Sales Burnout Risk Calculator
A 12-question self-scored diagnostic across workload, recovery, and rejection exposure that produces a burnout-risk score and points you to the one change most likely to move the needle this week.
How to use it
Score yourself against the last 7 working days, add up the three domain subtotals, and find your band. Run the First Fix protocol tied to whichever domain scored highest for two weeks, then re-take the calculator to check movement.
What's inside
- 12 scored diagnostic questions across 3 domains: Workload, Recovery, Rejection Exposure
- 0-4 point Likert scoring key with clear anchors
- Domain sub-score worksheet (0-16 per domain)
- Total risk score out of 48
- 4-band risk interpretation: Low / Elevated / High / Severe
- Domain-priority logic for identifying your single biggest driver
- 3 named First Fix protocols (one per domain) with exact numbered steps
- 2-week re-test protocol with a pass/fail threshold
- Manager-escalation guidance triggered automatically at the Severe band
Twelve questions. Five minutes. One number, one clear first move.
This isn't a generic wellbeing quiz: it's built around the three things that actually drive burnout in a quota-carrying sales role: how much you're working, how well you're recovering, and how much rejection you're absorbing without processing it. Answer based on the last 7 working days, not your best week or your worst.
How to score each question
Rate how true each statement has been for you, using this scale:
| Score | Label |
|---|---|
| 0 | Never / Not true |
| 1 | Rarely |
| 2 | Sometimes |
| 3 | Often |
| 4 | Almost always / Very true |
Write your score in the blank next to each item. Don't overthink it, first honest answer.
Part 1, Workload
| # | Statement | Score |
|---|---|---|
| W1 | I work through lunch without a real break away from my desk/screen. | ___ |
| W2 | I'm still doing sales tasks (calls, follow-ups, CRM, proposals) after 7pm on a typical weekday. | ___ |
| W3 | I do sales work during some part of my weekend most weeks. | ___ |
| W4 | My current pipeline/quota load feels heavier than I can hit without cutting corners on quality. | ___ |
Workload subtotal (W1+W2+W3+W4): ___ / 16
Part 2, Recovery
| # | Statement | Score |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | I get less than 7 hours of sleep on a typical work night. | ___ |
| R2 | I go 2+ days in a row with no real physical activity (walk, gym, sport, anything that raises my heart rate). | ___ |
| R3 | I have no non-negotiable personal time this week that work hasn't already eaten into (hobby, exercise slot, family time). | ___ |
| R4 | When I'm off the clock, I still catch myself thinking about deals, quota, or a bad call. | ___ |
Recovery subtotal (R1+R2+R3+R4): ___ / 16
Part 3: Rejection Exposure
| # | Statement | Score |
|---|---|---|
| E1 | I get told "no," ghosted, or hung up on in most of my outreach attempts this week. | ___ |
| E2 | After a rejection or a lost deal, I keep replaying it instead of moving to the next task within a few minutes. | ___ |
| E3 | I don't have anyone: manager, peer, mentor, I'd actually tell if a week went badly. | ___ |
| E4 | A meaningful deal has fallen through, a hot prospect has gone dark, or I've missed a number in the last 2 weeks. | ___ |
Rejection Exposure subtotal (E1+E2+E3+E4): ___ / 16
Total Burnout Risk Score
Workload ___ + Recovery ___ + Rejection Exposure ___ = TOTAL ___ / 48
Risk bands
| Score | Band | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0–12 | Low | Normal operating stress. No action needed beyond routine maintenance. |
| 13–24 | Elevated | You're managing, but at least one system is under strain. Address it before it compounds. |
| 25–36 | High | Active burnout drivers are outrunning your recovery. Intervene this week, not "someday." |
| 37–48 | Severe | You are at meaningful risk of burnout-driven mistakes, health impact, or attrition. Escalate to your manager and don't wait for a re-test. |
Your one first fix
Whichever of your three subtotals is highest tells you where to act first, fixing the biggest leak beats spreading effort across all three. If two subtotals tie, start with Recovery, it's the fastest lever to pull and it improves your capacity to fix the other two.
If Workload is your highest subtotal, run "The 6pm Hard Stop":
- Pick one weekday task (proposal writing, CRM cleanup, prep) and move it to a defined AM slot instead of squeezing it in after hours.
- Set a recurring calendar block titled "Day End" at 6pm. When it fires, close the laptop lid, physically, even mid-task.
- Tell your manager or a teammate you're doing this for 2 weeks, so there's a witness and light accountability.
- Anything genuinely urgent gets triaged the next morning at 8am, not at 9pm.
If Recovery is your highest subtotal, run "The Non-Negotiable Recovery Block":
- Pick one 45-minute slot, same time every day, and label it in your calendar as an unmovable meeting (sleep wind-down, a walk, gym, whatever restores you).
- Treat it exactly as you'd treat a call with your VP, you don't cancel it for an inbound Slack ping.
- Turn off work notifications for that block specifically (not "all day", that's rarely sustainable to start).
- Track only one metric for 2 weeks: did the block happen, yes/no.
If Rejection Exposure is your highest subtotal, run "The 60-Second Reset After No":
- After every rejection, hang-up, or lost deal, take 60 seconds before touching the next task: stand up, walk away from your desk, take 3 slow breaths.
- Say (out loud or in your head) one sentence that separates the outcome from your worth: "That was a no to the offer, not a no to me."
- Log the rejection in one line in a notes doc instead of replaying it mentally: write it down once, then let it go.
- Book 15 minutes this week with one person (manager, peer, mentor) specifically to talk about how the week is actually going, not just pipeline numbers.
Re-test
Re-run this calculator in 2 weeks. If your total score hasn't dropped by at least 4 points, the first fix wasn't enough on its own: escalate to your manager with your score and ask for a workload or territory conversation, not just moral support.