Designing Restful Work: A Mental Health-Informed Approach

Is your team constantly exhausted? Low in spirits? Burnt out? It may be time to rethink your workplace’s processes and culture. 

In a 2024 study about burnout in Southeast Asia, researchers found around 7 out of 10 working adults in the Philippines experience burnout. Alarmingly, we have the highest percentage of burnt-out workers among all of the countries included in the study.

Burnout entails feelings of emotional, physical, and cognitive exhaustion brought on by chronic stress in the workplace. It can look like constant tiredness, loss of motivation, frustration, problems in concentration, and a feeling of detachment. It can even show up through headaches, body pains, and sleep problems.

Burnout builds up progressively and can lead to a slew of problems like depression, anxiety, and performance issues. Many workplaces recognize this phenomenon and try to address it by promoting self-care, but this isn’t the most effective approach. 

Work is meant to be purposeful, not punishing. So, let’s look at the roots of burnout and how to design healthier workplaces—ones that take mental health into account.

The Burden of Burnout: Whose Fault Is It?

Workplace wellness programs often focus on self-care, as if exhaustion could be solved with yoga classes or mindfulness apps alone. While self-care is valuable, it doesn’t get to the root of the problem.

According to Edú-Valsania, Laguía, & Moriano (2022), burnout is the “consequence of certain characteristics of the work activity”. It’s not a personal problem, and even the most competent, resilient, and emotionally intelligent team members can experience it if they work within poorly designed systems. 

So, if your workers seem more disengaged, distant, and demotivated, it’s time to look into what workplace stressors they’re likely experiencing.

Unclear Roles and Processes

Unclear roles and processes are among the most common problems in organizations. When people are unsure where their responsibilities begin and end, stress can build up. They may feel they are constantly being asked to do more than their share, or conversely, may hesitate to act because they don’t know whether they’re accountable for a certain task.

Decisions and actions stall when no one has defined authority, which lead to bottlenecks where projects linger unresolved. Instead of focus and flow, teams spend their energy chasing clarity that should have been established from the start.

A lack of clarity can also lead to micromanagement, which fosters feelings of being controlled at every step. Workers thrive when trusted to make decisions within their scope of work. So, when you strip them of their autonomy by micromanaging them, their work can lose its meaning and become a series of instructions to follow instead of goals to pursue.

Clarity should be the foundation of sustainable work. When roles and processes are clearly laid out, employees can focus on their tasks rather than wasting energy on guesswork and micromanagement. 

A Lack of Boundaries

It’s easier than ever to fall into the trap of an “always on” work culture. Team members are constantly just a message or call away, so work can reach them anytime and anywhere.

There’s a quiet anxiety that can build up daily when you anticipate a work notification even on your rest days, holidays, and in the wee hours of the morning. In a healthy workplace, these boundaries exist and are respected by everyone.

Boundaries are a shared responsibility, and leaders must design workflows that respect time, attention, and rest. Teams must also have a culture of realistic expectations, respectful deadlines, and the right to disconnect. 

Work that is restful and valuable is built on processes that prevent overwhelm, not just on employees’ willpower to resist it. 

Overload as the Default Setting

Excessive workload is one of the most visible drivers of burnout, and it’s often even glorified. Intense or repetitive tasks, long meetings, dozens of deadlines, and extra hours can lead to overexertion. In environments without structural limits to protect rest, burnout is inevitable.

The solution is to work smarter, not harder. Leaders must reassess business processes to check for redundancies, unclear approvals, and outdated practices that add work but not value. 

Streamlining workflows gives people back the time and focus they need. Outsourcing administrative or repetitive tasks through virtual assistants can also free up time and resources for higher-value tasks.

“Hiya,” “Utang na Loob,” and Emotional Labor at Work

Filipinos have unique cultural values that shape their behaviors. The concepts of hiya and utang na loob are significant forces that they can carry into the workplace. While they can help strengthen relationships and foster respect, they can also create hidden pressures.

In Filipino psychology, hiya is a virtue that guides Filipinos to act with propriety and avoid behaviors that would offend others. It can manifest in professionalism and respect, but it can also silence necessary conversations. 

Workers may endure unclear instructions, unfair treatment, or excessive workloads rather than risk being seen as confrontational. Speaking up about mental health struggles or workload limits feels uncomfortable because they risk “losing face”. This leads workers to suppress their needs to preserve the team’s harmony.

Utang na loob is another Filipino value that’s deeply ingrained in our culture. It refers to a deep sense of gratitude and reciprocity when someone receives help, kindness, or opportunity. Utang na loob can cultivate loyalty and commitment to the organization and a worker’s colleagues. It can also create a sense of belonging and reciprocity that can keep teams cohesive even during challenging times.

But utang na loob also can lead workers to carry emotional weight. They may take on tasks outside their role or or accept conditions that strain their well-being, simply because they feel they “owe” the organization or leader who once supported them. 

Companies with Filipino employees must recognize both the beauty and the weight of these cultural virtues. Leaders must create spaces where employees can raise concerns without fear of shame, and they must let their team members know that gratitude does not require overextension. Loyalty and respect should manifest through sustainable, healthy contributions, not sacrifice.

How Do You Design Work That Prevents Burnout?

To design work that doesn’t break people, organizations must move beyond wellness webinars and one-off self-care campaigns. A mental health-informed approach means:

• Clarity in Purpose and Roles: Every worker deserves to know what they are accountable for, and equally, what they are not accountable for.
• Workflows that Respect Rest: Processes must be designed to prevent chronic overload, with realistic timelines and efficient systems.
• Psychological Safety: Teams thrive when feedback, mistakes, and concerns can be raised without fear of humiliation.
• Shared Accountability: Leaders must model boundaries, healthy rhythms, and openness to mental health. This shouldn’t be solely the responsibility of employees.

Ironing out these aspects will take time and resources, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the costs. Clarity, boundaries, and accountability can help promote work that sustains, not drains. As Aggie Manangu-Fronda, CEO of Selah Consulting PH, often reminds leaders, “when something is simple, it’s because someone has done the work.”

Reflecting on how she and her team members have taken the time to set up a culture that values everyone’s well-being, she adds, “Workplaces are not sustainable by accident. They are the result of a closed-loop system where injuries and traumas received by workers are noted, studied, and given appropriate gravity. And pain is not meaningless because it was endured to serve as a lesson and input toward a more sustainable, intentional future of work.”

Design Restful and Sustainable Work

Burnout is not inevitable, nor is it the fault of your employees. To mitigate it, you must dig deeper into your organization’s roles, processes, culture, and values. Workplaces that want to thrive must move past over-relying on individual self-care and instead commit to creating healthier, better-designed work environments. Designing work that doesn’t break people is the only sustainable way forward.

If you’re a business leader, the way you design work is the single biggest factor in preventing burnout. And it doesn’t have to be hard. At Selah Consulting PH, we help organizations reimagine work through organization development, team building services, procedure and policy writing, and virtual assistance. We help design work that is both restful and valuable. 

Ready to address burnout at its roots and build systems that support both your people and your goals? Let’s work together. Contact us to explore how we can help your team find clarity and sustainable productivity.