From your assessment
Phase 1: Early Activation
You are early, which is the best time to look. Here is how the Protocol keeps you ahead of it.
From your assessment
Phase 2: Compensatory Strain
Your recovery is the axis carrying this pattern. Here is how the Protocol works on it.
From your assessment
Phase 3: System Dysregulation
The Protocol was built for exactly this position. Here is how it works.
From your assessment: below the cascade threshold. At your stage, this course works as prevention.
Self-paced course for high performers
Perform at your best for the next twenty years, not just the next quarter.
The Burnout Protocol: the biology of sustainable performance
By Sonia Ouarti: MSc Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. 8 years as a senior leader at AWS.
13 short lessons for leaders, founders and ambitious professionals: what your nervous system is doing when work starts costing more than it should, and a protocol of your own to stay ahead of it.
- Instant access
- Lifetime access
- 7-day full refund
Sound familiar?
You’re still delivering. It’s costing you more every month.
- You tell people you’re fine, just tired
- The weekend takes the edge off, but the week still starts behind
- Your sharpest hours are shrinking, and decisions take longer than they used to
- You need something to get the day started, and something else to switch off at the end of it
- Rest has started to feel like something you have to earn
- Quietly, you’ve begun to wonder whether this pace is sustainable
These are the early signs of a stress response that is recalibrating: your biology running a pattern it was never designed to sustain. Caught at this stage, it is far easier to turn around. Once you understand the mechanism, you can stay ahead of it.
If you are already past this point, the Protocol works for you too: Part three is built for recovery.
The Burnout Cascade
Burnout builds in four predictable phases. The first one feels like productivity.
It is the sequence your body moves through when the stress system that makes you sharp never gets to stand down. Each phase feels different from the inside, and none of the first three feels like burnout.
-
Phase 1: Early Activation
Feels like productivity
Energised, focused, extraordinary output.
You are here
-
Phase 2: Compensatory Strain
Feels like tiredness
Body works harder. Sleep disrupted. Margin shrinking.
You are here
-
Phase 3: System Dysregulation
Feels like fog
Wired and anxious, then flat and exhausted. Fog.
You are here
-
Phase 4: Biological Burnout
This is burnout
Even basic tasks feel hard. Focus, memory and motivation drop, and rest no longer fixes it.
You are here
Predictable means the exits are marked. Every phase has a way back, and the earlier you see where you are, the shorter it is.
16 questions, an instant result, and a personal reading by email. Free.
By the end of this course, you will:
-
Understand exactly what’s happening
Why you feel this way, why it’s not your fault, and what your nervous system has been doing to protect you.
-
Have a protocol of your own
A structure built around your own biology that adapts as your work and life change, rather than a generic routine.
-
Know how to close the stress cycle
The single most important skill for staying ahead of burnout, and for keeping it from coming back.
-
Stop blaming yourself
Once you see burnout as biology, the shame lifts, and that clarity is what makes prevention and recovery possible.
-
Keep your best thinking
A regulated nervous system protects decision-making, creativity and focus, and brings them back when they have started to slip.
“Burnout makes sense when you understand the biology behind it. That clarity is what allows prevention and recovery to work.”
13 lessons. 4 parts. One clear path.
Each lesson is a single video of 10 to 15 minutes with a practical exercise workbook. Go at your own pace.
-
Part one
Understand
What burnout actually is, the biology of stress, why high performers are most vulnerable
6 lessons
- Welcome
- What Burnout Actually Is
- The Biology of Stress
- The Burnout Cascade
- Why Burnout Is So Common
- Why Burnout Is Preventable
-
Part two
Recognise
When stress stops being an event and becomes a system your body is running
1 lesson
- When Stress Becomes Systemic
-
Part three
Recover
The three pathways that close the stress cycle
3 lessons
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
- Breathing and Nervous System Regulation
- Movement and Stress Completion
-
Part four
Build
A protocol of your own, and how to keep it working
3 lessons
- Building Your Personal Recovery Protocol
- Integration Over Time
- Sustaining Recovery Over the Long Term
What changes, and when
One short lesson a week, with its workbook: the pace I recommend, so each idea has time to settle before the next. It is self-paced, so you can go faster or slower.
-
Weeks 1 to 7
You know what is happening, and why
What your stress system is doing, where you sit on the Burnout Cascade, and the signals that tell you work is costing more than it should.
-
Weeks 8 to 10
Tools that work on your worst day
Part three gives you three ways to close the stress cycle: mindfulness-based stress reduction, breathing and movement. You learn why each one works, so you can trust it when willpower will not.
