Burnout journal prompts
Burnout journal prompts help you see what's wearing you down at work, and what could change. Burnout grows from a mismatch between you and parts of your job.1 Most of these prompts look at the job for that reason, and the last group ends with one change you can ask for.
How to use these. If you're exhausted, do one prompt a night. There's no prize for finishing. Start with the three signs, and save the six-areas audit for a weekend when you have a little more in the tank.
The three signs
Exhaustion, distance from the job, and feeling less effective. Rate each one. Be honest.
How drained am I at the end of a workday, from 0 to 10, and how long has it been this way?
Answer this with JoyHave I started to feel cynical, numb or detached about work that used to matter to me? What's an example from this week?
Answer this with JoyDo I feel less capable at my job than I did a year ago, and is that what my results show or how it feels?
Answer this with JoySix-area audit
One prompt per area. Mark the two that sting.
Workload: What would a fair week look like, compared with what I'm doing now?
Answer this with JoyControl: Which decisions about my work do I have no say in that I wish I did?
Answer this with JoyCommunity: Who at work do I trust, and when did I last feel part of a team?
Answer this with JoyValues: What am I asked to do that clashes with what I believe good work is?
Answer this with JoyYours or the job's
You can change some of this yourself. A lot of it sits with your manager or the organization, and sorting the two keeps you from blaming yourself for a staffing decision.
Of the six areas, which one is the biggest problem, and who has the power to change it?
Answer this with JoyWhat's one specific change I could ask for: a deadline, a meeting dropped, a clear priority list, help with one task?
Answer this with JoyGetting yourself back
Recovery happens outside work too. Ten minutes counts. It just has to be regular, and yours.
What did I used to do on weekends that I've stopped, and could I do ten minutes of it this week?
Answer this with JoyIf nothing about this job changed in a year, what would I want to do?
Answer this with JoyWhy the audit points at the job
The World Health Organization defines burnout as the result of chronic workplace stress that hasn't been managed, with three dimensions: exhaustion, mental distance or cynicism about the job, and reduced effectiveness at work.2 The WHO keeps the term for work and doesn't apply it to other parts of life.2
Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter, who have studied burnout for decades, describe it as a mismatch between a person and their job.1 Their model names six places that mismatch shows up: workload, control, reward, community, fairness and values.1 The audit gives each one a prompt.
That shapes what helps. Interventions cut burnout by a small amount on average across 19 studies of physicians, and changes made by the organization did more than ones aimed only at the individual.3
Self-care helps you cope with a job that's out of balance, and it's worth doing, but the request in the third group is one way the job itself can start to change.
Example entry: "Exhaustion: 8, since the spring reorg. Cynical: I used to care about the patient letters; now I copy and paste. Biggest area: workload, then control. Who can change it: Priya, my manager. Request: 'I'm covering two roles since March. Can we agree which of the two gets priority until the new hire starts?'"
- Workload: Is there more than a person can do well?
- Control: Do I have a say in how I work?
- Reward: Is my effort recognized, in pay or in thanks?
- Community: Do I have people at work I trust?
- Fairness: Are decisions and credit even-handed?
- Values: Does the work fit what I think matters?
If it's spread past work
Burnout and depression overlap, and researchers still argue about where one ends and the other begins.4 If low mood, hopelessness or loss of interest has spread beyond work, or weekends don't help either, it's time for more than a journal. Ask HR whether your employer has a free, confidential assistance program. Many do.
If you're thinking about leaving, start with the "if nothing changed" prompt; a career counselor can take it from there.
Questions people ask about journaling for burnout
How do I know if I'm burned out or just tired?
A good weekend usually fixes ordinary tiredness. Burnout brings the other two signs as well: cynicism about the job and a sense of doing worse at it.2 Rate all three now. Rate them again next week.
Can journaling help with burnout recovery?
It gives you a written case. Four weeks of entries showing the same two areas, with dates, is easier to bring to a manager or a doctor than a feeling that things are bad. The workload itself only changes when someone with the power to change it hears the request.
What's the 42% rule for burnout?
It's from Emily and Amelia Nagoski's book Burnout: about 42% of each day, around 10 hours, spent resting, sleep included.5 The authors drew it from research on rest and sleep as a rule of thumb, and nobody has tested the number itself. The page on burnout covers it in more detail.
Related
In the journaling section: journal prompts for work and journal prompts for stress. For the signs and causes in full, read about burnout.