“In product, burnout is characterised by a sustained blurring or destruction of boundaries which degrades the health and long-term productivity of an individual or team,” Nick Jemetta tells Mind the Product.
Nick, an AI Product Coach and Human Skills Speaker, continued: “It’s a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.” It has become so widespread that in 2019 the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified it as an “occupational phenomenon”.
So debating the existence of burnout is, unfortunately, long in our past. Conversations have moved onto what is causing the path to burnout for many and how both individuals and organisations can prevent it from occurring.
For Busra Coskuner, a Product Coach and Advisor, burnout was a very real consequence of feeling like she had to take on too much and say ‘yes’ to everything. She said it was the “price” for staying long hours every day, for getting to the point of thinking about work 24/7 and solving problems in her head even when she was in bed at night trying to fall asleep. “I was constantly thinking about work and this didn’t go away, even when we were on vacation,” she added.
After marking Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK earlier this month, we at Mind the Product want to continue thinking about mental health and wellbeing for those working in the product management world all year round. In this piece, we chat to experts Nick and Busra to explore how and why product managers might be at risk of burnout, what the personal consequences of burnout are and, most importantly, what needs to change within the industry to help prevent it from happening at all.
So what exactly is burnout? WHO defines it as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It can manifest as feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.
According to Nick, it’s not something that happens overnight. He said: “It isn’t the same as a stressful day at work or the exhaustion you might feel after a long week. Burnout is the culmination of many experiences, situations, conversations, actions and decisions over a period of time.”
Busra said burnout is continuously taking on work, responsibilities and problems until you cannot function anymore. She said she had no idea that burnout was creeping up on her until it was too late.
Describing his personal experience, Nick said: “I burned out in 2021 and was signed off work for six weeks.
“The signs were subtle at the time yet obvious in retrospect i.e. I worked much longer hours, I slept less and I slept worse, work dominated my time and my mind/headspace, I was more irritable, I was more distant from my family, I had a constant sense of trying to do more to "catch up" but never feeling like it was quite enough, I experienced physical symptoms (e.g. headaches, lack of appetite, poor quality sleep, panic attacks and chest pains - it was at this point I sought help from my doctor).”
Busra added that, due to the fact that she didn’t see the signs of burnout before it was too late, it’s important to understand what the triggers of burnout are to try to manage them from the beginning, on both an individual and organisational level. Speaking of her own experience, she said: “I didn't notice at all until the day that I collapsed crying in the middle of the office.”
So what specifically is causing burnout in product management?
While this is a few years old, Mind the Product ran a poll back in 2020 asking product people if they had experienced burnout - and over 80% said they had. According to more recent figures, the 2022 Burnout Index recorded that 62% of tech professionals in 33 countries feel physically and emotionally drained by their job, while two in five workers surveyed show a high risk of burnout. It is clearly a major issue in the industry.
When asked what it is specifically about a product management job that can lead to burnout, Busra said: “One thing is you are involved in so many discussions. You have to talk to so many people and you have to make sure that everybody's aligned, and you're juggling competing preferences, competing goals. There's always someone who criticises your decision. There’s always someone who complains about something.”
For Nick, the pace of change and innovation within product management is “a perfect storm of ambition, pressure and uncertainty”. He explained that “most product people want to do a great job but the conditions can make it feel overwhelming”.
In Busra’s experience, burnout is both an individual and a leadership fail. For example, Busra explained that before she burned out, she felt like she had overwhelming, unrealistic expectations on her. She also felt she was being asked to come up with solutions for issues without being given the autonomy or resources needed to do so.
“There was an expectation by my manager to come up with suggestions on how to work with others without actually giving me the autonomy to do so,” Busra explained. “So one part is definitely a leadership fail. And the other part is perhaps an individual fail. And when both come together and you have an ambitious person who does not want to fail or let anyone down. That’s a recipe for burnout.”
One key issue about career-related burnout - which is universal no matter what line of work you’re in - is that it’s often framed as personal weakness. Having this view actually increases the likelihood of individuals reaching burnout because of a culture of not asking for help and not saying no to extra responsibilities when work is already becoming unmanageable. Burnout is a systemic issue, not a personal weakness.
Busra explained that sometimes, to prevent burnout, you just have to step away from work and take a proper break, no matter how busy your job is.
She said: “Take a break, take a vacation. Rest a bit, stop thinking about it. You might have to let things fall down and break a bit at work. Just take some time off - at least two weeks. You won’t lose your job if you stop for a bit - it will be waiting for you when you get back. Tell yourself, ‘I need to rest too - it will make me more productive and I’ll be able to think more clearly when I get back.’”
So what needs to change at the organisational level to help prevent burnout? Some key areas of focus for organisations when planning for this could be thinking about:
Nick said: “Like any product problem, the first step is awareness and curiosity. Start by asking your team how they're feeling and what might be driving problematic patterns or behaviours that might negatively affect their mental health. Many ways to do this depending on the levels of trust and psychological safety within your organisation. But some options include an anonymous survey, team meetings, a staff away day or 1:1 meetings.”
He continued: “Once you have the insight you can start to experiment with potential solutions - note that these solutions should look to proactively address root causes rather than reactively treat the symptoms e.g. if teams have too many priorities so are unable to focus, triaging the in-flight work is reactive whereas re-evaluating the product strategy to get clearer on what you'll say 'no' to is proactive.
“Product Leaders don't need to do all of this on their own. Call on the support of technology and design but also HR/Wellbeing/Occupational Health. Like any valuable problem worth solving, wellbeing at work needs a strategy with clear measures of success and high intent bets on potential solutions.”
What practical tips can you take to build yourself - or colleagues, friends and family - back up after you have been through a period of burnout or - in an ideal world - to prevent burnout from happening in the first place. Nick shared some useful advice that has helped him:
1. Create a series of non-negotiables in your life which you need a compelling reason to breach - for example a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night and a minimum of two to three gym workouts a week.
2. Take control of your energy and time - don't ask permission, be proactive - for example,change specific meetings to walking meetings, shorten all meetings by 5-10 minutes, map andbatch tasks based on your energy and enthusiasm.
3. Define your boundaries and stick to them - No matter how passionate I am about my career, I need time away to rest, recover and recharge. I've been a more effective product person as a result. You have to find time and space in your life for activities other than work. Ultimately your health is what matters most.
Nick continued: “My best advice is to focus on what you can control. The energy you put into setting boundaries, collaborating with your team and prioritising discovery will help you feel less pressured, better supported and more confident about handling the inevitable uncertainty.”
Burnout, unfortunately, isn’t a niche or temporary issue. It’s a global, cross-sectoral issue and a reflection of deeper cultural problems. The key now is to encourage leaders, teams and individuals to take burnout seriously and act early.
When asked about what a mentally healthy product culture would look like to him, Nick said: “A culture where far fewer product people burnout. Where people are not anxious to come to work, they're excited and purposeful. A culture where product leadership has done a brilliant job at creating vision, alignment and clarity so everyone is working together on shared goals.”
Nick added that workplaces should also have a “psychologically safe and trusting culture where teams solve difficult problems with a collaborative discovery-first mindset. A culture where communication is open and ongoing, and where feedback is shared with the intention to help everyone be better.
“In a mentally healthy product culture, outcomes matter, but people matter more.”
