Being even slightly burnt out should be alarming. Some people don't even acknowledge their burning out before they become unable to work and fall into depression. It's not normal to feel this way. Being burnt out is not just regular tiredness, it's a mental health issue.

Does everyone interpret the question as something that's headed towards being so depressed you're unable to work? Or would a lot of people interpret "I feel somewhat burnt out" as "I would enjoy a vacation and not needing to be productive".

But do the study's participants understand that definition of burnout? Burnout, the way its casually thrown around these days, seems to be synonymous with regular tiredness in casual conversation.

Very likely not. There's no such thing as small extent of burnout. 'small extent of burnout' means 'I can feel my own boundaries and need to do something for self-care'.

I've often flirted with burnout to the point of having to take unwanted hiatus and fail to complete what I wanted to do. Better awareness of boundaries and self-care made that better, and STOPPING overcommitment worked best of all. It meant there are things I can't say about myself now, even as ambitions of mine. That didn't used to be true: I lived in the space between owning my ambitions and executing on 'em.

Stopping burnout means YOU ARE LESS. It's not a method of learning to work more efficiently and accomplish more. It's getting more right-sized, including your expectations.

Those who are going to be in actual burnout, who are going to begin falling into hurdles and breaking themselves, will either never acknowledge 'small amount of burnout', or the opposite: that's what they call it, no matter how great the burning wreckage surrounding them. They'll be legless and bleeding out and trying to drag themselves on by one good fingernail, and if you asked them, they would say 'this is a small amount of burnout'.

It's still a problem but I'm betting some of the folks in that 83% total, are willing and able to scale back their commitments and will then not be in burnout. Burnout is when you break.

Physical exercise counterpart: muscle building and strain, vs. rhabdo.