You have spent the last unit working on recovery. Now we move to the demands side of the balance, where many of the causes of burnout sit.

Start by getting the load out of your head. Write down everything at work that is currently costing you energy, all in one place, in whatever order it comes to mind.

Include the things that are not tasks too. This is where many lists fall short. A to-do list captures what you need to do. Your actual workload can also include:

• The conversation you have been avoiding for three weeks.
• The task you are behind on, even though nobody has mentioned it yet.
• The colleague whose messages immediately make you tense.
• The decision that is not yours to make, but that you are still carrying.
• The unclear project where nobody has defined what “done” actually means.
• The commute, the schedule, the noise around you or the meeting that could have been an email.

These are all demands in the sense we discussed in Lesson 2. They use energy, they can stay present over time, and many of them never appear on a task list. That can make your workload look more manageable on paper than it actually feels.

Two things often happen when people put everything in one place.

First, the list can turn out to be shorter than expected. Not necessarily small, but more defined. A general feeling of being overwhelmed might become eleven specific items, and eleven concrete items are easier to look at than one undefined sense of pressure.

Second, something important often becomes visible for the first time. It might be one recurring meeting that affects the rest of your week, or one difficult relationship that creates a large part of the stress. Sometimes the things that affect us most are the easiest to overlook because they have been there for so long.

Do not try to solve anything yet. This step is only about creating an inventory. If you start solving while you are still listing, it is easy to spend all your attention on one item and miss the rest. Get everything down first. You will sort it in the next lesson.

There are two types of demands people often leave off the list, even though they still matter:

• The things you think should not count. The commute you chose, the role you wanted, the hours everyone works. Whether something feels justified or fair does not change the fact that it can still use your energy.
• The things that are only slightly difficult. The meeting that runs a little too long, the process that creates a little extra friction, the repeated interruption that seems too small to mention. Each one may feel minor on its own, but together they can make up a significant part of the load.