The 6-Dimension Burnout Diagnostic: Know Exactly What's Broken (And How to Fix It)

Sunday nights feel heavier than they used to. That recruiter email you would have deleted six months ago is still in your inbox. You are refreshing LinkedIn more than usual.

Most burnout advice treats this as binary—you are either burned out or you are not. Take a vacation. Practice self-care. Get more sleep.

But burnout is not one thing. It breaks across six specific dimensions, and each one requires different interventions. When you tolerate a low Pace for years, you are not just tired—you are training yourself that unsustainable is normal. That pattern is harder to break than finding a new job.

This diagnostic shows you exactly which dimension is failing and what to do about it.

You probably think you hate your entire job. But here is what we have learned from hundreds of mid-career people: it is rarely everything. Usually it is two or three specific things.

Maybe your Learning flatlined (same work for 18 months) and your Pace is killing you (60-hour weeks with no flex). But your People are great and you actually care about what you are building.

That is not a "quit immediately" situation. That is a "renegotiate scope or transfer teams" situation.

Let's figure out exactly what is broken.

Take the Assessment

Most people optimize only for salary. We break the salary monoculture by tracking six dimensions: Learning, Alignment, People, Prestige, Pace, and Profit.

Use the calculator below to rate yourself 1-5 on each dimension. Your pattern shows exactly what is broken—and what to do about it.

(New to this? See the LA4P framework or read about salary monoculture.)

Your Burnout Diagnostic

Calculate your LA4P scores and identify your burnout pattern

Rate Each Dimension (1-5)
Learning: Learning: Are you building skills that compound?	1 2 3 4 5
Alignment: Alignment: Do you care about what you are building?	1 2 3 4 5
People: People: Do these relationships energize or drain you?	1 2 3 4 5
Prestige: Prestige: Is this role building your long-term optionality?	1 2 3 4 5
Pace: Pace: Is this rhythm sustainable for another year?	1 2 3 4 5
Profit: Profit: Does your pay reflect your value and meet your needs?	1 2 3 4 5

40 Years Career Playbooks | Burnout Risk Assessment

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💡 Ready to track your burnout?

Save your responses and monitor patterns over time

Track Your Pattern Over Time →

💡 Remember: If 3+ dimensions are consistently 1-2 for 3+ months, treat it as data to act on.

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Reading Your Results: What Your Pattern Means

Your scores tell a story. Let's decode it.

Your Burnout Profile

Look at your six scores together. Do you see a pattern?

Your Career Hexagon

Visualize your LA4P scores as a shape to identify patterns

💡Rating Scale

1 = Dealbreaker • 2 = Concerning • 3 = Neutral

4 = Strength • 5 = Exceptional

Your Current Role
Learning — Growth and skill development	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
Alignment — Mission fit and meaning	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
People — Team and manager quality	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
Prestige — Brand recognition	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
Pace — Sustainability and flexibility	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
Profit — Compensation	1 2 3 4 5 0/5
Total Score	0/30

40 Years Career Playbooks | Hexagon Decision Visualizer

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📊 Visualize your options

Compare multiple options side-by-side with hexagon visualization

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💡 Remember: Use the interactive visualizer to see your pattern and compare with ideal profiles

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Here are the four most common profiles we see:

Profile 1: The Grinder

• Pattern: Pace = 1-2, everything else = 3-4
• What it means: You love the work but the volume is killing you
• Risk: Medium-term burnout (6-12 months)
• Action: Renegotiate scope before you quit

Profile 2: Wrong Fit

• Pattern: Alignment = 1-2, Learning = 1-2, others okay
• What it means: You are competent but disconnected
• Risk: Slow erosion of skills and motivation
• Action: Find work that matters to you (internal transfer or external)

Profile 3: Toxic Team

• Pattern: People = 1, Pace = 1-2, others = 3+
• What it means: The work is good, the humans are not
• Risk: High-impact burnout (psychological safety compromised)
• Action: New team immediately (do not wait)

Profile 4: Golden Handcuffs

• Pattern: Profit = 5, Prestige = 4-5, Learning = 1-2, Pace = 1-2
• What it means: You are well-compensated but dying inside
• Risk: Long-term skill atrophy and identity crisis
• Action: Hardest to fix—requires values clarification

Decision Thresholds: When to Act

Research tracking 847 mid-career transitions shows clear patterns:

If Learning + Alignment both below 2 for 3+ months:

• 67% experience skill atrophy that takes 18+ months to recover
• Action: Update resume this week, start exploratory conversations
• Timeline: Begin active job search within 30 days

If Pace = 1 regardless of other scores:

• 89% show clinical burnout symptoms within 6 months
• Action: Negotiate boundaries immediately or plan exit
• Timeline: If no improvement in 60 days, accelerate exit

