Old Burnout, New Tricks

Hosts Justine and Lisa kick off the new year with their signature mix of honesty, humour, and unfiltered ADHD realness. This episode dives deep into the relentless cycle of burnout, the struggle to slow down, and how ADHD brains navigate energy highs and crashes.

Episode Highlights

ADHD, Burnout, and the Struggle to Stop

Justine and Lisa unpack the ADHD energy cycle—how momentum can feel unstoppable, leading to burnout before you even realize it. They explore why slowing down feels impossible for ADHD brains and how the drive to “do all the things” can push past the point of exhaustion.

Overfunctioning, Work, and ADHD Identity

The duo reflects on the unique pressures of work when your brain is wired for overachievement. They explore how ADHD passion-fueled hyperfocus can lead to taking on too much, and why rest often feels like an afterthought rather than a necessity.

The Emotional Load of ADHD & Parenting

From juggling work to supporting neurodivergent kids, Justine and Lisa explore how parenting with ADHD adds another layer of complexity. They discuss the emotional toll of always being ‘on’ and the challenge of balancing personal well-being with caregiving responsibilities.

Recognizing the Early Warning Signs of Burnout

ADHD brains tend to push through exhaustion—until they hit a wall. The hosts break down the subtle (and not-so-subtle) signs that burnout is creeping in, from emotional dysregulation to losing patience over small things, and the importance of listening to your body before reaching total depletion.

Key Takeaways

🔥 Momentum Feels Addictive – The more you do, the harder it is to stop, making burnout a common cycle for ADHDers.

🧠 The ADHD Brain Struggles with Rest – Downtime doesn’t come naturally, and pausing often feels uncomfortable or unproductive.

💡 Early Signs Matter – Tolerance dropping, emotional swings, and physical exhaustion are all warning signs that a crash is coming.

⚡ Self-Awareness is Key – Recognising burnout before it fully takes hold allows for course correction and recovery.

Next Episode Preview

Coming up next, Justine and Lisa dig into over-functioning, ADHD work cycles, and the relentless drive to “do more” — even when it’s unsustainable. They’ll share insights on setting boundaries, prioritising rest, and why ADHD people often tie their identity to productivity.

From decoding why some projects get abandoned mid-sprint to exploring how ADHD brains can redefine success, this episode is a must-listen for anyone trying to balance ambition with well-being.

👉 Find Us & Join the Community

🔗 Find out more about us: brnwld.com/podcast

🔗 Join us for group coaching in our online community: members.brnwld.com

🔗 Follow on Socials: @brnwldADHD

🎧 Hit play and join the conversation, because ADHD brains are built for more, but we don’t have to burn out getting there.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Bourn Wild podcast. I'm Justine and together with my partner in Chaos Lisa

(00:07):
we're here to get loud, laugh and keep it real about living with ADHD.
Welcome to Bourn Wild where we cover 20 topics in 5 rick.
And don't say the actual thing that we did a week's worth of planning on said no ADHD person ever.
If you want the outcome of what we talked about check into the next episode.
Yeah, or just you know download the fucking worksheet and we won't do it.

(00:31):
We've moved on with Bourn now.
Yeah we do have visuals if you want to do your own research.
But look why don't we get on to what we actually plan to talk about.
This is going to be hilarious. I love this already. Just so good.
So we finally get ourselves set up and then Google Chrome decides on my side that there needs to be an update.

(01:03):
Oh that's irritating. And then shit's itself.
That's why I hate technology. It gives me a shit's nest.
So welcome back again to Bourn.
We don't like to do one take.
Oh when I was at Movie World I saw those little snappy things.
I should have caught one. They're only like five bucks.

(01:26):
I should get one. Sorry I need to take a bite of my food.
One second.
There's nothing quite like starting the new year so burnt out that the brain's just not functioning at all.
We're going to get into all the things because you've had such a run of challenges.

(01:54):
And then I just got on this fucking nutty perfectionist relentless can't stop won't stop.
I pitched you as that car like you said before that meme you sent me of like that car hooning around the dirt track.

(02:15):
And you know and I always say it's like that bullet wine rolling down the hill and the more weight you collect on it the faster it goes.
And I get in the states where I can't like stopping it gets really really hard when it's rolling down the hill at full pelt.
That's how like the ADHD brain and energy I think works like the more you do the more hits you get it's harder to switch it off and slow down.

