Spring Forward: Burnout and High Performance
Spring signals renewal. It’s the most common time for people to spruce up their houses. The time we breathe the sweet scent of blooms, and children outside on the swings. I always loved Spring as a child because the sight and smell of new flowers remind me of my September birthday. When the days start warming, I know I’m getting closer to that special day (which, in fact, I share with approximately 22 million other people in the world - but as a child, it felt like it was a day just for me!).
Spring isn’t just a beautiful season though. While nature blooms, our biology also responds to the change in the season and the light.
The longer daylight, warming air, and sensory awakenings all influence our energy, activity levels, and mood. Tapping into these factors can help boost performance and reduce the chance of exhaustion as we transition to a new season.
The biomedical foundations of energy and stress, seasonal rhythms, and evidence-based tools from mindfulness, body awareness, and stress physiology can all be harnessed to help people to thrive at work.
Burnout and Energy
At the root of burnout lies chronic activation of the stress response system, in particular, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Chronic stress chips away at energy reserves by disrupting cortisol rhythms and impairing sleep, mood regulation, and metabolic function.
Our bodies follow a circadian rhythm, a 24-hour internal clock that orchestrates sleep, hormones, alertness, eating, and body temperature. A balanced circadian rhythm is essential for cognitive function, emotional stability, and physical health. Changes like shift work, irregular routines, or artificial light (especially screens) can disrupt the circadian rhythm and elevate the risk of mood disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic imbalance, and cognitive decline.
The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a natural 38–75% spike in cortisol 30–45 minutes after waking. It’s role is to prepare us to face the day. If the timing of the CAR is disrupted, for example by poor sleep habits, our stress resilience and mood can suffer.
Wearable technology makes tracking these rhythms easy. They can help people gain insights into when their energy dips, when their sleep is irregular, and when their mood and rhythm are being impacted.
Spring and the rhythm of seasons
Modern lighting and busy schedules often take charge, however our bodies are wired to respond to to the daylight and seasonal rhythms of our world. Human sleep patterns are affected by daylight changes across seasons, affecting mood and overall health. Genetic differences also shape how we respond to seasonal timing. Some people’s circadian systems shift more dramatically based on the genes they inherit.
Tip 1: LIGHT
Early morning light, especially within 15-20 minutes of waking, helps regulate melatonin and cortisol, supports the circadian rhythm, boosts mood, and reduces grogginess.
Morning Light Ritual: Spend at least 15 minutes outside shortly after waking to reinforce circadian alignment. If natural light isn’t available, use a full-spectrum light source or sunrise simulator.
Evening Light Control: Dim lighting after sunset and avoid blue-screen exposure. You might try amber-tinted glasses or dimming devices to let melatonin rise naturally.
TIP 2: Nutrition
Enjoy the different fruits and vegetables of the new season as they provide new nutrients for your body. This, alongside more sunlight can help your body adapt to change and garner more energy. Spring’s abundant foods and vitamin-D-boosting light support energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, and immune modulation. Incorporate spring foods rich in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories into your day.
Asparagus and spinach are rich in magnesium, which helps regulate melatonin and supports muscle recovery; peas and broccoli provide B vitamins for cellular energy production; artichokes and zucchini are high in fibre and prebiotics that stabilise blood sugar and gut health, which influence sleep–wake cycles; and fruits like strawberries, mangoes, cherries, and papayas deliver vitamin C and natural antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress while cherries also contain melatonin to reinforce circadian rhythm.
Remember! Eeat earlier in the day and avoid heavy meals close to bedtime. Heavy digestive activity disrupts the sleep architecture of your body.
TIP 3: Mindful Movement
More than just making you feel good, mindful movement helps the body move from the stress response into the rest-and-digest response, promoting healing, good digestion, and reduced tension.
Mindful check-ins: Pause mid-morning and mid-afternoon to notice tension, energy drain, or fatigue. You can practice a few deep breaths, shoulder rolls, or grounding movements, to increase blood flow through your body.
Short micro-breaks: A 3-5 minute breathing practice or gentle stretching can reduce stress and restore focus, especially after sustained periods of mental work.
Movement with intention: A late afternoon walk can help your body align to the circadian rhythm for better sleep, and also lift your mood.
TIP 4: Adapt to CHANGE
Transitions can also unsettle rhythms. In Australia, the greatest sleep experiment ever is witnessed when clocks in several states ‘Spring forward’ an hour, with a notable impact on performance, mood, and alertness for a short time.
Work your way up to Daylight savings if you are in a state that uses it. In the week before Daylight Savings begins, shift your alarm clock forward by ten minutes a day. Give your body time to slowly get used to the new time so you can adapt more easily.
Respect Your Inner Clock
Use a wearable or sleep-tracking device to monitor sleep, activity patterns, and circadian regularity. Look for inconsistencies, like more fragmented rhythms when stress is high, and adjust routines accordingly.
Identify your chronotype (early bird vs. night owl) and align key tasks, like deep thinking, creative work, recovery, for when your energy peaks. If needed, gradually adjust your rhythm to better fit your day.
Renewal
Burnout recovery isn’t a sprint; it’s about tuning into rhythms, honouring natural ebbs, and cultivating sustainable momentum.
We can improve recovery and reduce the chance of burnout by aligning daily rhythms with the natural world, using techniques such as light exposure, mindful rest, seasonal nutrition, and awareness practices. These strategies can help you to move beyond burnout and sustain high performance gently and wisely.
References
Cho, C. H., Lee, T., Lee, J. B., Seo, J. Y., Jee, H. J., Son, H., Lee, H. J., Moon, J. H., Kang, S. G., & Yoon, H. K. (2020). Effectiveness of a smartphone application combined with a wearable activity tracker in preventing recurrence of mood disorders: A randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 7(8), e21283. https://doi.org/10.2196/21283
Lim, D., Kim, H., Kim, J., & Park, C. (2024). Accurately predicting mood episodes in mood disorder patients using wearable sleep and circadian rhythm features. npj Digital Medicine, 7(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01333-z
Lundkvist, G. B., & Rosbash, M. (2025). Circadian rhythms in metabolism and mental health: A reciprocal relationship. Molecular Metabolism, 83, 101872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2025.101872
Stenvers, D. J., Scheer, F. A., Schrauwen, P., la Fleur, S. E., & Kalsbeek, A. (2019). Circadian clocks and insulin resistance. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 15(2), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0122-1
Walker, W. H., Walton, J. C., DeVries, A. C., & Nelson, R. J. (2020). Circadian rhythm disruption and mental health. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0694-0
Zhang, Y., Wu, H., Wang, S., Chen, H., & Huang, T. (2023). Longitudinal assessment of seasonal impacts and depression associations on circadian rhythm using multimodal wearable sensing. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.02953
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