Stoicism for Burnout at Work: A Practical Answer

Stoicism for burnout at work starts with Seneca’s advice to weigh the tasks you take on against the strength you have, and with Epictetus’s advice to spend your effort on the part of the job that is yours to do.

None of the three Stoics wrote about burnout by name, since the word is modern. They wrote about taking on too much, about the way a busy life uses a person up, and about the attitude we bring to our duties, and those subjects describe much of what a hard working week does to us. This post follows Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius through each of them and ends with a five minute practice for your next Monday.

What Seneca Says About Taking On Too Much

Seneca advises weighing what you plan to take on against the strength you have before you begin.

He gives this advice in On the Tranquillity of the Mind, a reply to his friend Serenus, who describes his own restlessness. The sentence asks for an honest comparison, and the comparison can come out against you. Someone who accepts every request, project and extra shift has skipped that step, and the load builds from there.

Later in the same dialogue Seneca warns about spreading yourself across many undertakings.

Each extra undertaking gives events one more thing to disrupt. By Fortune Seneca means the outside events no one controls, and the man with many commitments hands more of his day to them. His remedy is to hold every plan with a reserve, so that a delayed project or a cancelled contract does not undo you. How Seneca thought about peace of mind follows the whole argument of the dialogue, and the Seneca page introduces the man himself.

How Epictetus Sorts the Work That Is Yours

Epictetus asks his students to separate what is in their power from what is not, and to put their effort into the first.

He sets out this division in the first chapter of the Discourses, and the Stoics call it the dichotomy of control, the rule that some things are up to us and others are not.

At work the first group holds your preparation, the quality of your output, the wording of a difficult email and the hour you stop for the day. The second group holds a client’s decision, a manager’s mood, a restructuring and the size of the team. Strain often builds when we carry the second group as if it belonged to the first. The Stoic habit is to ask of each worry which group it belongs to and to act on it only if it belongs to the first. What is really in your control walks through the same sorting, and the Epictetus page introduces the teacher.

How to Read Marcus Aurelius When You Are Worn Down

Marcus Aurelius set himself a demanding standard of work, and he wrote that standard for himself, not as a rule for anyone else.

He wrote this in the private notebook we now call the Meditations, in the same passage where he tells himself on a reluctant morning that he has to go to work as a human being. He holds up people who wear themselves down for work they love as a measure for his own reluctance. A reader who already feels worn down should not take that as a target, and can set it beside Seneca’s weighing of strength and Epictetus’s sorting of what is yours. The Stoics file this kind of duty under the discipline of action, and how to stop procrastinating with Stoicism shows the other side of the same passage. The Marcus Aurelius page introduces the emperor behind it.

When a Job Feels Like a Cage

Besides everything above, many people feel locked into a job they do not like. They see no way out because they need the salary, or because their lifestyle makes them yearn for more, and so they feel they have no choice.

I believe they always do have a choice. It depends on the priorities in life, and on whether you can take a step back and ease your life by making some changes. Those changes may not come immediately, but a sign that there is a way out can release some of the pressure.

A Five Minute Practice: Weigh the Week

A weekly weighing of your load takes five minutes on a Sunday evening or a Monday morning. Take a sheet of paper and write down the three tasks that will use most of your week, such as a report due on Friday, a client call and a hiring decision. Next to each, write the hours you can honestly give it, which is Seneca’s comparison of strength with the task. Where the hours do not add up, mark the item for a conversation, a delay or a refusal.

Under each task, split your worries into two short lists with Epictetus’s rule: what is up to you, such as the first draft, the preparation and the hour you stop, and what is not, such as the client’s reply. For the most important plan, add a reserve in Seneca’s form, for example ‘I will finish the report unless something interferes.’ On Friday, look at the page and ask which load you misjudged, then adjust next week’s sheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can a Stoic handle stress at work?

A Stoic sorts each source of stress into what is in their power and what is not, acts on the first and accepts the second, as Epictetus advises in Discourses 1.1.17. Seneca adds the habit of weighing a task against your strength before you take it on. The five minute practice above combines the two, and how to practice Stoicism offers a wider set of daily habits.

Can Stoicism prevent burnout?

Stoic habits can help you notice overload earlier and decide what is yours to carry, but they do not treat exhaustion. The World Health Organization describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon that results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. If you feel exhausted for weeks, talk with a doctor or another qualified professional, and use the Stoic practices alongside that help, not instead of it.

What did Seneca say about being too busy?

In On the Tranquillity of the Mind, 13, he warns that the man who busies himself in many things often gives Fortune power over him. His remedy is to hold every plan with a reserve, in the form ‘unless something happens.’ In section 6 he adds that you should compare your strength with the tasks you intend to attempt. 10 Seneca quotes on time gathers more of his writing on how we spend our days.

What if a difficult person causes the stress?

The same sorting applies. A colleague’s or manager’s behaviour is outside your power, while your response, your preparation and your boundaries are inside it. How to deal with frustrating people takes this question further.

Want to Learn More?

If this resonated and you are ready to start building your own philosophy of life, a conversation with Benny as your Stoic coach can be a good place to begin. You can also sign up for the newsletter, The Pause, or watch or listen to the Via Stoica Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

About the Author

Benny Voncken is the founder of Via Stoica and host of The Via Stoica Podcast. He has practiced Stoicism as a way of life for over seven years and draws on almost 15 years of teaching experience to turn dense ancient ideas into daily practice. Since 2023 he has coached clients around the world through one-on-one Stoic coaching. He also leads Stoic walks across Europe, writes the monthly newsletter The Pause, and has spoken at Stoicon.