AI is supposed to make work easier. For a lot of people, it’s done the opposite.
The output arrives quickly, but the responsibility stays with you. It still needs reading, fixing, and checking. You have to re-prompt while thinking about accuracy, tone, risk, compliance, and reputation.
Then comes the second version.
And the third.
The work becomes a loop of generating and supervising, often with no clear point where it feels “finished”.
At the same time, expectations rise. Faster drafts become the baseline. Turnaround times shrink. More versions are requested. “Quick tweaks” multiply. Work spreads into evenings because it feels easy to ask for one more output — and scan it again.
This kind of strain is common in research on technostress - the overload and pressure that can come with workplace technologies. See: Kumar (2024) systematic review of technostress research, 2007–2023.
I offer counselling for people dealing with AI-related workplace stress and burnout - things like fatigue, hypervigilance, spiralling self-doubt, and the sense that there’s no space left to think.
If what you’re noticing overlaps with broader work pressure, you might also want to read Stress & Burnout and Work Stress & Career Change.
How this can show up
Many people describe a specific pattern: mental fatigue from constant monitoring.
Common experiences include:
- A repeating cycle of prompt → output → edit → prompt again
- Reading everything twice because the tool can sound confident while being wrong
- A creeping sense that “good enough” keeps moving further away
- Difficulty switching off after work, because reviewing takes over the evening
- Stress showing up in the body (for example: jaw clenching, headaches, shallow sleep, irritability)
When AI makes new projects possible (and suddenly everything is possible)
AI has opened a door for lots of people.
Apps, automations, writing projects, creating music, designing social media content, making products - things that used to require a team or years of training can feel possible alone. That can be exciting, even joyful. Some people find themselves building in a way they never imagined they could.
Creating can be energising, and it can restore a sense of agency.
But it can also create a different kind of burnout: ideas multiplying, “one more iteration”, and a project living in your mind all day.
This can look like:
- The endless draft effect: every output suggests another improvement, another feature, another rewrite
- Solo project pressure: planning, building, marketing, support, and decisions sitting with one person
- Constant context-switching: ideas → prompts → debugging → revising → testing → fixing… and then it repeats
- Responsibility without support: the tool generates, but the accountability lands with the person shipping it
Counselling can support more sustainable creation: clearer stopping points, kinder internal pressure, and a working rhythm that doesn’t depend on constant urgency.
If you recognise the “never enough” feeling, perfectionism & pressure can often explain where this may come from.
Why it drains people
1) Verification is real work
Drafting can be faster, but evaluating takes concentration. Spotting subtle mistakes, checking facts, and policing tone are high-attention tasks. People often get pulled between over-trust and intensive checking - and both cost mental energy.
2) The work loses natural stopping points
Before, effort created friction: you’d get stuck, maybe even frustrated, and then take some time out. With instant generation, it becomes easy to keep going - one more version, one more tweak, one more check.
3) Productivity becomes expectation
Once speed is possible, speed can become assumed. Standards rise quietly: more output, faster turnaround, less tolerance for delay.
4) Oversight is treated as a simple tick-box
In real workplaces, oversight needs time, authority, and clear standards. Without those, the burden shifts onto individuals: absorb the risk, keep the pace, make it correct. For a reliable discussion of oversight limits (especially with complex systems).
5) Measurement and monitoring can intensify pressure
In some settings, AI is paired with tighter tracking of output and performance (Safety Science), which can add stress and make pacing harder.
What counselling can offer
Counselling creates space to slow down and reduce the cost this is taking - mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Work may include:
-
Helping you come down from constant vigilance
When the system is braced all day, the mind narrows. We work towards steadier grounding so you can think more clearly again. -
Making the pressure points specific
“AI stress” is broad. The lived experience is usually concrete: review burden, accountability, relentless revisions, shifting standards, constant comparison, unclear expectations. Naming what’s driving it makes it easier to respond. -
Boundaries that fit real jobs
Deciding when to generate, when to revise, when to stop, and what “done” means - so the tool doesn’t expand to fill every available minute. -
Protecting the creative spark
Keeping the joy of building, while putting limits around the always-available loop of prompting, tweaking, and delivering. -
Repairing self-worth under performance pressure
Especially if your confidence has become tied to output, speed, or “getting it right”. -
Support with workplace reality
Where possible, counselling can support clearer communication at work: negotiating expectations, reducing hidden overtime, and protecting personal life from becoming a spillover zone.
If a harsh inner critic is part of this (for example: “I should cope better” or “Everyone else is keeping up”), you may find understanding and working with your inner critic useful.
How I work
I work in a grounded, collaborative way. Depending on what you need, sessions may draw on:
- Self-compassion: practical ways to reduce shame and harsh self-talk
- Body-based approaches: because stress doesn’t only live in thoughts
- Space for bigger questions: identity, meaning, purpose - especially when work is changing
You can read more about the practical setup here: Fees & session information.
FAQ
Is this a recognised kind of stress?
Yes. Research on technostress describes overload, pressure, and strain linked to technology use in workplaces.
If AI saves time, why does work feel worse?
Time saved on drafting can be replaced by verification, revision, and accountability. Research on automation bias suggests that oversight carries cognitive load.
Will online counselling increase screen fatigue?
Possibly. If screen fatigue is already a big part of the problem, we can talk that through in the consultation and think together about what would be most supportive for you — including whether in-person therapy locally might fit better.
If you’d like general tools alongside counselling, you can also explore the Resources section.