When we talk about burnout, we often attribute it to working long hours. But that's not the only cause. Constantly shifting directions or expectations on a project wears people down. It ensures that they have no goals to work toward and sets them up to fail often. So rather than

feeling any sense of accomplishment, team members are just running in the mud every which way. Redoing the same work over and over, or constantly shifting priorities because management can't make a decision.

In my career I've been burnt out way more from poor leadership and lack of direction than I have working long hours.

Also please don't take this as advocating for working long hours. That does it's own damage

If you're in leadership, be honest when you're not sure what the direction is or what the right choice is. Team members are usually happy to help you find those answers. But when you treat every new direction or mandate or idea like it's gospel, you'll lose trust. Eventually,

you're the boy who cried wolf. No one trusts you when you say "this is the new direction", because they know it'll change by that afternoon

Something I wanna clarify with this, I'm not saying change doesn't happen. It's part of the process. But constantly shifting directions based of a whim and without due consideration really destroys teams.