Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Emily Nagoski
This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men—and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life. Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. more
277 pages, Hardcover
First published Ballantine Books
3.96
Rating
51158
Ratings
5258
Reviews
Emily Nagoski
39 books 2343 followers
The official bio is:"Emily Nagoski has a PhD in Health Behavior with a doctoral concentration in human sexuality from Indiana University (IU), and a master’s degree (also from IU) in Counseling, with a clinical internship at the Kinsey Institute Sexual Health Clinic. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships and communication, stress management, and sex education."
What all that means, really, is that I am here to teach women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies. It's a small goal in the grand scheme of things - I'm not trying to bring peace to the Middle East or repair the ozone layer - but it's a goal that I think truly does have the power to change lives and, ultimately, the world.
You can find me online:
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As the authors would say, “ugh. ”No really, I counted about five “ughs” in the initial skim through of the book. This felt not only whiny and unprofessional, but also as if they were setting me up not to take it seriously. Beyond that, it was hard to. Everyone is talking about this, so while I don’t particularly relish giving something a poor review, I just don’t want you to rush out and buy it like I did without knowing what you’re getting into. more
This is a really well-intentioned book, and I think/hope it will be helpful to a lot of people. I think the authors' advice is generally very good. However, nothing in here was particularly new to me, nor presented in a way that especially resonated. In fact, I found the sort of Tumblr-y, fandom-lite writing style--"feels". "tl;dr". more
Audiobook. read by the author. When I first saw this perky pink- book - with the title “Burnout”. I was kidding - but not completely when I said. “Paul, I have a book for you”. more
It might be a feminist book, but the idea does work for both genders I would have given this book 5 stars, except Emily and Amelia are only talking to half the population. Yes, many women have had life and choices (or lack of choices) and experienced hardship more than men over the year. Things are getting better but are not perfect yet, but as the ladies says everyone's experience is different, and a whole gender should not be judged by the few or the worst examples of it. I disagree with the premise that women are naturally more giving it nicer than men. Let's use the body shaming example in this book, noticing it was the women doing this to other women. more
I was left feeling a bit confused after finishing this book. The title implies the book is about burn-out and how to solve your stress etc, but in reality the book was only about burnout and how to actaully handle stress for 10%, while the other 90% was filled with feministic chatter about how the patriarchy has caused your burnout or stress if you are a female-identifying person. In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with books about feminism, the patriarchy and how they may or may not affect stress and burnout in women, but if I pick up a book that’s called “Burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle”, I don’t want to read about the patriarchy. I want to read about stress, and burnout, and maybe a small chapter about how the patriarchy may affect those things in women, but not 90% of the book devoted to that subject. Nevertheless, the book was relatively enjoyable and easy to read, and I enjoyed the short TLDR sections at the end of every chapter to give a quick summary of everything that was discussed in the book. more
This book is filled with so much information, and I’ve been obsessively recommending it and quoting it to just about every woman I know. It’s got so much good and general information about the stress cycle, and how to deal with it. (And anxiety, and burnout, and loneliness, and and and. ) A lot of the information applies to all humans, but this book addresses the unique stress related to being a female-type person. None of that stress will be surprising to women, but this is the first time I can think of that I’ve gotten good advice about what to do about it. more
Someday I will look back on this time in my life and point to this book as when it all changed. Yes. It’s that good. I'm a huge fan of Emily Nagoski's Come As You Are. In it, she briefly explored unlocking the stress cycle and it gave me so much to think about. more
I'm in the minority here, but Burnout was just okay. The writing style made it hard for me to take the information seriously, or to even understand the information at all. Things like writing "(ugh)" every time they talked about the patriarchy or using cutesy, made-up words because the real science is just too hard to understand made me feel condescended to and a little rage-y. For two authors who are all about feminism, they underestimate the intelligence of their audience by a lot. That kind of junk would never be in a book marketed to men. more
