Should I use music to push through when I’m exhausted?

No. Using music to override exhaustion often worsens burnout rather than helping it.

When you’re exhausted, the issue is rarely about motivation, it’s about an autonomic imbalance. You are in a state of prolonged sympathetic nervous system activation (or unstable switching between high alert and collapse), paired with insufficient parasympathetic recovery.

Stimulating music, fast tempos, strong beats, high volume, or emotionally charged tracks, increases arousal by raising dopamine and noradrenaline and, in some cases, heart rate and muscle tone. This can temporarily improve focus or output, but it does so by borrowing from already depleted regulatory capacity. The body interprets this as another demand, not support.

Over time, repeatedly using music as “fuel” trains the nervous system to associate sound with effort and vigilance. Instead of helping you recover, music becomes another cue to stay activated. This is why people in burnout often report that music they once loved now feels irritating, overwhelming, or draining, their stress threshold is already exceeded.

Music supports recovery best when it reduces cognitive load, stabilises breathing and heart-rate variability, and signals safety rather than urgency. In this state, music works as a regulator, not a stimulant.