What would Buddha do to avoid burnout?

Moderate effort over a long time is important, no matter what you are trying to do. One brings failure on oneself by working extremely hard at the beginning, attempting to do too much, and then giving it all up after a short time.

The Dalai Lama

Life is long when we have a difficult task to do. We'd love to just leap into it and accomplish the whole thing in one inspired flash. This is not the way of the world. Instead, we must marshall our strength for the long haul, whether the task is spiritual or political.

The Dalai Lama, obviously, knows this fully from his unending efforts to save the Tibetan people and their culture from the Chinese occupation of their homeland. If we value our causes we owe it to them not to fail, since our own failure breeds failure in those who follow us. If we cannot carry the torch to the goal, it is so much better to pass the torch than to have it flare up and flame out in our hands.