(02:39):
Yeah it's interesting like I've been reflecting you know the beauty of the work we do as you develop these really deep self listening skills to be able to stop and look at yourself more than I ever used to.
And I've been trying to reflect on whether I've ever had this kind of like burnout experience because you know people with that HD talk about it and there's a lot of you know conversation about it in social media and you know people having all the wisdoms about it and this and the other.

(03:16):
And so I was trying to see if there'd been one quite like this and I and I feel objectively that there hasn't been one quite like this and and I think that there's a big difference for me.
Now being medicated and for ADHD and how that the impact that has but also the purpose that I have that shifted with the work that we're doing and it just yeah I'd love to explore that bit at some point in our chat but.

(03:53):
We were starting to reflect on yeah the wheels kind of you know getting the speed wobbles right around the time that you went on holiday with your kids and then I double down on work and then you came back and really a lot of stuff to juggle and then Christmas.
Yeah.

(04:14):
And I think I was asking you how yeah how you feeling.
Yeah surprisingly I think I go okay when I've got huge purpose like purpose and contentment and stuff like especially at the moment I said to you like my I'm on holidays from my other full time.

(04:36):
So I'm not I don't know it's enjoyable juggle at the moment and I'm writing at my own pace at the moment so I think that's really helping me like I can just wake up when I want I can snooze on the couch when I want and I've been having like little afternoon nanny naps for like 15 minutes.

(04:57):
And it's made me sad it's like how sad is it that we can't like I operate so well and I'm just running at my own pace and I can wake up and have coffee and exercise hook into work and I achieve more like I've renovated the office and I've like.
And I feel better so it's funny so normally when I'm squeezing everything into a schedule that doesn't fit anything and I do get really tired and cranky and burn out every week.

(05:29):
But yeah I'm on holidays at the moment so I'm thinking life's bloody fabulous.
But that's interesting because I think that objectively that's how I am to normally when I'm not in a full time gig.
It's what you say you can run things a bit more at your own pace and you you do more of the things that make you feel good and.

(05:55):
And it used to be like that but this time it's been really eye opening because I.
I'm running my own business in a way that I didn't it's very it's different it's different than I used to do it.
The drive is an internal one what rather than an external one and by that I mean that I'm I used to be in the business of advertising where I would develop campaigns and work for clients or other agencies.

(06:35):
So there was a distance on the work like a distance on the work that I was doing it wasn't my passion project or my thing and I've done.
Passion projects before but still with others in a different way I don't know if I'm making any fucking sense my brain is so.

(06:58):
I think in my head where I'm I think the difference is time with you and this burnout is.
We've we've created the book like you've had the Bourne Wild Mansion being built in your head for a long time.
And then we've joined forces and we're really both following our path and eliminating things and adding things and like.

(07:23):
So there's extra work because like it's not like you're going into a normal role with an agenda and then one little goal that's structured that you know you know one direction we can create our own and because both our brains are so.
Creative and full on we've had we've had lots of ideas lots of things happening like so you and then like oh hang on I gotta go do kids and kids have had lots happening and then.

(07:52):
Like families have had lots happening and the spaces are all intertwined so you don't get a breather either and then the transitions of having to go one to the other like.
It's just level and level of exhausting things for the ADHD brain that have all been thrown at you I feel particularly.
Well and I think that the the the line of sight on the future state has for me had such.

(08:23):
Definite clarity for such a long time and the cognitive bandwidth to develop.
The born wild offering that is going to market properly this year.
Is like unlike anything that I've really done before in the breadth of.

(08:47):
Not only intellectual property but like the creative the technical the.
Organizational structural like it's all of the component parts it really is that yeah all on balls to the wall start up idea that.
Being.
I would say an ambition for the better part of 12 years to have that thing and for a long time I couldn't access my brain in a way.

(09:18):
That allowed me to find that idea that I knew that I could get behind and be passionate about and that frustrated me but.
You know I'm talking about when I stepped away from my career in the way that it had been to balance motherhood with.

(09:39):
Balance that correct balance word.
You know.
It's taken me 12 years to get to the point of.
The big aha moment of this is the thing this is the this is that once in a lifetime.

(10:01):
Idea that I've always wanted to have and I feel really proud of what is we're creating but.
It's been such an interesting relentless drive to the beyond limits of.
Mental and physical exhaustion and still wanting to overachieve it all the things which is that's the cross that's the cross that I bear yeah.

(10:29):
You know I want to do all the things well.
And particularly I don't and this is the bit that we've talked about before with the parenting bit I don't want to.
Go backwards in the forwards momentum that we as a family have made in you know my kids are really thriving yeah right and that's because of the sacrifice that.

