Burning bright

13 Jun 2025

I was home late again from the office. 

I went in through the door. Thinking of toast then bed. My wife was waiting up. Standing in the kitchen. Looking directly at me. 

“You said this would stop!!”. I nervously smiled, shrugging it off. “It’s 10pm!!”. 

I had just come off the biggest campaign of my career. 

For many months, working many hours. Replying to messages at whatever time. In early, back late. Saying yes to more and more. Work piling up.  

Cancelling plans, skipping date night and being completely mentally unavailable. 

But at work, I was flying. Happy clients, pay rises and promotions. 

The trouble was, that the reality of it all, was very different. 

You know something is wrong when you normalise abnormal behavior. 

Retching before every meeting. To the point I was nearly sick. 

Adrenaline pumping. My mind telling me to run, just run, get out of whatever place I was in. Eyeing up the exits. Pre-planning my excuses. Imagining what people might say. 

Days to gear myself up before any sort of work related thing. Spinning out before, hiding in the loos, pinching my trembling hands. Waking up everyday feeling like someone was squeezing my head harder and harder. 

I remember this, because it was exactly around my 30th birthday. 

I went home to see my parents. 

My mum asked me “how’s work’? 

I broke. 

The flood gates opened. 

I cried and cried and cried. 

I was done. 

I had nothing left.

I was burnt out. 

The real cost of burn out

I had time off. Time away. Time to regroup. 

Sessions with a coach turned theorist my old agency provided. This massively helped. 

But a year and a half after it happened, only then, I started to feel more like myself. 

It happened to my wife. Balancing being a mother and running a business. 

It happened to my Dad, just a few years from retirement. 

No matter who you are. You probably have or know someone with their own story of burn out. 

The thing is, the cost of burn out isn’t just to businesses, the economy and national productivity. 

It’s the emotional torment to you and everyone around you. 

It’s the scars it leaves all over. 

There is no magic wand. 5 step process. But there is one thing that is true. We see this same cycle again and again. 

For what? A campaign everyone has now forgotten. Job titles no one cares about.

Missing out on dinners, weekend plans and spending quality time with friends and family. 

We can write reports, highlight stats and write open letters. 

But we also need to share our own experiences. We need to be vulnerable. We need to speak up and tell more home truths. Rather than sweeping it under the rug. 

We have large events like Cannes, SXSW, whatever. We smile. Say large statements. False promises. Clap the best and brightest. 

But under the surface. Years of restructures, redundancies and cuts. 

People are burning. 

They’re leaving. They’re not happy. 

Just look closely on the office floors, Zoom calls and NPS scores. 

If we’re going to change this. We need to share more and open up. 

We need to talk about the reality of the hustle culture we glamorise.  

Because what you read online is doing more harm than good. 

Companies are taking our time and selling it back to us. 

Remember, your time is yours.

Guard it with your life. 

Let’s stop focusing on grabbing headlines about AI and speak more to the reality of the halls of adland we walk.