Banish Burnout: Feel Your Feels

Teacher burnout can encompass physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion— often all at once. Along with feeling flat-out exhausted, there can be a wide range of feelings that go along with burnout. When I first started feeling burnout, it was accompanied by a large serving of guilt. I was supposed to be an enthusiastic teacher. I was supposed to go above and beyond. I was supposed to be a teacher forever. I struggled to let myself feel what I was feeling because every time I went inward, I felt guilty. 

Eventually, I worked through that guilt and realized that we need to feel all of our feelings without judgement. By being able to let go of the guilt, I was able to get clues about what I really needed. If you’re feeling burnout, the first step is accepting whatever you are feeling right now. Use these ideas to embrace your emotions and get clarity on your next steps: 

Get it Out

It’s so hard to reflect on our own situations without judgement, but try. Just try! Find a way to just get your feelings out. Think about metabolizing your emotions by fully processing and digesting them. Write in a journal, record yourself talking, call a trusted friend, talk to a therapist. Whatever it is, find a way to make your feelings visible. By intimately knowing your emotions, you can make sense of them and figure out your next best step. 

Go Deeper 

Next, go deeper. Now that you have clarity over what you are feeling, try to think about why these feelings are happening. Can you trace your feelings to specific aspects of your job, a certain event, or day-to-day tasks? Think about what makes your feelings complicated. Maybe you are feeling like you’re not sure you can go on as a teacher. These feelings could be complicated by your love of teaching. What will you do if you’re not a teacher? What will you do if you are a teacher? It’s okay to have conflicting thoughts and feelings. The important thing is to recognize where the conflict lies. 

Short-term and Long-term Fixes 

Getting your feelings out is an amazing step towards clarity, but I also want you to find ways to feel better. Think about what would make your situation better in the short and long term. Often these are very different solutions. Maybe in the short term you want to eat chocolate and take a bath (amazing!). But in the long-term, would doing this every day really solve the reasons behind your feelings? Probably not. Make a list of possible short-term and long-term fixes. You don’t need to know if they will be 100% effective, you just have to be willing to try them. 

Above all, remember that whatever you’re feeling is okay. There are no bad feelings! When you tune into your emotions rather than pushing them away, you can receive important clues about your next step.