Advisor burnout is real. Here’s how to avoid it

Ermos Erotocritou knows firsthand how burnout can creep up on the job.  

As someone who worked as a financial advisor for most of his adult life and now coaches budding advisors in Canada and the U.S., he empathizes with those who spend hours on end at their desks and answer after-hour client phone calls. 

“Theoretically we could work 24 hours, seven days a week,” said Erotocritou, founder and CEO of Advisor Acquisition Academy in Whitby, Ont. “There’s always something that we can do, and because of that, advisors end up working a lot of hours.” 

Burnout is especially likely during periods of uncertainty, which can itself be exhausting, and can reduce effectiveness as people are forced to adapt to new environments. This year has been stressful and demanding for many advisors as they’ve had to ease client nerves through tariff-driven market swings and overall economic uncertainty. 

However, there are some measures that can help advisors avoid burnout. 

Recognize the signs 

Some typical signs of burnout include lack of energy, exhaustion, reduced performance in everyday tasks and irritability. 

It’s crucial to recognize the signs as they surface and nip them in the bud, said Kevin Lawrence, CEO of Lawrence & Co., a bou­tique firm of business growth advisors based in Vancouver, and author of Your Oxygen Mask First: 17 Habits to Help High Achievers Survive & Thrive in Leadership & Life.  

To pinpoint when this is happening, he recommends using the mental health continuum model. Used around the world, it’s designed to help people determine how their mental health is on a spectrum ranging from healthy to ill. 

“If you can understand the signs of how things change, … you know when you need to do something different,” Lawrence said. “That’s helpful, because people don’t see it.”  

Set boundaries 

Setting clear boundaries with clients is equally important. 

“I notice that a lot of advisors tend to kind of over-promise. That puts a lot of stress on them,” Erotocritou said. “So, setting boundaries is a big one, like letting clients know when they’re available and, more importantly, when they’re not.”  

This can look like implementing “no-meeting zones” in your calendar, he said.  

“Block off evenings or weekends, or if there’s a certain day of the week where they spend time with their family, they should just block it off and really not answer the phone during those times,” Erotocritou said. “Otherwise, you’re basically working 24 hours a day.” 

Delegate tasks 

Since advisors tend to value independence and autonomy in their practices, many feel the need to tackle multiple tasks on their own. But that doesn’t have to be the case.  

Erotocritou recommends finding out what your unique value proposition is and putting most of your time and energy into it.  

“For most advisors, for instance, that will be spending time in front of some clients and prospects, [which is] usually the most enjoyable part of the job. Of course, that’s where the revenue is generated,” he said.  

He noted that there’s “no revenue in filling out paperwork, filling out insurance applications, doing compliance and all that other stuff,” so wherever possible, advisors should delegate tasks.  

“They should have an assistant. And what I tell advisors sometimes is, ‘If you do not have an assistant, that makes you the assistant,’” Erotocritou said. 

Lawrence echoed those remarks. 

“Many advisors are doing everything themselves. And if they want to be a one-person show like that for their whole career, that’s an option,” he said. “But if they want to build something more than that, building a team that complements their weaknesses or complements their strengths … is huge.” 

However, while building a team may give you more capacity to do other things, Lawrence stressed that “it doesn’t necessarily give you insurance against burnout, because for a lot of people, when they increase their capacity, they’re just going to do more.” 

Establish a routine 

Another way to avoid burnout is by establishing a routine that breaks up the work day.  

For example, block off times in the day to go for a walk, exercise or even hydrate. While simple advice, it’s easy to ignore. 

“Don’t just assume that you’re gonna find time to go for a walk or grab a snack or a coffee, whatever it is. Actually book it in your calendar. That works extremely well,” Erotocritou said. “That just forces you to realize, ‘Hey, an hour has gone by.’” 

In addition, Lawrence suggests having a mechanism to hold yourself accountable, because for some people, “the plan, the intention of the planning, isn’t enough.” 

He recommends implementing “resilience rituals,” which include some form of physical exercise, mental practices like journaling or meditation, and activities that inspire such as creating art or playing music. While these rituals can differ based on personal preference, they allow individuals to take care of their body, mind and spirit, Lawrence said. 

“When people get burnt out, they stop doing these things almost every single time because they’re being pulled so hard by these other things, so they self-sacrifice,” he said. “And self-sacrifice worked last time, but sooner or later it stops working.” 

Another tip Lawrence shared is setting a “macro reminder,” such as once every 90 days, to check in with yourself and whether you’re keeping up with a routine that allows you to recharge your batteries so you can continue to perform. 

Improve prospect-to-client conversion rates 

Many advisors are hyper-fixated on growing their client base and less so on how efficient they are in converting a prospect to a client, Erotocritou said, which is where burnout is likely to creep in. 

Most advisors he coaches are seeking to grow their client base, but many will spend too much time trying to do so. 

He encourages advisors to focus on listening more than talking during meetings with clients, especially discovery meetings, and shifting from a technical and fact-based approach to an emotional-based approach in client interactions to improve their prospect-to-client conversion rates. 

“The disconnect a lot of times is the advisors go in, talking about themselves, their companies and their products,” Erotocritou said. “They should be talking about the prospect’s goals and fears and how they’re going to make their dreams come true.” 

Similarly, Lawrence said a lot of advisors “end up in pitch mode versus problem-solving mode. So, if you were tuned into going to solve problems for someone and be of value, you’re already a step ahead of most people they talk to.”  

He noted that the growth phase doesn’t have to always lead to burnout. 

“Successful people work hard — full stop,” Lawrence said. “That’s why you do your resilience rituals. Do your 10 meetings, do your workouts and do your art on the weekends that inspires. It’s an ‘and,’ it’s not an ‘or.’ At the end of the day, you need to learn how to push yourself hard and take care of yourself.”  

Seek out help 

In addition to those measures, it’s also important to reach out for help, Lawrence said. 

“I believe everyone should have a therapist or a counsellor that they can connect with, because no matter what, everyone hits rough patches in life and needs help,” he added. “When it happens medically, we go to the ER or a family doctor. When it happens inside of our head, just by default, go to a counsellor or a psychologist. They’ll help to fix our brain like the doctors fix our body.”