Tanglaw - Are you burning up?

Tanglaw December 1998

Are You Burning Up?
Look back over the past six months. Have you been noticing changes in yourself or in the world around you? Think of the work place, family and social situations. Allow about 30 seconds for each answer. Then assign it a number from 1 (for no or little change) to 5 (for a great deal of change) to designate the degree of change you perceive.
Take the test:

1 2 3 4 5

Do you tire more easily? Feel fatigued rather than energetic?

Are people annoying you by telling you, "You don't look so good lately?"

Are you working harder and harder and accomplishing less and less?

Are you increasingly cynical and disenchanted?

Are you often invaded by a sadness you can't explain?

Are you forgetting? (appointments, deadlines).

Are you increasingly irritable? More short-tempered? More disappointed in the people around you?

Are you seeing close friends and family members less?

Are you too busy to do even routine things like make phone calls, read reports or drop a line to friends and family?

Are you suffering from physical complaints? (aches, pains, headaches, lingering cold).

Do you feel disoriented when activities of the day come to a halt?

Is joy elusive?

Are you unable to laugh at a joke about yourself?

Do you feel trapped in the job situation?

Do you have very little to say to people?

Is your day filled with too many difficult and repetitive situations?

Do you sense that your work is meaningless?

Do you experience a lack of staff collaboration?

Do you feel frequent interpersonal conflict between well-intentioned people?

Is there no opportunity for self-monitored time outs?

1 2 3 4 5

0 - 25 You're doing fine

26 - 35 There are things about yourself that you should be watching.

36 - 50 You're a candidate for burnout (Slow down)

51 - 65 RED ALERT! YOU ARE BURNING OUT!

over 65 You are in a dangerous place, threatening to your physical, mental and spiritual well-being. (TIME TO BAIL OUT)

Keep in mind this is merely an approximation of where you are, and useful as a guide to a more satisfying life. Don't let a high total alarm you, but pay attention to it.Burnout is reversible, no matter how far a long it is. The higher number signifies that the sooner you start being kinder to yourself the better.
Sister Teresa McIntier,CSJ,RN,MS