GoKawiilThe problem Dear Nature, I’m a particle physicist in the third year of my PhD programme in Central Europe. When I began working in academia, I was really motivated, interested and passionate about doing research. I wanted to become a professor and build a successful career in my field. Over the past few years, I’ve pushed myself hard, sometimes working 10 or 11 hours a day, five or six days a week. For months, I didn’t realize that I was burnt out, but looking back, the signals were there. I felt physically exhausted and I knew that I needed a holiday. While I was working, thoughts would pop up such as “maybe this isn’t for me” or “I don’t belong here”. I kept ignoring the signs until eventually, about eight months ago, I broke down. I had very limited mental energy to perform my research. Eventually, I couldn’t even enjoy activities outside research, such as watching a film, or concentrate on simple things, including taking out the rubbish. My girlfriend and some of my friends even pointed out that something needed to change because I wasn’t able to function properly in daily life any more. I reached a point of severe burnout, which led me to question the academic system and my own goals in it. Since then, I’ve made the decision to let go of my dream of becoming an academic and look for careers in industry instead. But I still have a year to go in my PhD programme and I don’t know how to find the motivation to continue. How do I regain focus, cope with my burnout and finish my degree? — A fatigued physicist
The advice
Burnout is everywhere. Nearly half (48%) of workers from eight countries reported feeling burnt out in a 2023 survey by the Boston Consulting Group in Massachusetts. According to the 2026 State of the Workplace Report by the analytics and advisory company Gallup in Washington DC, 64% of employees are not engaged in their work and 40% reported feeling stressed daily. Burnout can be particularly pervasive in academic settings, in which researchers often feel intense pressure to perform. Nature’s careers team sought advice from two psychology researchers and a workplace strategist about how to cope with burnout while pursuing a PhD.
Acknowledge the signs
The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon that results from chronic workplace stress and is characterized by three dimensions: feeling exhausted, increased mental distance from one’s job and reduced professional efficacy.
Simply acknowledging the problem is key, says Amir Kabunga, a psychologist at Lira University in Uganda. “Thank you for acknowledging that you are burnt out,” Kabunga says. “That is the first step.”
How I managed my intense burnout “The enthusiasm and intense commitment that often characterize the early stages of an academic or professional path are natural expressions of youthful idealism — a sense of boundless possibility,” says Beata Mańkowska, an occupational burnout researcher at the University of Gdańsk in Poland. “Importantly, you have engaged in deep and honest self-reflection. You have begun to see your situation clearly, moving from idealism towards realism and sound judgement.”
Along with recognizing your own symptoms of burnout and the impacts that they are having on your professional and personal life, you critically analysed the limitations of pursuing an academic career. This is something to be proud of, Mańkowska says.
Take time to recover
The next step is to take some time away from the academic environment. “The only way to treat burnout is to interrupt the stress cycle,” says Jennifer Moss, author of the 2021 book The Burnout Epidemic, who is based in Kitchener, Canada. “You have to take a meaningful break in which you’re just focusing on rest and recovery.”
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