The Burnout Recovery Podcast

Culture isn't something that happens to you. It's something you're already participating in — whether you lead a team, belong to one, or sit somewhere in between.
This week, Dr Jo shares what a window taught her about workplace culture, why Appreciative Inquiry might be the most underused tool in healthcare teams, and how you can shape the environment around you — regardless of your job title.
In this episode:
Why small environmental details signal something much bigger about belonging
What Appreciative Inquiry is (and why it's not toxic positivity)
The neuroscience of deficit-focused workplaces — and what chronic "what's wrong here" culture does to your prefrontal cortex
How a two-minute huddle can change the temperature of an entire day
Culture by design vs. culture by default drift
Researchers referenced: David Cooperrider (Appreciative Inquiry), Dr Kim Cameron (positive organisational scholarship), Dr Christina Maslach (lack of community as a burnout driver), Harvard Centre for Sleep and Cognition
This week's action step: Try one appreciative question — with yourself or your team. When were we at our best? or What went well today? Just one. Notice what shifts.
Connect with Jo: 📲 IG/FB: @burnoutrecoverydr 💼 LinkedIn: drjobraid 📩 Newsletter: drjobraid.com/subscribe 🤝 Coaching waitlist: drjobraid.com/coaching Supported by MIGA — medical indemnity for Australian healthcare professionals.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it look like to build a big clinical career and stay well doing it?
This week Jo sits down with Dr Jennifer Coller — senior cardiologist, regional practitioner, and founder of Pulse Point Academy — to find out. Jen's burnout never stopped her showing up to work. But it quietly hollowed out everything outside of it. What changed wasn't willpower. It was systems, environment, and intentional design.
In this episode:
Why the clinicians most at risk are often the ones who care the most
How Jen redesigned her environment to make sustainability the default
The power of micro-recoveries over waiting for annual leave Identifying your personal yellow flags before you need them
Women's heart health — the gaps that are still being missed
About Dr Jennifer Coller: Senior cardiologist based in Shepparton, VIC, and founder of Pulse Point Academy — delivering accessible, evidence-based cardiovascular education to regional and rural clinicians across Australia. 🌐 pulsepointacademy.com.au
Reflection question: Where are you relying on willpower to sustain something that probably needs a system?
Connect with Jo: @BurnoutRecoveryDr | Dr Jo Braid on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sunday Long Game newsletter — https://drjobraid.com/subscribe Free 25-minute coaching consultation — https://drjobraid.com/coaching Proudly supported by MIGA. www.miga.com.au
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're halfway through 2026. And if your year has been relentless with very little genuine recovery built in — this episode is your reset.
The most downloaded episode of this podcast ever is "How to Recover from Burnout" — over 2,100 listens. That question never stops being relevant. So today we go deeper.
I share the four signals your mind and body send before you crash, and one concrete reset for each. No grand overhaul. Just tools you can use this week.
📸 Screenshot this:
SIGNAL 1 — "I'm tired even after I sleep"
RESET: 5 minutes of intentional rest before you leave work. No phone. No to-do list. Just stop.
SIGNAL 2 — "My brain feels like it's running too many tabs"
RESET: 3-minute brain dump. Everything unfinished out of your head and onto the page.
SIGNAL 3 — "I'm doing everything and resenting all of it"
RESET: One boundary this week. You know which one.
SIGNAL 4 — "I don't remember why I chose this"
RESET: Write down one moment this week where you made a difference. Just one.
Start with the signal that made you uncomfortable when I named it.
🔗 Free 25-min consultation call: https://drjobraid.com/coaching
🔗 The Sunday Long Game newsletter: https://drjobraid.com/subscribe
📲 @theburnoutrecoverydoctor | Dr Jo Braid on LinkedIn
🩺 Doctors Who Coach Doctors | https://www.doctorswhocoachdoctors.net/
Supported by MIGA: www.miga.com.au
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High performers are exceptional at supporting others. They are often much less exceptional at being supported themselves.
In this episode, Dr Jo Braid unpacks why professional isolation is so common in healthcare — and what to actually do about it.
You'll hear: Why medical culture trains us to see help-seeking as weakness - The neuroscience of social connection and what chronic isolation does to your decision-making - The difference between a mentor, a coach, and a peer — and why you need all three - The three-column support audit tool - The debrief walk and why movement + connection is a different thing to either alone
Research referenced: - Dr Matthew Lieberman (UCLA) — the social brain and reward pathways - Dr Amy Edmondson (Harvard) — psychological safety and team performance - JAMA research — one trusted person and burnout outcomes in physicians Action step this week: Do the support audit. Three columns: Mentor / Coach / Peer. Five minutes. Honest answers. Pick the most depleted column and identify one name.
This podcast is supported by MIGA: www.miga.com.au
Connect with Jo: 🎙 Newsletter — The Sunday Long Game: https://drjobraid.com/subscribe 📞 Free 25-min coaching consultation: https://drjobraid.com/coaching 📲 Instagram/Facebook: @TheBurnoutRecoveryDr 💼 LinkedIn: Dr Jo Braid
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've been told that high performance means giving everything you've got. But what if that's exactly what's burning you out?
In this episode — part two of the four-part series The High Performer's Paradox — Dr Jo Braid unpacks the 80% rule: the counterintuitive idea that deliberately leaving something in the tank isn't a sign of weakness or laziness. It's one of the most strategic things a high performer can do.
Drawing on sports science, neuroscience, and real-world clinical examples, Jo explores why chronically running at full capacity quietly destroys the very cognitive resources that make you exceptional at your job — and what to do instead.
Whether you're in the emergency department, the boardroom, or building your own business, this episode will change how you think about capacity, reserve, and what sustainable high performance actually looks like.
In This Episode:
The Japanese concept of hara hachi bu — and why a 2,500-year-old eating principle has everything to do with burnout recovery
Why operating at "100%" is often not 100% at all — and the patient safety implications that follow
The neuroscience behind why cognitive decline under chronic overload is gradual, insidious, and easy to miss
The Yerkes-Dodson performance curve — what it tells us about effort, output, and the ceiling we refuse to acknowledge
How elite athletes use the 80/20 training split — and how it directly applies to your professional life
Practical tools across all four pillars: Sleep, Support, Mindset, and Movement
Thanks to MIGA for sponsoring this episode: www.miga.com.au
Connect with Dr Jo:
Instagram / Facebook: @TheBurnoutRecoveryDoctor
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drjobraid
Newsletter: The Sunday Long Game — weekly evidence-based strategies for burnout recovery → drjobraid.com/subscribe
Free 25-minute coaching consultation → drjobraid.com/coaching
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.