The Fuel-Gauge-Terrain framework: an evidence-based model for preventing burnout in high-performing teams
How burnout actually works — and what prevents it. The Fuel-Gauge-Terrain framework is TANK's evidence-based model for teams.
Dr Helen Lawson Williams
Co-founder and CEO
Org Psych PhD and former management consultant, committed to ending burnout.
Posts by Dr Helen Lawson Williams(50)
What meditation apps can't fix (and what burnout actually needs)
Calm and Headspace are good apps. They're just not burnout apps. Here's the difference, and why it matters if you're running on empty.
RecoveryBurnout System
What a burnout app can and can't do (and when you need more)
A burnout app builds visibility and structure. But if the problem is in the system, you may need more. Here's how to decide.
Burnout System Awareness Own Feelings
What to look for in a burnout prevention app - and why most get it wrong
Most burnout apps treat stress as the whole problem. Here's what a genuinely evidence-based app addresses, and the questions worth asking before you download.
StressRecoveryEnergy GaugeBurnout System Systems
Top-down and bottom-up regulation: what they are and when to use them
Your nervous system has three ways to manage stress at work. Most people only use one. Here's what top-down, bottom-up, and outside-in regulation mean.
StressRecoveryEnergy Gauge
All our events, all in one place
Here's our events listing out to June. Come along to one of our regular public events, join the communities we're working with, or reach out if you'd like us to run a session for your community.
Social recoveryNews
This is how to get more energy
Stop thinking about self-care, start thinking about cell care.
Burnout System Energy Gauge
The Missing Variable in Burnout Prevention: Stress-Recovery Balance
Most burnout strategies focus on stress. Very few address what actually determines whether stress becomes damaging over time.
Burnout System RecoveryStress
What Really Causes Burnout (and Why Recovery Matters More Than Resilience)
Burnout isn’t a personal failure. It’s a predictable outcome of how teams manage, or mismanage, energy over time.
Burnout System StressRecovery
Beyond Dopamine: Building a Healthy Recovery Pyramid for Your Nervous System
Dopamine detoxes are buzzy right now, but the key to recovery is shifting your nervous system into "slow" mode. Our 'healthy recovery pyramid' can help.
Recovery
The Festival of Flourishing is back
Flourishing isn't what you do after you've solved burnout - it's how you solve it.
FlourishingNews
Can fun help fend off burnout? Survey says: yes!
How enjoying yourself can limit stress and help you recover
Recovery
The name game: a fun way to tune in better to how you're feeling
Why naming emotions can help defeat burnout, and how to make it fun
Energy GaugeNaming
New feature alert: 5 neat things we've just added to TANK
New tools and integrations to help you flourish
NewsOnboarding
How to get a better handle on how others are feeling
How to pick up signals you may be missing, and what to do with them
Energy GaugeAwareness Others feelings
Better values alignment, less stress
Values are like ocean currents. Swim with them, not against.
StressValues Misalignment
Connecting with nature to reduce stress
How green spaces, wildlife and moving water can help to prevent burnout
Recovery
Five ways to connect that you might not have thought of
People are lonelier than ever, which makes courage more important than ever
Recovery
Inoculating yourself against stress contagion
How not to "catch" stress from the people around you
Energy Gauge
Juice not worth the squeeze? It might be time to negotiate
Negotiation is a key stress-reduction skill
Stress
Switching off when everyone else seems to be on
What to do if recovery isn't a thing for the people around you
Social recoverySystems
Unfair treatment at work: how it drives burnout
That feeling of being treated unfairly isn't just frustrating, it's one of the most reliable predictors of burnout. Here's what the research says, and what to do about it.
StressUnfairness
Festival of Flourishing week 4: less willpower, more system
Flourishing isn't easy, so this week is all about building systems to help.
Festival of Flourishing week 3: tuning your energy gauge
There’s no “right” level for stress or recovery. What’s important is the balance between them.
Flourishing
Stress better: ways to win back control
Lack of control over where, when or how we do our work can drive burnout. Reasserting control might be easier than you think.
Lack Of ControlStress
Festival of Flourishing week 2: amplifying recovery
Welcome to week 2! This week we're finding new and better ways to top up that tank.
Flourishing
The Festival of Flourishing begins today
From Monday 30 September through Friday 1 November, we're offering fun, practical daily experiments in flourishing.
Flourishing
Time-boxing: a simple tool to help reduce workload and beat burnout
Excessive workload is a challenge for many high achievers. Time-boxing can help.
Excessive WorkloadStress
Tuning in to how you're feeling, and why it matters
Feelings aren't facts, but they are useful information.
Awareness Own FeelingsEnergy Gauge
New ways to fight burnout in the TANK app
Just released! We've made some updates and we think you'll like them.
Tank App Updates
Visualisation: possibilities over problems
"when I quit struggling with the problem, everything got easier"
SystemsVisualisation
The two kinds of exercise that help with stress
Not all exercise is equal when it comes to dealing with stress. Here's what works, and why.
RecoveryMove
Worry and rumination: breaking mental habits to reduce stress
Worry and rumination create wasted stress. Here's how to break the habit.
WorryingStress
Struggling with sleep? Here are five things to try
The 5 Ps of getting consistently good sleep
RestRecovery
Taking time to reflect helps stress recovery
why writing it out works, and how to get the most out of it
ReflectRecovery
Responding skillfully to strong emotions
Convert strong feelings from a weakness into a superpower
Reacting own feelingsEnergy Gauge
Setting and maintaining boundaries
Stop playing Tetris with your time, start setting your own rules for what to catch
SystemsBoundaries
Resisting social pressure to take on excess stress
Signals from others can amplify stress. Here's how to limit their effect.
Social stressSystems
Solving the paradox of difficult emotions
Facing into discomfort can yield unexpected results
Avoiding own feelingsEnergy Gauge
Demystifying burnout: six key sources of stress
Understand these six stressors and develop effective strategies to address them.
Stress
Recovering from burnout
Reclaim your life from burnout for good, by shifting your stress-recovery balance.
Burnout System
The path is the goal: how to enjoy the journey
tap into your intrinsic motivations to reduce stress and level up on joy
Burnout System
How to get what you really need
tuning into your emotions takes practice for most of us, but it's worth the effort
Energy Gauge
Self-care that works
research-backed ways to help your body rest and recover
The four-part system you need to beat burnout before it beats you
the simple system that works
Burnout System