-
Weeks 11 to 13
A protocol of your own
By the final lesson you have a protocol built around your own biology, and a plan for keeping it working when the pressure comes back.
Sustainable performance: your best work for the long run, without paying for it later.
The investment
£129
One-time payment. Lifetime access to the Burnout Protocol.
A fraction of what burnout costs your career.
-
13 expert video lessons
A neuroscience-based curriculum on the biology of burnout, and how high performers stay ahead of it. Ten to fifteen minutes each.
-
An exercise workbook per lesson
Practical exercises that apply what you learn to your own experience, not to a hypothetical one.
-
A protocol of your own
Grounded in your biology rather than a generic routine, and built step by step across the course.
-
Lifetime access
Return to the material whenever you need it.
-
7-day full refund
No questions asked. If it is not right for you, you get your money back.
Included at no extra cost
The Burnout Protocol comes with Performance That Lasts, my course on how high performers keep performing without burning out, and the Protocol Builder, where you build your own protocol step by step and keep your plan on one page.
7-day money-back guarantee. Instant access. Cancel the whole thing within a week and pay nothing.
Not ready to commit? Start with the free assessment.
16 questions, five minutes, and a personalised reading from Sonia in your inbox within minutes. It shows you where you actually are on the Burnout Cascade before you decide anything.
Not sure yet? Book a free 15-minute call.
Fifteen minutes with me to talk through where you are and whether the Protocol is the right next step. Free, and no pressure either way.
What others say
-
“Sonia's neuroscience-led workshop changed the conversation around burnout for our startup customers, from coping to building sustainable resilience.”
Darren Mowry VP, Google Cloud -
“After a burnout, Sonia's course gave me a plan of action I could follow and helped me accept what had been quietly building inside for years.”
Stephanie Lavocat Course participant -
“I highly recommend this coaching program to anyone looking to make meaningful changes in their life. It's an investment in yourself that truly pays off!”
Geraldine Godefroy Coaching client
Delivered to Google Cloud
100 NPS
Every participant said they would recommend it.
Grounded in
KCL & the WHO
MSc Psychology & Neuroscience. The WHO clinical definition of burnout.
Frequently asked
Is this for me if I’m not burnt out?
Yes. This is exactly who the Burnout Protocol is built for: high performers who are still delivering, but can feel it costing more than it used to. You’ll learn why burnout is preventable, how to recognise the early signs in your own nervous system, and how to build a protocol that keeps you ahead of them. The best time to do this work is while you still have the energy for it.
What if I’m already burnt out?
The Protocol works for recovery too. Part three covers the three pathways that close the stress cycle, and Part four turns them into a plan that holds up on a bad week. The lessons are short and never expire, so go at whatever pace your energy allows. This is an educational course rather than medical care, so if you are struggling a lot, please speak to your GP or a qualified practitioner as well. If you are unsure whether now is the right time, book a free 15-minute call with me first at aidacoaching.com/book.
Who is the Burnout Protocol for?
Mid-career professionals, leaders and founders who look fine from the outside but feel something is off, even if they can’t quite name it. If you’re pushing through tiredness, if rest doesn’t restore you the way it used to, if your thinking feels slower than it should, the Protocol shows you what’s happening biologically and gives you a plan to change it. You don’t need to be in crisis to start.
Is this a replacement for therapy?
No. The Burnout Protocol is an educational course grounded in neuroscience. It will help you understand the biology of burnout and build a protocol of your own, but it is not therapy or medical advice. If you are in crisis, please seek professional support.
How long does it take to complete?
The course has 13 video lessons. We recommend watching one per week to allow time for integration and exercises. But it’s entirely self-paced, so go faster or slower as you need.
Is there live support, or is it all on my own?
The course is self-paced, with no live sessions, so you can work through it whenever it suits you. If something comes up that you would like to talk through, you can book a free 15-minute call with me at aidacoaching.com/book.
Do I need any prior knowledge?
None at all. Everything is explained from first principles. Whether you’re new to neuroscience or have a background in it, the course meets you where you are.
What's the refund policy?
Full refund within 7 days of purchase, no questions asked. If the course isn’t right for you, we’ll refund your payment in full.
Buying for a team?
The Burnout Protocol gives leaders and their teams the biology of sustainable performance: a shared language for what pressure does to the body, and a protocol each person builds around their own nervous system. If you would like places for your team, or the course alongside a workshop, get in touch and we can work out what fits.
The best time to understand burnout is before it takes hold.
If you’re wondering whether this is for you, that question is usually the answer. You don’t need to be in crisis to start. You only need to be curious about why work has started to cost more than it should.
7-day money-back guarantee · Instant access · Lifetime access