Employee takes 3 weeks of PTO, returns to work feeling as burnt out as he did before the vacation: 'My motivation for work is basically gone.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Mar 5, 2026 8:00 PM EST

It takes more than three weeks to heal from burnout.

If you've ever experienced burnout, you know that it's not something you can quickly overcome. It has become a catch-all term for feeling tired from work, but that's not what burnout is at all. It's a state of exhaustion that you just can't shake. It can't be healed by taking a weekend trip to Fire Island, or even a week-long trip to California. It can take years and a complete shift in your routine to feel like you've truly recovered from burnout, and most of us don't have years' worth of savings to take time off work and heal. 

You can heal from burnout while working, but you have to change either your job or decrease the amount of work you're doing every day. If you willingly choose to work 12-hour days, even though your job doesn't demand that from you, you have to accept that you're not going to get as much work done in an 8-hour workday, and you need to be okay with that. You have to become comfortable with the idea of disappointing your boss, even though that might make you both uncomfortable. Otherwise, you're going to keep grinding until your body literally starts shutting down from stress and exhaustion. 

If you have to work 12-hour workdays because you'll get fired otherwise, it's a lot more difficult to find the energy to apply for new jobs when you are exhausted. But if you have to do it for three months to escape from a horrible environment, it will be worth it. You can finally relax when you get a job that lets you leave at 5 instead of forcing you to work a bunch of unpaid overtime. 

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  • A man sitting at a desk talking on a cell phone
    via Toa Heftiba (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I took 3 weeks of PTO and still feel completely burned out. Has anyone else experienced this?

    I'm honestly trying to understand what's going on with me and whether other people have experienced something similar.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • I've been at my company for several years and my job is pretty mentally demanding. It's a lot of reporting, troubleshooting, solving problems, and constantly dealing with requests from different teams.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • I've always been someone who works hard and tries to do a good job, so for a long time I just pushed through the stress.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Recently I took about 3 weeks of PTO, and I really thought that would reset me.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • One thing that's been happening for a while now is that literally every weekend I sleep most of the day.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • A man sleeping on a bed next to a stack of books
    via Nubelson Fernandes

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I expected to come back feeling refreshed and motivated again. But the weird thing is... I don't feel better at all.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Like I'm hibernating. I'll wake up late, maybe eat something, and then end up going back to sleep.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Even after all that sleep I still feel drained. It feels like my brain just crashes after the work week.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • On top of that, my motivation for work is basically gone. I used to care a lot about solving problems and doing good work, but lately I just feel really checked out.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • I also feel like my manager doesn't really care about me or my growth, which probably makes it worse.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Handsome mature businessman with tablet sitting on a desk in the office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The part that confuses me is that I just took a long break and it didn't seem to help.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Right now I mostly just feel exhausted and disconnected from my job. I've been talking about it with my therapist, but I'm curious if anyone else here has gone through something similar.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • If you've experienced serious burnout, what actually helped you recover? Did you change jobs? Did you take a longer break?
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Did your motivation eventually come back? I'm just trying to understand if this is something people get through or if it's a sign that something bigger needs to change.
    via u/General_Wheel5114
  • Level-Surprise2427 the weekend hibernation thing is real and its actually one of the biggest burnout red flags imo. went through this exact same thing about 2 years ago. took a week off felt nothing. the problem wasnt that i needed rest it was that my nervous system was stuck in survival mode 24/7 and no amount of PTO fixes that. what actually helped me was switching jobs. not because the new job was less stressful but because it broke the pattern. new environment new people new problems that di
    via u/Level-Surprise2427
  • merriment444 I just saw a video that says, "burnout recovery is 3-5 years, not a weekend at the spa" and that totally makes sense to me. Experienced extreme burnout in April 2024, by November 2024, I was shocked that I'm actually still recovering. I don't think you can rush the process. Coming back to yourself is way harder than losing yourself.
    via u/merriment444
  • xginahey Not to be like cray... off topic... but random advice to try.... get your blod levels checked. I found out I was super anemic like this and I thought I was just hella depr sed, nope just chronically weak. It was the most night and day. Work still s... ks but I feel like I have energy to do the stuff (mostly after hours, taking care of myself etc) I thought everyone else just could and I couldn't.
    via u/xginahey
  • Interesting Peach541 Are you edible for FMLA? Mental health can be a reason why to use it.
    via u/Interesting_Peach541
  • Illustrious-Bus-6566 Change jobs. It is the only way. When you have a mentally demanding career you have to find an employer that will support a work-life balance.
    via u/Illustrious-Bus-6566
  • djai50 You're not alone, I was off for about 2 months due to a newborn... back to work and so did the stress and anxiety.
    via u/djai50
  • Murky_Cow_2555 A few weeks off can help with normal stress but burnout usually comes from long-term issues at work. If the environment, workload or management hasn't changed, your brain just goes right back into the same state when you return. The sleeping all weekend and feeling drained is also something a lot of people describe during burnout. For many people the turning point was either changing teams, setting stronger boundaries or eventually switching jobs. A break helps but if the root cau
    via u/Murky_Cow_2555

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motivation boss employee job work burnt out PTO weekend sleeping vacation
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