Emily and Amelia Nagoski are talented enough in their chosen fields but they missed their calling as professional audiobook narrators. They pack a lot of info and wisdom into their "Burnout" book but, very importantly, they are *really* fun to listen to. This book is basically for any and every woman making their way through life and shoveling the shit that comes with it. I wouldn't say I'm burnt out but stressed. Hell, yes. more
THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. EVERYBODY SHOULD READ IT. YES I AM ALL-CAPS YELLING. . more
The first chapter of this book is amazing at giving you all the tools you need to break out of burn out and stop it before it even starts. The rest is rather basic heteronormative feminism disguised as self-help with a corny writing style that tries to be hip and fun but makes it hard to take the Nagoskis seriously. . more
The only reason I picked up this book is because I went to the bookstore to pick up a different book by the same author called Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life (a truly outstanding, mind-blowing exploration of female sexuality and the female orgasm. #yesplease). While I was there, though, I saw that Emily Nagoski (and her twin sister, Amelia) just released a new book called Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Whaaaat. A book on how to calm the eff down. more
Telling me to exercise and practice gratitude to fight my soul crippling burnout is not exactly groundbreaking. Also, too many Disney references. . more
This book is such a disappointment. Buckets of crazy feminist bs in it. This sucks as a help book. It started out pretty good but turned into an annoying tirade about patriarchy and an obesity glorifying mantra. I was stressed out just reading it. more
Reading the negative reviews for this book was the most stressful thing about it. From the introduction, the authors of this book let you know what it's going to be like. They explain that this is all basic stuff (you probably know about it, but it's helpful to know why it's true). They explain that they are going to talk about the patriarchy (this should tip you off if you're not interested in a feminist perspective). They explain WHY they use stories and simple language and tl;dr and examples from pop culture instead of copy-pasting from scientific journals (People like stories. more
If you want a book about dealing with stress, read only the first chapter of this book. The brief discussion of the stress cycle was actually kind of interesting, and not something I've seen in other pop psych books. If you want a book about gender biases, skip this entirely and just read Invisible Women. That's a way more analytical, thoughtful, and thorough view of gender biases and is a terrific read. The authors of Burnout spent nearly the entire book discussing how gender inequality is a major source of stress, and virtually ignore all the things that all people have to deal with on a day to day basis that have nothing to do with gender. more
Meeeehhhh - this is exactly what you think you are going to get on a book about managing stress and nothing revolutionary. I feel as though this was the perfect book to pick up right now for the time in my life I am currently wading through, however I would recommend only reading the first and last chapters and skimming the rest. I was surprised at how many chapters talked about adjacent topics not really related to burnout. I will be hugging my dog every day for 20 seconds to complete the stress cycle every single day, since most of us do experience stress on a daily basis and we must complete the cycle in order to get through the day. I must admit I was disappointed if I'm being honest with the topics covered as most were things that have already been covered, and covered, and covered. more
It isn't every day that I say that a book has truly changed my life but this one did. This is a book that every woman should read. EVERY WOMAN. I found it to be revolutionary . it explained so much to me about why I was feeling the way that I was feeling. more
Excellent insights into everyday challenges & practical tips for navigating everyday life. The authors do a great job reading. more
Burnout is a very easy, digestible book that breaks down stress and managing burnout. Nothing in this book was particularly new for me, but this is definitely a book I will recommend to clients to assist them in understanding the nervous system and learning how to complete the stress cycle. Tl;dr takeaways from this book:- 20-60 minutes of physical activity/day helps complete the stress response cycle- Other activities that assist with completing the stress response cycle: breathing, positive social interaction, laughter, affection, crying, & creative expression- “Human Giver Syndrome” sucks- Women’s brains take twice as long as men’s to shift into a state of helplessness when under stress. - It is healthier to be 70+ pounds “overweight” than it is to be 5 pounds underweight- 42% is our day should be dedicated to rest (i. e. more
Дуже радію, що ксд не забили і переклали цю книгу ❤️ сестри чудові і прекрасно розповідають про те, що таке стрес, як він впливає на все (не банально) і як же все ж завершувати цикл стресу 🙏для мене було багато чого нового. Але лише стресом вони не обмежилися🙌багато роздумів та ідей (. ) про те, що ж таке селф-кер, як відрізнити твоє він насадженого, і як від себе "віддовбатися"😅Насправді гарна книга здорової людини про важливе та з гарними практичними порадами та вправами. more