(10:55):
We make to put them first in their sort of higher needs and helping to co regulate and scaffold the experiences and even just the diagnostic journey which so many parents go on with their kids which is you know it's fraught it's hard it's exhausting yeah.
Finding out your own neurodiversities in the mix so this is a level of high vibration performance and burnout that I don't think I've quite had in this way because I always used to somehow managed to balance it.

(11:29):
Yeah.
The drivers were different I think was the point that I kind of got.
And I think they've all been really important to you so you've been giving 150% in about three or four areas.
And at some yeah there's only so long and then and 150% is like it's pretty extreme like you kind of stopped we got one thing done and then you like disappeared and renovated a whole room and knocked out a door and like.

(12:03):
You had the physical thing happening to.
Yeah which is a weird one isn't it.
Sorry I cut you off.
Let me come back to the other sprint and like we do a bit more of sprint and do something else and then figuring out we're sending you sending gear to me and we're figuring this and that it's it's a lot.
And I think that I think that this mirror you know I think a lot of people go through this you know and you know yes there's that masking component in there.

(12:39):
But one of the things I thought would be really interesting to talk about just on this topic is what the early warning signs are because I've had them for a while and I've kept trying to recalibrate on the fly.

(13:02):
And I have to a point but there was definitely a tipping point and I'm keen.
If you are to talk about what those physical things are and what that what the first things are that that go my tolerance for everything.
I think it's my first thing so little things I feel like I roll hardcore at the smallest stuff that's added to my plate.

(13:33):
Like I think that's my first sign.
Because I just like I can't keep in the in the script that goes with that.
Like I can't keep doing this like I'm so over it and I just hate it like the negativity bias is hardcore.
My tolerance for everything and everyone.

(13:55):
Just so.
Emotional regulation.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you find that you're because it's interesting that idea of tolerance you're saying you become intolerant but are you compromising a lot at that point.
Are you having to do a whole bunch of shit.
No completely like I'm a single mom so.

(14:16):
Right so you're the tolerations these things that you're like you're having to put your your needs secondary to the needs of others at that point.
Yeah.
And the emotional and work schedule the school schedule the kids schedule.
And then and then when I've got something I'm passionate about that I want to do like renovating and off like making an office and doing our born wild stuff.

(14:40):
I get the whole how am I ever going to do like I yeah I guess it's the whole.
Priority thing just blows up and I'm yeah I get a bomb and that's that that's where the emotional regulation just turns into a cyclone for me I think.
There you have it folks that's the first part of our conversation around the burnout that commenced this year.

(15:08):
And next episode we're looking forward to going a little deeper on that as Lisa and I continue our conversation on exactly how burnout.
Shows up for us and the things we've learned along the way to build self awareness but really the takeaway from today's session is that when we acknowledge where this is all coming from like the where we fall down and build that awareness around that moment in our process where we can feel it unraveling and as I said you know it's that point where I find myself doubling.

(15:48):
Down on things that I can really start to build a way of doing it differently and so I guess that's the point that I wanted to make was that if you have been experiencing repeated rounds of burnout or overwhelm or really any of the symptomology of ADHD when it's at its worst the acknowledgement of it without shame is really important because we can't overcome these challenges if we're continuing to sort of conceive.

(16:18):
We can't really see what's really going on so one of the things that we believe strongly in the evidence based support that is that when we're able to share what's going on in a safe space and acknowledge it and and and we can be validated in how challenging it is that's enough sometimes to move us forward to just go yeah it is really bloody hard some days but that's okay that's life and and have someone there that's able to listen so that's entirely why we

(16:47):
created born wild members which we launched late last week so if you're keen to check it out we've got a free option where you can sign up jump on a free webinar call with Lisa and I and experience that in a way that allows you to try before you buy if you're ready to jump in we're offering our membership at 50% off we really believe strongly in democratising access to consistent support because change happens over a long period of time.

(17:17):
And we're stronger together so can access all of that at members dot b r n w l d dot com we also have a really exciting March coming up where Lisa and I finally get to meet in real life some of you might find it hilarious that we've had the whole first couple of years of our relationship completely online but many a great love story starts that way these days so

(17:46):
we're getting together to deliver training to some incredible mental health practitioners who are in the trenches dealing with our most vulnerable members of the community so we're super excited to do that but that also means we get to be in a room together so we will figure out a way to document that and probably come to live while we're together if you want to know more you can sign up to our newsletter on LinkedIn which is all about

(18:15):
the ADHD you can handle. Thanks so much for joining us and until next time stay wild.