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Checking yourself for burnout

Burnout occurs when passionate, committed people become deeply disillusioned with a
job or career from which they have previously derived much of their identity and meaning.
It comes as the things that inspire passion and enthusiasm are stripped away, and tedious
or unpleasant things crowd in. This tool can help you check yourself for burnout.

Introduction:
This tool can help you check yourself for burnout. It helps you look at the way you feel
about your job and your experiences at work, so that you can get a feel for whether you Act before it's too late, if you're at risk.
© iStockphoto/ihoe
are at risk of burnout.

Checking Yourself for Burnout

Instructions:
For each question, click the button in the column that most applies. Click the 'Calculate My Total' button to add up your
score and check your result using the scoring table underneath.
Not Rarely Some Often Very
# Question
at all times Often
1 Do you feel run
down and
drained of
physical or
emotional
energy?
2 Do you find
that you are
prone to
negative
thinking about
your job?
3 Do you find
that you are
harder and
less
sympathetic
with people
than perhaps
they deserve?
4 Do you find
yourself getting
easily irritated
by small
problems, or
by your
co-workers and
team?
5 Do you feel
misunderstood
or
unappreciated
by your
co-workers?

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6 Do you feel
that you have
no one to talk
to?
7 Do you feel
that you are
achieving less
than you
should?
8 Do you feel
under an
unpleasant
level of
pressure to
succeed?
9 Do you feel
that you are
not getting
what you want
out of your
job?
10 Do you feel
that you are in
the wrong
organization or
the wrong
profession?
Are you
becoming
11 frustrated with
parts of your
job?
12 Do you feel
that
organizational
politics or
bureaucracy
frustrate your
ability to do a
good job?
13 Do you feel
that there is
more work to
do than you
practically
have the ability
to do?
14 Do you feel
that you do not
have time to do
many of the
things that are
important to
doing a good
quality job?
15 Do you find
that you do not
have time to
plan as much
as you would
like to?

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Total = 0

Score Interpretation
Score Comment
15-18 No sign of burnout here
Little sign of burnout here, unless some factors
19-32
are particularly severe
Be careful – you may be at risk of burnout,
33-49
particularly if several scores are high
You are at severe risk of burnout – do
50-59
something about this urgently
You are at very severe risk of burnout – do
60-75
something about this urgently
See our article on Avoiding Burnout if you think you might be at risk of it. See our article on Recovering From
Burnout if you think it might already have occurred.

Note:
This tool uses an informal approach to assessing burnout. While it may be intuitively useful, it has not been validated
through controlled scientific tests and must therefore not be used as a diagnostic technique. Please, therefore,
interpret the results with common sense. Also, make allowances for any recent events that may have a
disproportionate influence on your mood at the time you take the test!
If you prefer rigorously validated tests, then the Maslach Burnout Inventory may be useful. This was developed by
Christina Maslach, one of the leading researchers in the field of burnout. Copies can be purchased at the following
site: https://www.cpp.com/en/detailprod.aspx?pc=35.

Warning: Stress can cause severe health problems and, in extreme cases, can cause death. While these stress
management techniques have been shown to have a positive effect on reducing stress, they are for guidance only, and
readers should take the advice of suitably qualified health professionals if they have any concerns over stress-related
illnesses or if stress is causing significant or persistent unhappiness. Health professionals should also be consulted
before any major change in diet or levels of exercise.

Where to go from here: Next article

More Self-tests

Ask questions, or share your experience

What members say...

Midgie wrote
This is a great tool ... for anyone who is feeling a bit
(or maybe a lot!) stressed. In addition to the test to
gauge your level of stress, there are excellent links in
articles on how to avoid burnout in the first instance
as well as what to do if you are already there!

Good food for thought about changing your ways

before the stress levels go beyond mere 'stress'!
Almost like a wake-up call!

This makes me think ... what are people's 'wake up

calls' for making changes in their lives?

Midgie

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April 6, 2010

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