People don’t burn out overnight.

“She’d been tired more often lately.” “He suddenly started making unusual mistakes.” “She kept saying that it was all getting a bit much.”

People don’t suddenly burn out. But looking back, it can sometimes feel as if everyone saw it coming. Afterwards, we can connect the dots. But… Afterwards.

Being tired, making a mistake, or thinking “just switch the lights off and leave me here” obviously doesn’t automatically mean someone is heading for burnout.

It’s rarely about one single signal. It’s about change. What was normal for this person? And what are we seeing now?

That becomes harder when we see less and less of each other. Staff shortages, packed calendars and high workloads don’t exactly help. Before we know it, we’re caught in a vicious circle:

More pressure → less connection → less awareness of each other → signals noticed later → bigger problems → possible absence → even more pressure.

Not exactly a cycle most of us thrive on.

And sometimes you only notice how rushed life feels at home when you’ve spent some time somewhere where the pace is just a little different.

When Karen and I caught up after our holidays, we realised we had both brought home much the same feeling. How good it feels to be somewhere where people make time for each other. Not rushing from one appointment to the next. Making time to sit together. To have lunch. To be somewhere without constantly thinking about what comes next. To let a conversation unfold and see where it goes.

In the southern countries we visited, there seems to be much more room for that. More calor humano. Human warmth. Not that everything is better or perfectly organised there. We’re not that romantic. But that attention to each other felt genuinely valuable.

Because the better you know someone, the sooner you notice when something changes. When someone becomes quieter. Has less energy. Gets a shorter fuse. Or starts working even harder while their battery has actually been running on reserve for quite some time.

You really don’t need to be a psychologist for that. After all, “I’m fine” doesn’t sound the same every time.

We Dutch are pretty good at getting things organised. Solving problems. Rolling up our sleeves. Preferably efficiently, too. Very Dutch. Very practical.

And those are good qualities, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes we get so busy keeping everything running that we forget to really look at each other.

Maybe mental resilience isn’t only about being able to carry more. Maybe it’s also about slowing down. Recognising your boundaries. Asking for help. And making space for the people around you.

Our wish for this autumn? To bring a little of that summer slowness into working life.

Not everything has to be faster. Not everything has to be more efficient. Sometimes lunch can just be lunch. And sometimes a genuine “How are you?” gives you more than another hour of meetings.

A little southern vibe in the workplace. Sounds like a pretty good idea according to us.