Environmental Burnout Triggers that Exhaust Your Nervous System: Interview with Garrett Wood
Tue Feb 03 2026
Most people think they're burned out because of what they have to do. They're missing a huge contributor when they don't also look at where they do it. In this episode, Garrett Wood shares neuroscience based insights on how the built environment can impact productivity, executive function, cognitive presence and energy levels.
The world is biased towards a sensory setpoint that was deemed "normal." Unfortunately, most people don't match this setpoint.
An environment filled with sensory micro-stressors adds an extra stress load.
Spaces that overwhelm even one sense can fragment your attention and generally require you to give more effort than the task should require.
Environmental sensitivity is not an introvert/extrovert thing.
We often give energetic pushes to meet a deadline but fail to give ourselves recovery time making the workplace ground zero for stress and burnout.
A sign of burnout is going into energy conservation mode where we can't seem to resist things like binge watching or doom scrolling because our brain needs a break.
CONTACT GARRETT:
https://www.gnosistherapy.com/
Garrett@GnosisTherapy.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnosistherapy/
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Stay Inspired,
Angela
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Into/outro music Alive by Richard Wasson Copyright 2019
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Most people think they're burned out because of what they have to do. They're missing a huge contributor when they don't also look at where they do it. In this episode, Garrett Wood shares neuroscience based insights on how the built environment can impact productivity, executive function, cognitive presence and energy levels. The world is biased towards a sensory setpoint that was deemed "normal." Unfortunately, most people don't match this setpoint. An environment filled with sensory micro-stressors adds an extra stress load. Spaces that overwhelm even one sense can fragment your attention and generally require you to give more effort than the task should require. Environmental sensitivity is not an introvert/extrovert thing. We often give energetic pushes to meet a deadline but fail to give ourselves recovery time making the workplace ground zero for stress and burnout. A sign of burnout is going into energy conservation mode where we can't seem to resist things like binge watching or doom scrolling because our brain needs a break. CONTACT GARRETT: https://www.gnosistherapy.com/ Garrett@GnosisTherapy.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnosistherapy/ Sign up for the Leadership Challenge: https://architectingpodcast.com/index.php/leadershipchallenge/ 💡Give Architecting a Google review- be sure to name the episode! https://g.page/r/CVYGVmEtsUjdEAI/review Stay Inspired, Angela Join the architecting community: YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Clubhouse, Facebook Interested in sponsoring a show or having me as a guest on your podcast or community? Stop here to get information. Into/outro music Alive by Richard Wasson Copyright 2019