Lol. Wow. I guess I officially had burnout. Not surprising, really, since I knew it myself when I finally hit the wall (but not the lead up).
I'm an entrepreneur and I've been working at my startup for a year. I stopped exercising (partially due to a long term sports injury I was recovering from) and I was heads down on my project full time. After some cofounders didn't work out, I resolved to work harder.
Oh yeah did I mention I was having a kid and looking to move? ;P Sure ingredients for burnout.
I thought I could be Superman. I think adversity would only make me stronger. It did but it broke me down before it built me up.
It culminated with the move and then the kid. After we moved, I spent about a month not working, not reading TechCrunch, and removed myself from most hardcore tech activities. I spent it renovating the house for the kid. It was still stressful but my mind rested from the startup.
At this time I started exercising again. I was out of shape but my injury recovered enough to do sports again.
I then had my child. And while it was a new addition in my life that required a certain amount of time there was a certain (re)birth in my desire to restart/continue my startup.
Now I'm working harder than ever and motivated. Yes, it's tough and when I think about all the ways my startup can go down in a ball of flames (or a whimper) it gets stressful. But the other 90% of the time I'm really excited and can't wait to work more.
The ultimate lesson, as stated below, was balance. The startup ended up being a longer haul than I thought. Like Mark Suster says, you can't ignore health and family as those two things are things you can't get back once they've left. They also have a way of keeping personal morale up which helps you continue your arduous journey.
I'm working as hard as before but setting aside personal time without feeling guilty about it. I find myself happier and working more efficiently.
Anyone speaking from experience: can a burnout be avoided by identifying early symptoms? If so, how?