Take the Burnout Test
To assess your stress level, complete the burnout test below, kindly made available by Dr. Arie Shirom. The Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire measures stress on the three levels that comprise the burnout condition, emotional exhaustion (EE), physical fatigue (PF), and cognitive weariness (Cog).

Answer each of the statements below by indicating how often you have the feeling during working hours. Almost always = 1 point; very frequently = 2 points; quite frequently = 3; sometimes = 4; quite infrequently = 5; very infrequently = 6; almost never = 7. Add up your scores for each of the three categories. To find your stress range, see below.

The Burnout Test
  1. I feel tired. (PF)
  2. I feel physically fatigued. (PF)
  3. I feel physically exhausted. (PF)
  4. When I get up in the morning to go to work, I have no energy. (PF)
  5. I feel fed up. (EE)
  6. I feel like my emotional batteries are dead. (EE)
  7. I feel burned out in my job. (EE)
  8. I feel emotionally fatigued. (EE)
  9. I am too tired to think clearly. (Cog)
  10. I have difficulty concentrating. (Cog)
  11. My thinking process is slow. (Cog)
  12. I have difficulty thinking about complex things. (Cog)

(Dr. Shirom says that men whose scores average 3.0 to 3.75 and women who average 3.6 to 4.0 are at the high end of the burnout range and should seek expert help for preventative measures.)

Burnout: The Hostile Takeover

The last act of the stress cycle, burnout develops from a condition of endless, chronic stress, in which emotional resources are stripped away until there is nothing left to counter the drain. It's a "gradual depletion over time of individuals' intrinsic energetic resources," says Tel Aviv University's Arie Shirom, a leading authority on job stress.

The result is a three-way, mind-body shutdown-emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness. It's more than being tired. You have been sucked dry. Motivation, pride, ambition, drive--it's all gone, and hope along with it. Numbness and cynicism set in, and along with them a sense of depersonalization and a lack of accomplishment. Withdrawal, detachment from work and relationships and symptoms of depression mark the advanced stages of the cycle.

Burnout Triggers

Stress turns into burnout when we suffer a loss of physical and emotional resources too great to replace. If coping efforts fail to restore the loss, and there's no interruption of the stress response, we crash into burnout. Typical burnout triggers include overwhelming workload, lack of support or reward, interpersonal conflict, loss of control, and a sense of impotence, that nothing you do makes a difference.

There are plenty of flares sent up if we're paying attention:

Fatigue
Frequent illness
Upset stomach
Frequent headaches
Muscle tension and pain
Rapid heartbeat
Forgetfulness
Being late to work
Alienation
Aggravation
Frequent mistakes
Sleep difficulty

We're raised to take these hits to our health and never let on that we're wounded. Men, in particular, are taught that admission of any weakness--even the physical reality of the body falling apart--is wimpy. The adaptive process of burnout thrives on this denial to create real physical weakness. The adrenaline racing through our body masks the damage to overtaxed organs.

Tom Row, a former Tennessee scientist, told me he didn't know he was stressed until he was being hauled out of his office on a stretcher after a heart attack. He was lucky to survive. He made a vow on his hospital bed: No more more 12 hours days or skipped vacations.

As Lao Tzu said, "He who is brave in daring will be killed. He who is brave in not daring will survive." Opting out of esteem-based workaholism is the real home of the brave. Research shows it also improves productivity, which gets hammered by burnout.

Work to Live's work life balance and stress-reduction programs can help re-engineer your work style to put you and your office on the path from burnout to balance.

Call today for a training that can recharge job and life.

Joe Robinson

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