Burnout warning signs — a practical checklist
Burnout tends to develop gradually, which is why the warning signs are easy to dismiss or normalise. This checklist covers five dimensions. The more items that feel familiar — and the longer they have been present — the more worth paying attention to.
Go through each section. There are no scores here — this is a prompt for honest self-reflection, not a diagnostic tool. For a scored assessment, use the link below.
Exhaustion
- I often end the day feeling completely empty, not just tired
- My energy does not recover the way it used to, even after sleep or time off
- Getting through a normal workday requires noticeably more effort than it used to
- I wake up in the morning without motivation to begin
- I want to engage with my work but feel unable to
Mental distance
- I go through the motions at work without really being present
- I feel cynical or indifferent about work that used to matter to me
- I feel a strong reluctance — sometimes resistance — about going to work
- I question whether what I do has any real value
- I feel emotionally detached from colleagues or clients I used to care about
Cognitive impairment
- I have more difficulty concentrating than I used to
- I make avoidable mistakes because my mind is elsewhere
- I struggle to think clearly or make decisions, especially under pressure
- I have been more forgetful and easily distracted than usual lately
- Tasks that used to be easy now require disproportionate mental effort
Emotional impairment
- I overreact to minor problems or setbacks in ways that feel unlike me
- I feel irritable or short-tempered more often than usual
- I sometimes feel upset or close to tears without a clear reason
- My emotional reactions at work feel out of proportion or unpredictable
- I feel unable to manage my emotions the way I normally can
Recovery and sleep
- I have difficulty falling or staying asleep, often because of work thoughts
- During time off, I find it hard to stop thinking about work
- I wake up unrefreshed even after a full night's sleep
- I have little energy left for anything outside of work
- I need significantly more recovery time than I used to
What to do next
If this checklist raised concern, the most useful next steps are usually: acknowledging it rather than pushing through, reducing load where you can, and getting professional input if the pattern is persistent. Our full assessment gives you a scored breakdown across all five dimensions.
The scored assessment takes 5 minutes and gives you specific feedback across each dimension, not just a single number.
Take the free assessment →