> My problem with the word 'burnout' is that it denotes some kind of final state. I'm sure I've had periods of burnout but it doesn't last more than a day or two.

I hope it's not a final state.

I got burnt out hardcore a few years ago after giving 18 hour days, 7 days a week for 3 years without a break.

When I left, I took 6 months off to try and recharge, except by the end of the 6 months i developed a fear/anxiety/hate of anything technology related, and fell apart physically and mentally.

It's like the mental and physical consequences of working that schedule didn't catch up with me until I stopped.

So I took another 6 months, seeing a professional who prescribed a few things to help.

So after 1 year of not working, I'm back in technology. But I still hate it every day.

I've lost all passion for anything technology related.

I wish I had skills in another area other than technology so I could change careers, but I'd be starting at the bottom which isn't necessary a problem but I'm the primary breadwinner in the family so money becomes the problem.

I'm not sure what I'm getting at, I think for me right now burnout does indeed feel like a 'final state'. I hope one day I can get back to the point where it only lasts for a few days at a time.

If “it doesn’t last more than a day or two”, then I feel like what you’re describing isn’t the same level of burnout being discussed in the article; you’re noticing it and dealing with it before it spirals out of control. Which is a good thing! (and a life skill I wish I had learned much earlier in my life!)

But I’ve gone into that burnout spiral twice in my life; the most recent time (the worse one) was over a decade ago. That burnout was the result of nine continuous months spent in intense crunch on a project I hated but couldn’t leave, along with some other ongoing stressors.

After shipping that project, it took me more than two months of time completely off work before I even started to feel like I was a human again. And then two more months before I started to feel like I wanted to start doing work again. I was absurdly fortunate that I had enough long service leave saved up to afford to take the time I needed. (or alternately, the fact that I had all of that available time off which I hadn’t taken maybe wasn’t the best thing for my chances at avoiding burning out in the first place. That’s a totally valid alternate take on the situation!)

I do agree with your comment that burnout isn’t a “final state”; it’s something that most folks will recover from, given enough time, and it typically gets worse the longer you don’t deal with whatever’s triggering it.

For me, when I was in the middle of the burnout it didn’t feel like a thing I would ever recover from; I just wanted to be left alone in an empty room all day every day and never have to talk to anyone or think about anything ever again. And eventually my brain came back to me and I came out of the burnout. It took a long time, though.

> "My problem with the word 'burnout' is that it denotes some kind of final state."

It can be. Failing to heed the warning signs can result in a variety of long term medical issues, both physical and mental.