Free burnout questionnaire: Check your symptoms online

It takes a while for someone to develop burnout. You may initially notice that you feel more tired than usual after work, even on relatively easy days. Concentrating on tasks becomes increasingly difficult, and you may have less interest in your job. You may also find that you cannot regain your energy during evenings and weekends. These experiences can be symptoms of burnout when they persist over an extended period. Our free online burnout questionnaire helps you examine whether prolonged stress may be affecting your ability to function and recover.

The questionnaire takes approximately five minutes to complete and uses the Barends Burnout Inventory (BBI), which is currently undergoing research and evaluation. It examines four areas of functioning:

• The first concerns exhaustion: how much energy you have left after work and whether you feel sufficiently rested when a new working day begins.
• The second explores mental distance, including whether you still feel involved in your work or have become less interested in your job or tasks.
• The questionnaire also examines cognitive functioning, such as your ability to concentrate, remember information, and organize your thoughts.
• Finally, it considers emotional functioning, including whether you find it harder to manage frustration or respond calmly to everyday demands.

Difficulties in these areas can affect your performance and general well-being. Burnout can also affect your relationships.

After completing the questionnaire, you receive personalized results that help you understand which areas may be contributing most to your current difficulties. The BBI is not a diagnostic instrument and cannot provide a formal diagnosis, but it can help you recognize patterns that help explain why you’re struggling so much. If your results suggest that you are experiencing significant difficulties, you may find it useful to explore the causes of burnout and learn about available treatment options. Because some burnout-related experiences can also occur in other psychological conditions, understanding the differences between burnout and depression may help you decide whether additional professional assessment would be appropriate.

Take the free burnout questionnaire

From the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory to the BBI

Our previous burnout questionnaire was based on the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), a widely used research instrument developed to measure two important aspects of burnout: exhaustion and disengagement from work.

Although the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory remains a useful instrument for studying burnout, we wanted to examine additional difficulties that people frequently report when experiencing prolonged work-related stress. For example, some people struggle to remember information, while others notice that they find it increasingly difficult to regulate their emotions.

For this reason, we developed the Barends Burnout Inventory (BBI), which examines four dimensions: exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive functioning, and emotional functioning. This approach is supported by scientific research showing that burnout involves more than exhaustion and a growing distance from work.

Burnout is not a DSM-5 diagnosis

Burnout is not classified as an official mental disorder in the DSM-5. Instead, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes burnout in the ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

Although the Barends Burnout Inventory (BBI) examines four dimensions associated with burnout, it cannot establish whether someone has burnout or determine what is causing their difficulties. The questionnaire helps you recognize patterns in your experiences that may deserve further attention. If your symptoms persist or begin affecting your ability to work or function in daily life, a professional assessment may be appropriate. You can read more about how burnout is assessed on our burnout diagnosis page.

Your burnout score is only part of the picture

This burnout questionnaire measures important symptoms such as exhaustion and disengagement. However, it cannot explain why two people with similar burnout scores become exhausted for completely different reasons.

The 20–80 Method looks beyond symptoms by identifying the professional operating patterns that influence how stress accumulates. Understanding these patterns can help explain what is driving burnout and where recovery should begin.

Comparison: Operator vs Architect Burnout

Pattern	Operator	Architect
High score may reflect	Too much execution without enough recovery	Too much complexity without enough resolution
Typical thoughts	“I just need to get through this.”	“This system should work better than this.”
What others often see	Pushing through, physical fatigue	Mental overload, frustration, withdrawal into analysis
Recovery focus	Reduce pace, stop constant execution	Simplify systems, reduce cognitive load

A burnout questionnaire can show that exhaustion and disengagement are present, but it cannot fully explain the pattern behind them. An Operator may need to interrupt constant execution, whereas an Architect often needs to reduce unresolved complexity and mental load.