I thought I was tired. Turns out, I was burnt out

Being tired is practically a personality trait in corporate America—especially in 2025. Everybody is exhausted, it seems. Folks are doing fiftyleven jobs. You’re always juggling tasks, always late for the next meeting because the last one ran long. But when you’re one of the few Black employees at the gig, there’s a subconscious fear of looking like you’re in over your head, especially with the looming fear of layoffs. So you push through, even when you’re running on fumes. You go harder, telling yourself you’ll rest once you get through the busy patch. But that’s a lie. The job is a perpetual busy patch. For months, I kept telling myself I was just tired. Regular tired. The kind of tired you fix with a good night’s sleep and maybe a WFH power nap between meetings. But one random Tuesday,