Burnout isn’t all‑or‑nothing. It’s a spectrum.

You don’t “have burnout” one day and not the next. Burnout builds across a spectrum of intensity. At one end, you might feel stretched or irritable. Move further along, and you start missing breaks, losing focus, snapping at coworkers. On the far end, you feel detached, hopeless, and depleted.

The science is clear: burnout shows up gradually, in stages.

• Mild: fatigue, irritability, trouble concentrating.

• Moderate: withdrawal, apathy, “just going through the motions.”

• Severe: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, loss of accomplishment.

This matters because you can intervene earlier. You don’t have to wait until collapse to act. Recognizing where you are on the spectrum gives you choices: reset your body and breath; schedule joy as prevention; protect your boundaries; support each other with connection, not isolation.

Burnout isn’t a personal failure. It’s a predictable spectrum of stress responses — and that means it’s something we can understand, interrupt, and rebalance together.