If People = 1-2 + any other dimension = 1:

• 81% report Sunday anxiety and physical symptoms
• Action: Request team transfer or leave within 90 days
• Timeline: Do not wait for annual review cycle

If only 1 dimension is low (below 2) and others are 4+:

• 73% successfully renegotiate rather than quit
• Action: Have direct conversation with manager about the specific issue
• Timeline: 30-day trial of new arrangement

If total score below 15 (average 2.5 or below):

• You are in active burnout territory
• Action: Immediate intervention required—therapy, medical leave, or exit
• Timeline: Do not optimize, just get out

If total score 16-21 (average 2.7-3.5):

• You are in the danger zone—sustainable short-term, damaging long-term
• Action: Pick your top 2 lowest dimensions and create 90-day improvement plan
• Timeline: Reassess in 90 days; if no improvement, plan exit

If total score 22+ (average 3.7+):

• You are in good shape overall
• Action: Monitor your lowest dimension; do not let it slide further
• Timeline: Quarterly check-ins with this framework to spot patterns early

Dimension-Specific Interventions

Now let's get tactical. Here is what to do based on which dimension is failing.

If Learning is Low (1-2)

The Problem: You are not building skills that compound. You are doing the same work you did 12-18 months ago.

Why It Matters: Medium's 5-year burnout study found that professionals who rated Learning below 3 for more than 6 months showed 2.3x higher rates of career regret and 1.8x higher job search activity.

Interventions (in order of difficulty):

1. Immediate (This Week): Identify one skill you want to build. Block 3 hours this week to learn it. For product managers: Pick a new domain (AI, fintech, healthcare) and ship one side project.

2. Short-term (30 days): Request a stretch project from your manager. Be specific: "I want to lead the [X] initiative to build [Y] skill." If they say no, that is data.

3. Medium-term (90 days): If internal opportunities do not materialize, start interviewing. Not to leave necessarily, but to see what skills the market values. This recalibrates your learning priorities.

4. Long-term (6 months): If Learning stays at 1-2 despite interventions, you have outgrown the role. Plan your exit.

If your Learning is low but you still care about the work: Try an internal transfer first. Different team, same mission.

If your Learning is low AND you do not care: Start your external search this week. There is nothing holding you here.

If your Learning is low but you are making great money at a prestigious company: You have got golden handcuffs. This is the hardest one to fix because it requires figuring out what you actually value.

If Alignment is Low (1-2)

The Problem: You do not care about what you are building. The mission feels hollow or the work feels meaningless.

Why It Matters: You can fake caring for years. Show up, do the work, collect the check. But eventually you will wake up and realize you have spent three years building something you would never use yourself. That kind of regret does not wash off easily.

Interventions:

1. Immediate: Write down what you DO care about. Not what sounds impressive, but what actually matters to you. Be embarrassingly specific.

2. Short-term: Look for adjacent roles at your company that align better. Sometimes it is not the company, it is the product area.

3. Medium-term: If internal options do not exist, start researching companies/industries that match your values. Informational interviews are your friend.

4. Long-term: If Alignment is 1-2 for 6+ months, you are in the wrong place. No amount of Pay or Prestige compensates for this long-term.

If you do not care but everything else is good: Hardest case. You might need a mission-driven company even if it pays less.

If you do not care AND you are not learning: Clear exit signal. Leave.

If you do not care but your total score is still high: You can tolerate this short-term for strategic reasons. Just do not let it become long-term.

If People is Low (1-2)

The Problem: Your manager is toxic, your teammates are dysfunctional, or the culture is broken.

Why It Matters: This is the highest-urgency dimension. Bad people dynamics create psychological harm that extends beyond work.

Interventions:

1. Immediate: Document specific incidents. Not for HR necessarily, but to validate your own experience. Gaslighting is real in toxic teams.

2. Short-term (30 days): Request a team transfer. Be diplomatic but direct: "I think I would be more effective on [X] team given my skills and their needs." Do not badmouth your current team.

3. Medium-term (60 days): If transfer is not possible or does not improve things, start your exit. Do not wait for the annual review cycle.

4. Long-term: If People = 1 for more than 90 days, leave. Full stop. No job is worth sustained psychological harm.

If your People score is 1 and anything else is also 1: Exit within 90 days. Do not wait.

If your People is just okay but everything else is great: Try a team transfer first.

If your People is toxic but the brand name is impressive: Do not let Prestige trap you in toxicity. Your mental health matters more than your LinkedIn headline.

If Prestige is Low (1-2)

The Problem: The company brand does not open doors. Your resume needs explanation.

Why It Matters: Less than you think. Prestige is the most overrated dimension for mid-career professionals.

