Burnout coach: Best books about self-care and mental health – CNBC

The poet Joseph Addison once said that “reading is to the mind is what exercise is to the body” — and multiple studies have shown that cracking open a book can sharpen your focus, reduce stress and help you sleep better.

Emily Ballesteros, a burnout management coach in Seattle, considers reading to be her favorite act of self-care. “It encourages you to slow down, and focus on one thing,” she tells CNBC Make It. “It’s almost impossible to read a book while you’re doing the dishes, for example – you have to give it your full attention, and I love that.”

Reading can be especially helpful during the winter holidays because not only can it improve your mood, Ballesteros says, but it can also teach you how to live a happier, healthier life in 2022. Here are her five favorite books about mental health and self-care:

1. ‘Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’

By Greg McKeown

What can you let go of in your life to be happier?

In his book, McKeown, a leadership and business strategist, teaches readers the secret to achieving success without burning out: Get very clear on what feels essential to you and don’t overthink or overexert yourself.

Ballesteros calls “Essentialism” an “easy read” and her “top recommendation” for someone who is experiencing burnout and has lost sight of what’s important to them in their lives.

“The book pushes you to think about what is truly essential for you to live your most fulfilling life, not just for you to check off all these boxes that you might not even want to be checking off,” she says.

2. ‘Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving’

By Celeste Headlee

This one has a lot of famous fans including “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert, who said Headlee’s writing could “save lives.”

“Do Nothing” is a deep-dive investigation into the roots of capitalism, work and our obsession with productivity. It encourages readers to invest in quiet, leisure time and their relationships.

Headlee points out, for example, that people used to work with the sun – then the invention of candles and light bulbs allowed people to work much later in the day. “Work began to follow us everywhere,” Ballesteros notes.

This book “is less action-oriented, but it is a helpful reminder that we’re not supposed to be working this way, where we’re constantly overwhelmed, as different things are always demanding our time and energy,” Ballesteros says.