Tips to help women avoid burnout on the job

Many Caribbean women in professional spaces feel persistently tired or emotionally drained at work, without always recognising it as burnout. Dr Kerriann Peart, a Jamaican-born leadership strategist now based in Barbados, has observed that many women in high-pressure roles gradually push through fatigue and emotional strain, interpreting it as ambition or responsibility – something she has experienced herself. Today, she shares five practical tips women can use to protect their well-being and prevent burnout at work.

Burnout rarely arrives as a single dramatic event. For Peart, who holds a PhD in international psychology with a focus on organisational and systems psychology, the first time it appeared in her career, it was gradual.

“Physically, I was just tired. Even after sleeping through the night. My body often felt tense, and I remember thinking that feeling exhausted was just part of being driven and responsible; especially growing in my corporate career,” she told Lifestyle. “Emotionally, I became more irritable and less patient, and I felt strangely disconnected from work I once enjoyed.”

Peart has spent her career carving out a new path for Caribbean women in leadership. Not because the region lacks brilliance or drive, but because too many women burn out trying to conform to systems never designed with them in mind.

Growing up in Jamaica before moving to the United States for college in 2001, she built a career spanning HIV/AIDS advocacy, healthcare, education, and corporate leadership. Yet beneath the accolades, she saw the hidden emotional cost of navigating workplaces where her cultural instincts and communication style were often misunderstood or undervalued.

Those experiences mirrored what she observed in her own parents, the subtle erosion of confidence and identity that comes from constantly adapting to dominant cultures. “I saw early how displacement affects people,” she shared, adding, “Their brilliance didn’t change, but their sense of belonging did.”

That recognition eventually became her calling. In 2020, after years of high performance and pressure, Peart hit a wall. The burnout was so severe that she could no longer ignore its message.

What made it difficult to recognise, she said, was how easily the symptoms were normalised, “I had learned, like many Caribbean women, that strength meant endurance, and that stopping to listen to your body was a bit of a luxury. I bought into this ‘wait and see’ mentality regarding my own well-being.”

Peart noted that in many Caribbean workplaces, resilience and endurance are celebrated without enough attention to the cost. Women often carry invisible labour: being the reliable one, the fixer, the emotional stabiliser in the room.

“The most challenging boundary for many Caribbean women is around emotional and invisible labour,” she explained. “Many have been socialised to believe that their value is proven through endurance and helpfulness. Saying ‘no’, delegating, or even pausing to assess capacity can feel like a personal failing rather than a professional necessity.”

Peart emphasised the importance of what she calls a deliberate pause for recalibration. This is not just self-care but a leadership practice: taking a moment to separate urgency from responsibility improves focus, decision-making, and presence.

Building on this approach, maintaining well-being isn’t about stepping away from ambition. It’s about making intentional choices every day. Recognising early signs of fatigue, setting small boundaries, and creating space to reflect can help women protect both their health and effectiveness at work. These strategies have been honed over years of working with professionals across the Caribbean and diaspora, grounded in real-world challenges and cultural insight.

PRACTICAL TIPS

Practical steps for sustaining wellness include listening to the body early. Fatigue, irritability, and numbness are not weaknesses – they are signals. “The earlier you respond, the less drastic the reset needs to be,” Peart explained

She also challenges the belief that rest must be earned. Many Caribbean women grow up thinking that downtime comes only after everything else is done, but Peart reframes rest as essential, not optional, “Rest isn’t a reward. It’s a requirement and a strategic leadership tool.”

Small, consistent boundaries are another cornerstone of her approach. Rather than overhauling their schedules entirely, she advises women to protect one evening a week, a lunch break, or a meeting-free block of time. “Small, steady steps create real change,” she noted.

Creating space to reflect, not just recover, is equally important. Journalling, coaching, or quiet check-ins help women notice patterns before burnout takes over. “Reflection allows you to step back and recalibrate before stress becomes unmanageable,” Peart said.

Finally, she urges women not to wait until breaking point to seek support. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it is a way of caring for oneself differently and sustainably.

“For me, wellness isn’t about stepping away from ambition or responsibility,” Peart added. “It’s about learning how to manage both with more [self] compassion, clarity, and self-respect.”

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com