@lupyuen I'm beginning to think that burnouts are inevitable and even helpful. If one is doing enough work to cause a burnout and the only thing mitigating it is pacing, perhaps there's something that is being missed.

Perhaps one needs to fail to be able to reevaluate what they are facing. It's the paradigm shift that holds the key. How can one truly know what they are capable of without these events? There's also the change in thought that leads to realizations about life outside of work.

It might be devastating for someone that hasn't experienced it before but it is likely a turning point if they don't give up.

I can only speak from my own personal experience when I say these things. I can't say that I've burned out before. I've been hospitalized or needed medical attention when I didn't take the advice of others about burning out. The advice of family, friends, professors, doctors and military brass.

Everyone is different and some, like myself, are too hardheaded to fully understand burnouts. It's not hopeless even for those who are too weak to move much, they still have a hardhead. One doesn't need to question what they will do when they can stand again. Perhaps they approach the problem differently the next time.