consulting burnout

The Consulting Burnout Glossary: 22 Terms Your Firm Will Never Teach You But You Need to Survive

22 precisely defined terms for consulting burnout, energy depletion, and boundary-setting — because naming what's happening to you is the first tactical move. A reference guide for MBB and Big4 analysts and associates.

consulting burnout

The Silent Suffering Tax: What Happens to Your Career When You White-Knuckle Through Burnout Instead of Addressing It

Unaddressed consulting burnout doesn't plateau — it compounds. Here's a data-informed risk framework showing the real career and health costs of white-knuckling through burnout at MBB and Big4 firms.

consulting burnout

The Paralysis Problem: Why Smart Consultants Who Know They're Done Still Can't Pull the Trigger (And the One Thing That Breaks It)

Burned-out and frozen? Learn the five fears keeping MBB and Big4 consultants stuck — and one concrete exercise that moves you from paralysis to your first real step toward leaving.

consulting burnout

Stay or Go? The Decision Framework for Consultants Who Hate Their Job But Aren't Sure Leaving Is the Answer

Burned out in consulting and not sure if you should quit? This structured Stay/Go decision framework helps MBB and Big4 analysts separate 'the job is wrong' from 'I am depleted' — before making a career-defining call from a distorted mental state.

consulting burnout

The Stress Cycle Consultants Can't Escape: Why Worrying About Work During Non-Work Hours Is Destroying Your Recovery

Consultants stuck in incomplete stress cycles can't recover even when they're technically off. Learn the neuroscience of rumination, the three cognitive loops keeping you mentally on the clock, and a 10-minute worry audit you can run tonight.

consulting exit

The Consulting Exit Timeline: How to Negotiate Your Last 4-8 Weeks So You Don't Get Staffed Into Your Own Resignation

Consultants who resign without a timing strategy end up working harder during their notice period than before they quit. Here's how to negotiate your last 4-6 weeks so you don't get staffed into your own resignation.

consulting burnout

The Workload Conversation Script: Exactly What to Say to Your Manager Without Sounding Like You're Complaining

A word-for-word script for raising workload concerns with your consulting manager — framed in the professional language of capacity and quality, not personal struggle. Three variations by manager type included.

consulting exit

How to Have the 'I'm Leaving' Conversation With Your Manager Without It Becoming a Negotiation You Lose

A tactical, word-for-word guide for Big4 and MBB consultants on how to resign from consulting — including the exact opening script, what not to say, and how to handle every manager response without getting talked out of it.

consulting burnout

The Mask Tax: What It Actually Costs You to Perform 'Fine' When You Are Not Fine at Work

Performing 'fine' when you're not has a clinical name — surface acting — and research shows it accelerates burnout independently of hours worked. Here's what it's actually costing you, and how to start reducing it without signaling weakness.

consulting burnout

The Performance Review Trap: Why Struggling Consultants Get Caught in a Loop That Bad Reviews Make Worse

Stuck in a bad review cycle at 1.5 years and wondering if you've hit your ceiling? Learn the doom loop anatomy, how to decode your last review strategically, and three tactical moves that can change your review narrative in 30 days.

consulting burnout

The Expanding Waistline, the Skipped Gym, the Third Coffee: How Consulting Quietly Destroys the Physical Habits That Protect You

Consulting schedules systematically eliminate the physical habits that protect your mental health. Here's the minimum viable recovery protocol that works inside an 85-hour week — no willpower heroics required.

consulting burnout

The 1.5-Year Trap: Why So Many Big4 Analysts Hit a Wall at Exactly This Stage (And Why It's Not About You)

If you're ~18 months into a Big4 consulting role and hitting a wall, this isn't weakness — it's structural. Here's why this specific moment is the hardest, and a clarity exercise to help you see your situation without the noise.

consulting burnout

The Language Gap: How to Explain Consulting Exhaustion to People Who Have Never Worked 85-Hour Weeks

Struggling to explain consulting exhaustion to your partner or friends without sounding dramatic? Here's a practical communication framework — including a copy-paste analogy that actually makes people understand what 85-hour weeks do to your brain.

consulting burnout

The Consulting Culture of Shame: Why 'I Should Be Able to Handle This' Is the Most Dangerous Thought in Your Head

MBB and Big4 consulting firms systematically produce shame around burnout — and that shame keeps consultants trapped long past the point of genuine harm. Here's how the loop works, what it costs, and how to think clearly about your situation.

consulting burnout

Why Your Body Is Breaking Down at 1.5 Years In — And Why That Timeline Is Not a Coincidence

If you're 1.5 years into Big4 or MBB consulting and your body is breaking down, the timeline is not a coincidence. Here's what chronic overwork actually does to cortisol, sleep, and anxiety — and why the 12-24 month mark is when systems fail.

consulting burnout

Why You Can't Explain Consulting Exhaustion to Anyone Who Hasn't Lived It (And What to Say Instead)

Can't explain consulting burnout to your partner or family? Here's a practical communication framework — with three real scripts — so you feel less invisible and more understood by the people closest to you.

burnout

The 85-Hour Week Is Not a Badge of Honor — It's a Medical Warning Sign

Averaging 85-hour weeks with a preexisting anxiety disorder? This is not a personal failure — it's a physiological event. Here's what chronic overwork actually does to your body, and a 10-question self-assessment to tell the difference between a rough patch and a real breaking point.

consulting burnout

The Burnout Diagnostic Consultants Actually Need: A 10-Point Self-Assessment (No Fluff, No Wellness Speak)

A no-fluff, 10-point burnout diagnostic built specifically for MBB and Big4 consultants grinding 80+ hour weeks. Rate yourself, interpret your score, and figure out whether you're in the Yellow Zone, Red Zone, or already in crisis — before your body makes the decision for you.