Beat Burnout with Intentional Downtime

by Jill Tuggle, ABAT Executive Director

I’m fine, and neither are you.

Yes, you read that right. We all THINK we’re fine, but the truth is, every last one of us is facing burnout. Our industry is carrying a lot of fatigue, and that’s real.

This year has really puzzled me. There is so much information and so many tools out there that are built to help us – but why are we still struggling? Because we are facing a major crisis: BURNOUT. The culprit? A post-Covid fallout of nuclear proportions.

When a nuclear bomb hits the ground, the fallout doesn’t land the instant the bomb does – it has to climb first. Fallout can take more than 15 minutes to hit the ground. Kinda sounds like the past six years in our industry, doesn’t it?

I know 2020 feels like a bad word still – and trust me, I’m one of the last people that wants to keep uttering its nasty numerics but unfortunately its effects are still lingering and probably will be for a while.

Covid bomb hits. Claim count rises. Technology booms. Fallout touches the ground.

I remember just before it all happened and ABAT came up with a new way to handle meetings in the Lone Star State: virtual and hybrid meetings! Zoom was not a household name at this point and we were so proud that we had found a way to bring the same training to all of our chapters on the same night! It felt so revolutionary and we were super excited about it. Then, about two months later…the world shut down. Zoom became everything from our kids’ classrooms to a concert venue to the only means for wishing nana a happy 83rd birthday. And suddenly we all resented the virtual meeting. Cool.

But, shops were busy and we were essential. For non-essential industry companies, removing the distractions of an office led to higher productivity. No ringing phones, normal business hours or chatty coworkers and the new bar was set high for productivity and our technical tsunami swelled. The fallout was rising – but we couldn’t see it.

I know you’re tired, overworked and squeezed from every direction. For now, all I’m suggesting is to acknowledge it and set intentional down time. Quit booking calls and appointments back to back and running from one place to another. Try keeping a few one-hour blocks in between calls and appointments each day. Not to do nothing, but to just catch up on emails or calls without the stress. Take a 10-minute walk after lunch (helps with insulin spikes too) to clear your mind. Set boundaries around business hours.

So, if you are like me and your body and brain feel like Chernobyl city center – SLOW. DOWN. You don’t have to stop doing it all – you just need to rest in between. Intentional downtime.

Want more? Check out the November 2026 issue of Texas Automotive!