10% Happier with Dan Harris
10% Happier with Dan Harris

Your Job Is Hijacking Your Life: How to Set Limits, Decrease Work Stress, and Reclaim Your Evenings | Guy Winch

July 6, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dan Harris opens the episode with a confession: he has spent much of his career pushing himself relentlessly, once standing in a freezing Iowa rain on his boss's orders, getting so sick he ended up in the hospital, only to be told upon his return that his illness was "not a good look." That story lands early in the conversation with psychologist Guy Winch, and it sets the tone for a practical, unsentimental look at work stress—what it does to us, why it is worse than ever, and what we can actually do about it.

Winch's new book, Mind Over Grind, is the occasion for the conversation, but the episode is less a book plug than a detailed walk through the mechanisms of work stress and the specific psychological moves that can contain it. The central claim is that the pandemic permanently erased a psychological boundary between work and home, and that most people have not rebuilt it. The result is that work stress is no longer contained to the workplace, and that is why surveys show it at all-time highs.

The Burnout Threshold and the Goldilocks Zone

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:03) **Introduction & The Scope of Work Stress** - Dan Harris introduces psychologist Guy Winch and his new book *Mind Over Grind*, which offers practical strategies for setting boundaries, recovering from bad days, and reclaiming evenings.
  • 2 (04:17) **Why Work Stress Is at an All-Time High** - Winch explains the pandemic fundamentally erased the psychological barrier between work and home, normalizing after-hours contact.
  • 3 (06:54) **The Role of AI and Dread** - Winch discusses how uncertainty about AI amplifies stress, and how humans are wired to fill in blanks with negative outcomes.
  • 4 (08:55) **Health Ramifications of Stress vs. Burnout** - Winch distinguishes between acute stress (useful) and chronic stress (damaging), and explains how to identify burnout.
  • 5 (13:39) **The Goldilocks Zone of Stress & Self-Sabotage** - Winch explains the bell curve of stress and performance, and how too much stress leads to self-sabotage.
  • 6 (18:51) **Setting Boundaries with a Bad Boss** - Winch argues you can set more limits than you realize, even in a demanding culture.
  • 7 (25:02) **The Deeper "Why": Ambition, Self-Criticism, and the Inner Coach** - Dan and Guy explore the root of ambition and the damage of self-criticism.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Guy Winch

Show Notes

Why ruminating after hours is unpaid overtime — plus, how to handle bad bosses, beat the Sunday scaries, and actually recharge.

Dr. Guy Winch is an internationally renowned psychologist and bestselling author who advocates for integrating the science of emotional health into our daily lives. His 3 TED Talks have garnered over 35 million views and his science based self-help books have been translated into 30 languages. His newest book is: Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Why work stress is at an all-time high — and what the pandemic permanently broke

  • How to tell the difference between regular stress and full-blown burnout

  • Why ruminating about a bad day at the office is unpaid overtime — and how to stop

  • Techniques for coaching yourself through hard moments without lying to yourself

  • How to actually recover after work — and why collapsing on the couch isn't the same as recharging

  • How to set limits with a difficult boss without torching the relationship

  • A practical tool for mapping the real stress in your job 

  • What to do with the Sunday scaries — and one scheduling trick that actually works

  • How chronic work stress quietly erodes your ethics over time

 

Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here

Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Additional Resources: 


Join Dan, Sebene Selassie, and Jeff Warren for Meditation Party, a 3-day immersive retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, October 16–18. Grab your in-person spot 10% Happier with Dan Harris

More from this podcast

 10% Happier with Dan Harris →