Self-Care Assessment Stress is an inevitable part of everyday life that affects everyone regardless of their socio-economic status. The inevitability of stress emerges from the fact that some days are harder than others and tensions tend to run high on those difficult days. Stress occurs on a day-to-day basis for most people to an extent that many don't even recognize that it is happening. It is important to know how to deal with that stress before it becomes too much to handle. For those who let stress to build on, it eventually turns into a state of burnout. According to the Merriam Webster, burnout is defined as, "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration" (Merriam Webster, n.d.). Burnout occurs in most people, but no one usually knows it is happening. I personally did not realize that I was at risk for burnout until completing the burnout assessment.

It is very rare for many people sit down and reflect on their emotional state daily despite the inevitability of stress. Personally, I usually don't take time to examine and reflect on my emotional state. However, I evaluated my state of mind recently when undergoing a burnout assessment test that contained a series of statements that helped in the reflection process. As I was answering the statements, I still didn't feel that I could possibly be entering a state of burnout. Upon completion of the assessment, I analyzed all my answers and realized that most of them of "sometimes" and "rarely." As a result, I thought I was in control of my stress levels and wasn't entirely a negative person....

I believe that statements such as, "I have negative thoughts about my job" and "I feel that I am in the wrong organization or the wrong profession" are normal to have sometimes. This is mainly because many people have doubts or feel exhaustion regarding their job and/or workplace. I never thought that those feelings could lead to burnout. After answering all the statements, I received an end score of 33-49, which says, "be careful -- you may be at risk of burnout, particularly if several scores are high." I was slightly surprised with those results since I didn't feel like I could be in a state of burnout as previously mentioned.
After realizing that I was at risk for burnout, I examined an article on how to avoid burnout. The article states provides several recommendations that are helpful in avoiding or dealing with burnout. First, a person must look at the long-term picture and not focus on figuring out a short-term solution such as taking a vacation. Although a vacation is always nice, problems are still there when the individual gets back and that burnout state is highly likely to develop. Secondly, it is important to work on yourself and do things that will help your stress on a daily basis. Working out is a great stress reliever that helps a person to maintain his/her stress on a long-term basis. The key to stress is being able to deal with it and doing things to help yourself not become overwhelmed and eventually burnout (Mind Tools Editorial Team, n.d.).

It is important to develop healthy habits to maintain your stress. After completing the Self-Care Assessment worksheet, I felt that I…