This is the feminist book on stress I never knew I needed. I would never have picked up this book if I were judging its cover, first for the "breast cancer ribbon pink" of the cover and then for the title. I blame the publishers rather than the authors for this, though, because once inside the book is searingly feminist and offers excellent examples and tips for how to "complete the stress cycle" so that you live to smash the patriarchy another day. I don't think of myself as someone who is "burnt out," and yet I found myself relating to so much of the book. I loved the explanation of the stress cycle, human giver syndrome, and the science the book offers on these things, as well as the summaries and worksheets. more
There were some pearls scattered amongst a LOT of political rants about the patriarchy. It was too whiny for me and victimized women more than I feel is warranted. Women have far more capacity to own and direct their situation than I feel like she gave us credit for. It wasn’t my brand of feminism in that sense. I was hoping for something more empowering. more
I’m dealing with some burnout right now, and this book on burnout for women was recommended to me. The individual pieces weren’t new to me, and the kind of cutesy writing style to make it digestible is not my usual thing. But I found it useful, and I appreciated that the authors were trying to combine discussing techniques individuals can use as well as systemic problems. Some of the topics that had something to offer - - completing the stress cycle to deal with the actual stress and not just the stressors - via physical activity, social strategies, creative expression - the idea being that if you just march through your day battering through the stressors one by one without ‘completing the stress cycle’, you never come down from the keyed up state of being ready to battle them. This resonated with me, since I can get into stretches of very long, packed days filled with mess in which everything falls away other than dealing with the stressors (but not the stress itself), and then as a result the stress doesn’t get a chance to dissipate. more
This one goes in the bucket of 'will not finish'. I absolutely detested this book. There are few redeeming qualities about this self-help book aimed at addressing women's specific experiences of burnout, a topic that needs urgent discussion and thoughtful analysis. She tries to discuss this topic in a mainstream and 'relatable' manner. This is in fact, the only redeeming quality of the book. more
Much better than the average self-help book. It has all the usual good advice bits, and a few that were even new to me, specific advice for finishing the stress cycle, getting lots of rest, what self-care really looks like. I loved the "human giving" vs. "human being" discussion. The place where this book really stood out for me though, was is the acknowledgement of systemic inequality, so many self-help books want to sell the idea that you can fix all the problems in your life, and that makes me freaking crazy, because so many of hte problems women face, and more specifically women of color are a result of systemic injustice, and telling people that "self-help" can solve systemic problems is just once again blaming the victim. more
I'm not burned out, nor have I been at that point in any time since leaving libraries, but this is a damn good book, whether or not you experience burnout. There's no groundbreaking knowledge conveyed here -- we all know exercise is good for us and so is rest -- but the context the Nagoskis offer, as well as their research, offers up the why behind it. Exercise completes the stress cycle. Resting allows our brains to do a ton of work. I was kind of blown away by the fact we're to rest 40% of our days, but when they break down what that entails, it's really not that challenging (they are good about the caveats, of course). more
Twin sisters Emily and Amelia Nagoski have written a book that asks us to step back and really look at how women are pushed to the breaking point. Amelia was in doctoral school getting her doctorate, working two part-time jobs, commuting 65 miles each way and raising three teenagers. Her body rebelled and she ended up in the hospital—not just once, but twice. Emily has a Ph. D. more
I’m skeptical when it comes to self help books, but after hearing the Nagoski sisters on Smart Podcast, Trashy Books and being totally charmed by them, I knew I wanted to hear more of their ideas. The title to me is a little limited for what the book actually is: an exploration of not just burnout but the stress that causes it, with a specific focus on how stress affects women and what we can do to release some of the pressure. Some chapters will resonate more or less with different readers, but for me, the chapters on completing the cycle and the bikini industrial complex alone are worth the price of the book. I came away with a handful of concrete, actionable revelations, and the Nagoski sisters are cheerful and pleasant company (they take turns narrating the audio book). If you like Brené Brown, you'll probably find something useful here. more