This is a free self-assessment adapted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) — the research instrument burnout is actually measured with. You answer 15 items across the three dimensions Maslach and her colleagues identified (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy), add a few context inputs (weekly hours, years at the job, role level), and mark any physical symptoms you're noticing. The tool then returns a burnout score, one of eight profile names, and a ranked Top 3 Actions list tailored to which dimension is pulling your number down.
Burnout isn't a single feeling — it's a pattern. Two men with identical overall scores can need completely different interventions depending on which of the three dimensions is elevated. The "Overextended" profile is the most fixable; "Disengaged" is about meaning; full "Burnout" needs structural change. The Smart Analysis panel sorts this out for you instead of handing back a generic "you're stressed" message. Take the questions based on a typical week, not your worst one or your best one, and be honest — an optimistic answer produces a result that's useless to you.
The Maslach Burnout Inventory measures three separate things — emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy — and its creators explicitly recommend looking at them independently rather than smashing them into a single average. This tool shows you a combined 0–100 score because people want one, but the three dimension bars matter more. Two men with the same 60/100 score can need entirely different interventions: one has flat-out exhaustion with intact meaning and confidence (fix: rest and workload), another has low exhaustion but complete disconnection from the work's purpose (fix: meaning, not sleep), a third is losing confidence despite decent energy (fix: small wins, skill-building, not vacation). If you only take one number away from this calculator, don't take the overall score — take the highest dimension, because that's where the Smart Analysis draws its #1 action from.
Answer based on what has been typical over the past 3 months, not your worst week and not your best week. The 5-point scale runs Never → Rarely → Sometimes → Often → Always. "Sometimes" (value 2) is the honest middle for anything you experience a few times a month but not most days. Don't pick "Rarely" to flatter yourself and don't pick "Often" to dramatize. The most common mistake is answering based on how you felt yesterday or how you're feeling right now — one bad day isn't burnout, and one good day doesn't rule it out. If you genuinely can't decide between two adjacent values, pick the lower one; the tool will still flag you if the pattern is real across multiple questions. All 15 must be answered before the score calculates — this is by design, because the three-dimension structure breaks if you skip items within a single dimension.
Based on which of the three dimensions are elevated (above 2.5/4.0), the tool assigns one of eight profile names, and the profile is the most useful single output. "Engaged" means all three are low — healthy. "Overextended" (exhaustion only) is the most fixable profile because the underlying meaning and competence are still intact; it's almost always a workload problem. "Disengaged" (cynicism only) means the energy is there but the meaning has leaked out — this isn't solved by rest, it's solved by honest conversations about fit and purpose. "Ineffective" (efficacy only) is usually a confidence erosion that needs visible small wins, not vacation. "Burned Out (Engaged)" is the dangerous "I'm fine, I can push through" state — exhausted and cynical but still feeling capable, which is why people in this profile work themselves into physical illness. "Burnout" (all three elevated) is full presentation and almost always needs structural change — time off, workload renegotiation, professional support. Read the profile description carefully; it tells you what to actually do.
These three inputs don't affect your score directly, but they change which actions show up in your Top 3. Weekly hours: 55+ triggers a hard "cut hours below 50" action regardless of your other scores — occupational research shows 55+ hours has the same risk profile as a chronic medical condition. 45–54 with elevated symptoms triggers a softer version. Years at job: under 1 year with high exhaustion triggers a "question the fit" action (first-year exhaustion at this level is usually job-misfit, not weakness). 7+ years with high cynicism triggers an "exit window" action (you've extracted what this role can give you). Role: Manager + exhaustion triggers a span-of-control renegotiation action (if you have 7+ direct reports or are doing IC work alongside management, the role is structurally broken). Executive + cynicism triggers a coaching/sabbatical action because executive cynicism cascades through organizations. Answer these accurately — they're the difference between a generic "rest more" list and one that actually matches your situation.
Section 3 asks you to check any of six physical symptoms: chronic fatigue, sleep problems, frequent headaches, persistent muscle tension, getting sick more often, appetite or weight changes. These are optional in the sense that you can skip them, but they're not optional to the Smart Analysis. If you check 4 or more, the tool triggers a "see a doctor this month" action and moves it near the top of your Top 3 regardless of your dimension scores. The logic: burnout in the body is different from burnout in the head. Once your nervous system is signaling distress in multiple physical channels, mental coping strategies alone don't reach it, and there are medical conditions (thyroid, iron, sleep apnea, depression) that produce identical symptoms and need ruling out. A primary care visit isn't dramatic at this level — it's diagnostic. Check these boxes honestly; optimism doesn't help if the body is already compromised.
After the Smart Analysis toggle opens, you'll see a Top 3 Actions section. These are pulled from a larger pool of about 12 conditional actions, ranked by priority, with the top 3 shown. Position #1 is not a generic suggestion — it's picked based on your highest dimension or your strongest context flag (55+ hours, 4+ physical symptoms, first-year fit mismatch, etc.). Some actions include a link to another calculator (sleep, midlife crisis) because burnout overlaps with those states and the model can't tell which you're actually in without more data. Actions without links are self-contained behavioral changes — cut hours, tell one person honestly, move your body daily, take PTO. Universal fallback actions (move, tell someone, take vacation) are always in the pool so you're guaranteed at least three items even if no specific triggers fire. The #1 slot is the one to act on this week; #2 and #3 are for the following two weeks.
This is the hardest part of using any burnout tool honestly: several conditions produce overlapping symptoms and need completely different fixes. Clinical depression shares exhaustion and loss of efficacy with burnout but also includes pervasive low mood, hopelessness, and anhedonia that extend beyond work; if your symptoms persist on weekends and vacation with no improvement, depression is more likely than burnout. Midlife crisis / meaning erosion shares cynicism and disengagement but is rooted in identity and life stage rather than workload — if your burnout score is above 50 with high cynicism, the tool cross-links you to the Midlife Crisis assessment because the distinction matters. A bad job match can look like burnout in the first year but often isn't — it's information the role isn't right. Undiagnosed medical conditions (low thyroid, anemia, sleep apnea, early diabetes) can produce exhaustion and cognitive fog that no amount of rest will fix. If the Smart Analysis triggers the doctor action, it's triggering it for a reason.
This is a self-assessment for educational purposes, not a clinical diagnosis. The MBI is a validated research instrument, but the adapted version used here is a screening tool, not a medical evaluation. Burnout is also not currently an ICD-11 clinical diagnosis in the US (it's recognized as an "occupational phenomenon" by WHO), so no practitioner can diagnose you with "burnout" the way they can diagnose depression or anxiety. If your score comes back severe and you're dealing with persistent suicidal ideation, inability to function at work or home, panic attacks, substance use to cope, or thoughts of self-harm, don't rely on an online tool — see a licensed mental health professional. If you're in immediate crisis in the US, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline). This calculator is designed to help you recognize patterns and have better conversations with yourself, a partner, and a doctor — not to replace any of those.