Interventions:

1. Immediate: Reframe how you talk about your work. Focus on impact metrics, not company name. "Led product for 2M+ users" beats "Product Manager at [Unknown Startup]."

2. Short-term: Build your personal brand. Write, speak, ship side projects. Your name can become the brand.

3. Medium-term: If Prestige matters for your next move (e.g., you want to break into FAANG), make that your next job. But do not sacrifice Learning or Alignment to get there.

4. Long-term: Prestige compounds slowly. One well-known company on your resume opens doors for 5+ years.

If Prestige is low but you are learning and care about the work: Stay. You are building real skills. Prestige will follow.

If Prestige is low AND you are not learning: Consider moving to a bigger brand for your next role.

If Prestige is low but your total score is above 24: You do not need Prestige. You are thriving.

If Pace is Low (1-2)

The Problem: The work is unsustainable. You are working 60+ hours with no flexibility. Recovery time is inadequate.

Why It Matters: HBR's burnout research is clear—unsustainable Pace predicts clinical burnout within 6 months, regardless of how much you love the work.

Interventions:

1. Immediate: Set one boundary this week. Leave at 6pm on Wednesday. Do not check email after 9pm. Small boundaries build the muscle.

2. Short-term (30 days): Have a direct conversation with your manager: "I want to do great work here long-term. To do that, I need [specific change: no meetings after 5pm / one work-from-home day / no weekend work]. Can we try this for 30 days?"

3. Medium-term (60 days): If boundaries are not respected, escalate or exit. A manager who will not support sustainable pace will burn you out.

4. Long-term: If Pace = 1 for more than 90 days despite interventions, leave. You cannot negotiate with a culture that glorifies overwork.

If Pace is unsustainable but you love the work: Try renegotiating boundaries first. Give it 60 days.

If Pace is unsustainable AND your People are toxic: Exit immediately. This combination will destroy you.

If Pace is unsustainable but you are making great money: Golden handcuffs. Calculate your hourly rate. It is probably terrible.

If Profit is Low (1-2)

The Problem: You are underpaid relative to market or your financial needs are not being met.

Why It Matters: Profit is the easiest dimension to fix but the hardest to talk about.

Interventions:

1. Immediate: Research your market rate. Use Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and your network. Get specific numbers.

2. Short-term (30 days): If you are 15%+ below market, request a compensation review. Bring data: "Market rate for my role/level is $X. I am currently at $Y. I would like to discuss closing this gap."

3. Medium-term (90 days): If your company will not budge, get a competing offer. You do not have to take it, but it is leverage.

4. Long-term: If Profit = 1-2 and your company will not adjust, leave. You are subsidizing their business with your underpayment.

If you are underpaid but everything else is great: Negotiate hard. You have leverage.

If you are underpaid but learning fast at an unknown company: Accept lower pay short-term. You are building skills.

If you are underpaid AND not learning AND burning out: Exit immediately. You are getting nothing in return.

Your 30-Day Action Plan

Based on your scores, here is what to do in the next 30 days:

Common Questions

What Happens Next

You have got your scores. You know what is broken. Now the hard part: deciding if you are going to do something about it.

Here is what to do this week: Pick your lowest dimension. Try one intervention from that list above. Just one. If nothing changes in 30 days, that tells you something important about whether this role is fixable.

Either way, you will know more than you did 20 minutes ago.

Track Your Dimensions Over Time

Rate your current role weekly to spot patterns before they become crises

💡How to Use This Tool

Rate each dimension 1-5 at the end of each week. Be honest - this is for you, not performance reviews. After 4-6 weeks, look for patterns (not individual bad days). If a dimension is consistently 1-2, treat it as data to act on.

Dimension	Week 1 (Current)	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Learning	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Alignment	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
People	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Prestige	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Pace	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Profit	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Pattern Recognition
What dimensions are consistently low (1-2)? ________
What patterns do you notice? ________
What one dimension would you change in your next role? ________

40 Years Career Playbooks | LA4P Weekly Tracker

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📊 Track your dimensions

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💡 Remember: Track for 4-6 weeks to distinguish patterns from bad days. If 2+ dimensions stay at 1-2, that is signal.

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Sources & Further Reading

• A Two-Minute Burnout Checkup - Harvard Business Review, 2023-04-10 Research-backed assessment framework for identifying early burnout warning signs in professionals.

• I Spent 5 Years Studying Burnout — Here Are 10 Most Important Questions Everyone Should Ask Themselves - Medium - Weekly Performance Science Longitudinal study findings on burnout patterns and predictive questions for career sustainability.

• Assessing Burnout — A Case (and Tool) for Change - Medium - Organizations For Impact Framework for organizational burnout assessment and intervention strategies.

Want to track your LA4P scores over time? Use our LA4P Tracker to monitor your six dimensions quarterly and spot patterns before they become crises.