science to create individual, organisational and cultural change to prevent burnout.

As a burnout survivor and behaviour change scientist in the top 1% worldwide, I share my story so that others feel seen and know they are not alone. I also share my science through fun analogies such as a flaming baked Alaska dessert or a Mission Impossible movie heist. And, most importantly, I provide evidence-based solutions that apply to you, your family, your workplace, and your colleagues. Not only do I provide the ingredients for success, I also share the recipe to turn half-baked intentions into meaningful action.

Dr Jacqueline Kerr is a behaviour scientist and burnout survivor. She is in the top 1% of most cited scientists worldwide. Dr Kerr left her position as a public health professor in 2018 and now hosts the podcast 'Overcoming Working Mom Burnout' where she interviews researchers, diversity experts, and leadership coaches. She is on a mission to dismantle the causes of burnout, to prevent burnout through comprehensive strategic planning for employee well-being aligned with DEIB, and to create sustainable and impactful organisational change informed by her two decades as a behaviour change and implementation scientist and practitioner.

Her TEDx talk (How to stop burnout before it starts) explains how burnout is a multi-level problem and provides actionable solutions that we can all use to change the social norms around burnout based on behaviour change science.