Hey there. Orianna here from Fortune.

If you’re always the first to volunteer and the last to leave, you might be heading for a “competence hangover.” That’s at least according to Peter Duris, CEO and cofounder of career platform Kickresume, who is sounding the alarm on the burnout that hits when you’re so good at your job that everyone relies on you for everything.

“Wanting to make sure everything gets done to a high standard is great, but it can also take a toll over time, leading to unnecessary stress,” Duris told me. “If you frequently go above and beyond at work, it could result in a competence hangover—the type of burnout you can get when you feel inherently responsible for keeping things afloat.”

In other words, the better you are at your job, the harder it becomes to stop doing it.

Duris would know: his platform has helped more than 8 million people get hired at companies including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, giving him a front-row seat to the habits and hang-ups of high performers worldwide. And the data he’s seeing paints a troubling picture.

Kickresume’s own research found that 48% of Americans are experiencing imposter syndrome and overworking as a result. A third feels guilty taking time off. Nearly one in five feel pressured to keep working even when sick.

The pressure isn’t just coming from inside your own head, either. In a tougher job market where promotions are stalling and AI is quietly threatening whole categories of white-collar work, many high performers feel they have no choice but to over-deliver just to stay safe.

And so the over-delivering begins. You volunteer to cover a colleague’s project, stay late to fix a problem nobody else could solve, or say yes to one more task because you know you’re the only one who’ll do it properly. You take on a little extra, then a little more, and before long, you’ve quietly taken on far more than your fair share.

Eventually, high performers who consistently go above and beyond start to feel as though all the responsibility rests on their shoulders alone. At that point, stepping back doesn’t just feel uncomfortable; it starts to feel genuinely impossible.

“Being the person everyone relies on can be very draining and lead to burnout,” Duris cautions. “Remember that it’s okay to say no when your workload gets too heavy.”

Ultimately, being the best person in the office and the most burned out one don’t have to go hand in hand. Here’s how to pull back.

—Orianna Rosa Royle
Success Associate Editor, Fortune

Got a career tip or dilemma? Get in touch: orianna.royle@fortune.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and Instagram.