Burnout
While burnout is academically understood as something that occurs due to overwhelm and a lack of support within the workplace, it is arguably experienced by many regardless of their workplace conditions. It is perhaps better to refer to burnout as something that happens when the demands being put upon you far exceed your capacity to meet them and this goes on for so long that your nervous system is unable to sustain the level of activity you are demanding of it.
Burnout Prevention
While it is not always possible to stop the demands of life from coming at us, we can put mechanisms in place that prevent the mind and body from being so overwhelmed that the only option is to shut the system down. Self care is often thought of as something we only need to do at the point of overwhelm, when in fact self care is far more effective as a preventative measure than a cure for overwhelm If you wait until everything feels calmer before caring for yourself, it is likely that your nervous system will eventually need more prolonged recovery.
Small, consistent moments of self-care during periods of stress are often far more regulating than waiting until overwhelm takes over.