HOW TO STOP CAREER BURNOUT IN ITS TRACKS WE’RE STRESSEDOUT
In today’s workforce, stress is practically unavoidable. Even when you’re doing something you love and find fulfilling, stress has a way of making itself known. Stress can come from any source — family, coworkers, technology, traffic, and so on. Making matters worse, a lot of us end up working ourselves into mental and physical exhaustion. We get up, go to work, go home, rinse and repeat. Every day, people all over the country are one step closer to career burnout. The reason? They don’t deal with their stress. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In an article on the Fast Company website, Bryan Collins details a few ways you can stop burnout in its tracks (you can read the whole article here: fastcompany.com/3038545 ). Here’s one tip from the article that can help you save your sanity and rediscover your passion — recognize yourself. What does it mean to recognize yourself? Consider what you do every day. Look at your projects or tasks. When you began your career, you may have been pursuing a passion, but businesses change over time. People change, goals change, colleagues move on, new managers are promoted, and executives retire. With all of these changes, you may find yourself with a completely different set of responsibilities than you anticipated ever taking on. No matter if you’re at an elementary school or at a large university, your local community is a huge part of your identity. When you make it a point to get involved locally beyond the classroom walls, you’re doing more than making new connections and reminding people of the importance of your school; you’re also making another positive impact on the place you call home. Summer Is Here Most schools in the U.S. shut down for most of the summer. Of course, I don’t have to tell you that the idea that teachers only work nine months a year is a complete myth! Still, many teachers and other educators find themselves with more free time during the summer than they have the rest of the year. If you’re one of them and you’ve been looking for ways to support your community, donating and volunteering are great ways to take advantage of that less frantic pace to make an even bigger difference in your local community. Support a Local Charity or Nonprofit Group Every town boasts its share of charities and nonprofits looking to make a difference. Find a cause you believe in, then go to work and help out. This could mean activities such as donating to a local women’s shelter, volunteering either on your own or with other educators at the soup kitchen, helping to organize a fundraiser for a children’s hospital, or whatever you can do that will help.
If you’re not working on something you genuinely care about, you will eventually burn out. Refocus your efforts and recognize what it is you love doing. If you no longer have time to work on projects you care about, make the time . If things need to be shuffled around so you can contribute in a way that makes you happy, do it. Discuss reorganizing or delegating tasks — take charge of your workflow. Just remember to take it one step at a time. Make it a goal to find time every day to work on what you love, even if it’s for an hour. That hour will make a world of difference toward your state of mind. This line of thinking comes directly from psychologist Abraham Maslow (of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs fame). When you express yourself in a meaningful way — when you do what you love — you’re happy! You’ve achieved self-actualization, and that puts you on the path to avoid burnout.
MAKEAPOSITIVE IMPACT
Supporting charities has long been known as one of the most fulfilling things a person can do in their spare time, even if what you can do or give doesn’t seem like all that much. And, believe me, your efforts, no matter how insignificant they may seem, will mean the world to the organization and its clients. Do What You Can Of course, not everyone will be able to volunteer or donate, but if you can, please consider it. These suggestions require time and resources to pull off, but making the effort can change your own life, as well as the lives of others.
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