Identifying when you are approaching your limit for stress is the best way to maintain momentum and avoid burnout.

What do you do when you hit your limit?

If you stop doing the habit, project, or commitment that caused you to hit a wall your selling yourself short. Those were your reasons for pushing hard. Don't let it become "a thing you used to do" - reduce your requirements to lower the stress.

Looks like: Selectively reducing your commitments - Ex. from 10 volunteer hours to 2.

Identifying when you hit your limit:

A feeling of foreboding, fear, and lack of control creeps up your spine and settles as tension in your neck and shoulders. Illness or injury occurs. Listen to your body and slow down once you feel the tension rise.

Avoiding burnout:

Create a set of minimum requirements for your daily tasks and habits. On off days give yourself permission to do less. Not to do nothing - that can create feelings of worthlessness and compound the problem.

Understand that often one minimum effort day will turn into 3 or a week - sometimes more. That's OK. Keeping a habit alive and making incremental progress the most important thing.

Recovering to 100%

With time, rest, and allowing yourself to enjoy "non-value add" activities your energy and enthusiasm will return. Once it does your minimum requirements will look and feel easy to accomplish. And once you shake off the overload completely, you'll be glad you didn't drop a project, commitment, or habit you worked so hard to build.