Sustainable Stress Strategies with Amy Leneker, Ep 83

Mar 27, 2026

Amy Leneker, leadership consultant and founder of the Center for Joyful Work who turned burnout into a research-driven Un-Stressing Method. She outlines a three-step See, Sort, Solve approach. Short tools like a stress ruler, quick family check-ins, and tiny joy rituals get repeated focus. Conversations cover stress stories, finishing the stress cycle with breath and movement, and building routines and boundaries to protect joy.

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ANECDOTE

Burnout Twice Led To Her Research

Amy Leneker burned out twice which propelled her into studying stress, burnout, and joy across interviews and a national study.
She combined personal experience with interviews of 150 leaders and a national workforce study to build her methods.

ADVICE

Use The Un-Stressing Method Daily

Do the Un-Stressing Method: See, Sort, Solve to turn vague stress into actionable next steps.
Write each stressor on its own sticky note, then ask Is this important now? and Do I have control? to place it on the matrix.

ADVICE

Dump Stress Onto Sticky Notes

Do a brain dump onto paper or sticky notes to free cognitive load from background 'tabs' in your head.
Use one sticky note per stressor so you can physically sort and move items during the next step.

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Hello my team,

Stress, am I right? It's ever-present, sometimes overwhelming, and something we just can't avoid...but what if we're framing it wrong? This week's guest, Amy Leneker, tells us about her three step framework for functioning differently with stress. She's not here to gaslight us or tell us that stressors are no biggie; instead, she offers accessible ideas to test out in real life.

Having executive function struggles is a valid, stressful experience. I loved having Amy's perspective on how to both honor what you go through and manage the stress in new ways. After you listen, do a new and good check in with your loved ones!

All my love,

Sarah

About Amy:

Amy Leneker is an optimistic, joy-seeking, recovering workaholic. She's also a leadership consultant who has helped over 100,000 leaders and teams – including those at Fortune 100 companies – lead with less stress and more joy. Her soul goal? To help one billion people do the same. With over 25 years of leadership experience – including a decade in the C-suite – Amy understands the soul-crushing toll of burnout because she's lived it. Twice. After surviving her own brush with burnout, Amy became determined to help others succeed without sacrificing their joy, their health, or their weekends. A first-generation college student, Amy earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees while working full-time and later raising a family. She has studied leadership at Yale, neuroscience at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and stress resilience at Harvard Medical School.

In her upcoming book, Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy (Wiley // March 24, 2026), Amy shares a refreshing and science-backed roadmap to break free from burnout. Her signature “Un-Stressing Method” - See, Sort, Solve, Celebrate - is designed to help leaders and teams finally break the cycle of exhaustion, overwhelm, and self-doubt.

PS : My book is out in the wild, and it's changing lives! Order Growing Executive Function at ⁠Solution Tree ⁠or on ⁠Amazon⁠.

I'm training educators and organizations across this beautiful globe, and we're finding improving executive function is game-changing! If that sounds like what your school or organization needs, ⁠reach out⁠! Sarah at sarahkesty.com. #stress, #burnout, #ExecutiveFunciton, #adhd, #autism, #neurodivergent, #Work, #Joy, #relax, #leaders, #managers, #leadership