Cait Donovan burned out while working around 25 hours a week. She had time for long lunches with friends and mornings free to exercise, yet she still felt exhausted, irritated, and stuck. Years later, a single line in the burnout research gave her the answer she had been searching for.
Cait's central idea is that burnout grows out of mismatches between people and their work, their families, their coping habits, and the environments around them. Workload matters, though it is only one piece of a much bigger picture.
In this episode of Inner Propaganda, I explore the six workplace mismatches with Cait, why organizations that ignore them invite attrition and disengagement, and the personal factors that lead good people to accept mismatches in the first place. Cait also shares how she learned to disappoint people in small ways for practice, and why "pee when you need to pee" might be some of the best burnout advice you'll ever hear.
What you will discover:
Cait's brilliant new book, Mismatch: Why Good People Burn Out in Good Organizations, is out October 27, 2026. Order it now: https://caitdonovan.com/mismatch
If you enjoyed this episode, check out my new book, Inner Propaganda, where I explore the stories we sell to ourselves and how they shape what we believe and accept. The audiobook is now available for preorder.
Visit my website: https://owenfitzpatrick.com/
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Order my book, Inner Propaganda: https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Propaganda-Leading-Through-Turbulent/dp/1646872444/
