Managing Stress and Burnout in Education

This time of year in education is always challenging, but more so now than ever before. Days seem shorter, schedules and routines are disrupted, we are constantly managing the stress of those we work with, and still trying to navigate the pandemic. Overwhelming fatigue. Everyone is ready for the much needed breaks built in but stress and burnout are still high.

Last fall my school was back in person full-time. There was still so much unknown at the time with the pandemic and vaccines had yet to roll out. My wife works in health care and every day we both would come home totally fried. The burnout and stress really started to set in around this time. It was my first encounter with overwhelming stress and genuine burnout with teaching. I struggled teaching every day and my emotions were all over the place. Here are some strategies I implemented that were useful. I am not a believer in quick fixes and things didn’t miraculously improve overnight. But, overall there was improvement and these strategies helped with the peaks and valleys along the way.

Acceptance - It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

There are two phrases I sometimes say to myself.

“This moment is as it should be” -Deepak Chopra

"This too shall pass.”

I can’t even remember where I heard the second one but these helped me during this time of stress and burnout. I found the more I constantly focused on the stress and lists of endless tasks, the more stressed I became. I forced myself to pause, accept things as they were at the present moment, and begin moving forward from there one small step at a time. It also forced me to recognize and accept what I couldn't control. It is okay to feel stressed, overwhelmed, and burned out. And you are most certainly not alone.

Be Decisive

This builds upon the acceptance element. Accepting the present moment and recognizing it's okay to experience those feelings is the first part. It doesn't mean you have to accept an unhealthy work environment or accept that change can’t be made. During times of stress and burnout, you might need to make difficult decisions. Always follow your heart and intuition in the pursuit of taking care of yourself. Accept what is, be decisive in improving what needs improving, and move forward.

Set Boundaries

Setting clear boundaries and expectations with yourself and others is so critical. It might even mean resetting boundaries and expectations at this point in the year - and that's okay! Set boundaries at school and know you can always say, “no.” Most importantly, set clear work and personal life boundaries. I used to have my school email on my phone and home computer. I was constantly checking it all hours of the day, even throughout the night. I knew I had to make a change and decided to remove my school email from all of my personal devices. I decided to leave work at school (when I can, I know - grading) and genuinely focus on my personal life when I came home. My morale slowly began to improve because I was recharging in the evenings and weekends focusing on what truly mattered to me.

Practice Self-Care

Carve out time to focus on YOU and on taking care of yourself. Do what makes you happy and never feel guilty about it. If it’s exercise - find time to make movement. If it’s pizza from the local restaurant on Wednesdays - eat pizza on Wednesdays. If it’s Netflix and popcorn - then watch Netflix and eat popcorn. I have implemented all of these throughout the past year. The biggest hurdle I had to get over was feeling guilty about doing it. I always felt like I should be doing something more productive. But, self-care is productive. And it's absolutely essential to your well being. So take a deep breath, focus on YOU, and do what makes you happy.

Make Time for Relationships

I truly think relationships and connections are the most important component of life. Connecting with others has helped me through so many challenging times. Make time for personal connections with your students and colleagues. That means connecting about non-school/work related topics. Movies you watched, books you read, food, what you did over the weekend, etc. Not only does this help foster deeper connection and understanding, it is also helpful to put work on pause even if for a few minutes. Also, make time for your family and friends outside of school. We are inherently wired for connection and these connections have the restorative power to truly fill our cups.

Being an educator is hard. If you are struggling, you are not alone and it is okay to not be okay. If you or someone you know is dealing with challenges regarding mental health it is important to seek help from a medical professional.

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