Home topics news News News Forget New Year resolutions, install these burnout blockers instead Yajush Gupta January 6, 2026 Burnout specialist Nick Orchard urges Australians to scrap resolutions and install simple prevention systems instead. What’s happening : Burnout specialist Nick Orchard urges Australian professionals to abandon New Year resolutions and adopt burnout blockers instead. Simple preventative systems protect against rising stress as Bupa reports 70% of working Australians experienced burnout in 2025. Why this matters : Burnout costs Australian businesses an estimated $14 billion annually, yet workplace wellness programmes miss the mark by addressing problems after damage occurs. The crisis extends beyond individual wellbeing to organisational productivity. As Australians return to work in 2026, burnout specialist and founder of The Big Refresh Nick Orchard delivers a counter-intuitive message: scrap the resolutions. Instead, Orchard urges professionals to install burnout blockers, simple preventative systems designed to protect against rising stress and exhaustion before crisis strikes. The advice comes as burnout reaches crisis levels across Australia. In 2025, Bupa reported 70% of working Australians experienced burnout. The 2025 TELUS Mental Health Barometer found 41% were under constant stress, and more than one-third at high mental health risk. The insidious creep Orchard explains that burnout operates differently than most professionals expect. “Burnout doesn’t hit us like a truck. It’s an insidious creep that takes hold slowly over time,” Orchard says. “It begins to shape how we perceive ourselves, our work, the people around us, our ability and our worth.” With costs to Australian businesses