Often times, we associate burnout with fatigue or an overload of work. Contrary to this, I think burnout has much more to do with knowing why we are doing the things we are doing. Burnout often can be caused by a lack of clarity in the reasons we are doing something or by disagreement with those reasons. If we find ourselves working hard at something, and we don’t even know why we are doing it, then we will inevitably become disillusioned with the work and give up. If we find ourselves working hard at something, and we know why we are doing it, but we think the reason is not worthwhile, then we will also give up.
Unclear Purpose -> Burnout
Clear But Not Meaningful Purpose -> Burnout
This means that if we have a purpose identified for our work, and we think that purpose is truly meaningful to us, then our minds will give us as much energy as needed to complete the tasks at hand (within realistic limits).
(Granted, life is rarely so clean, and at times choosing our work can be out of our hands.)