From Burned Out to Fired Up: Stress

I love it when people say the brilliant thing they say about how teachers are so lucky to get 3 months of paid vacation time (meaning summer) (P.S. this sentence is a perfect example of a linguistic device known as irony, or in some instances, ‘sarcasm’) (Ok. Former English teacher here, so just in case that fancy talk was too much, I DON’T love it when people say that) (I’m going to stop with the parenthetical over-use and get another cup of coffee. BRB).

First off, teachers get paid for 9 months worth of work over a 12 month period. When I started teaching, you could choose 9 months of bigger paychecks or 12 months with the 9 months spread out. And it’s no longer 3 months. And I NEVER got a whole 3 months off because I was required to attend professional development, be summer school principal, something…Dang it. Still digressing.

My point is that teaching is demanding work. So is correctional work. Both require you to be diligent, every second of your work day. You stand a lot. If you get a lunch break, you’re lucky. You can’t use the bathroom whenever you want unless you can find someone who can leave their post to relieve you (no pun intended). (More parentheses. Dang it). In a correctional facility, you better hope you’re high enough on the food chain to warrant a key to the staff bathroom. If not, you not only have to find someone to take your place but also someone who will walk to the bathroom and open it for you, then worry that the next person won’t knock before opening the door, thus exposing you to everyone in the very public hallway. On top of all that, if you’re a teacher, you’re the architect of every day, every hour, for every ‘client’ who comes in your space. You have to be “on,” all day. You have to be prepared, well-planned, and certified. If you’re a correctional officer, you have to be prepared to break up fights, prevent riots, deal with medical emergencies, and endure being called names and/or have bodily fluids flung at you for no apparent reason. Ok. That sorta describes teaching in a public school as well.

It’s a lot. Compensation isn’t eye-popping, and in some instances, neither are the benefits. And don’t get me started on Administration. ; ) (that’s a winky face because I’m in the Administration category. I know you were thinking I just forgot the first half of a parenthesis, so I felt I should explain). It’s true, though, that management is the deal-breaker on whether people stay in their jobs and endure the stressors aforementioned or whether (or how soon) they leave. Leaders lessen the burden and create an environment where teachers/officers can do the parts of their job that fulfill them, where supervisors/managers add to that burden. I don’t call those folks leaders, in case you’re scratching your head over that last sentence.

You may not be able to do anything right away about the stressors at your job or in your life, but it’s imperative to manage the stress immediately so that you’re in top shape to tackle the stressors. Sounds a bit weird, doesn’t it? If we could just get rid of the stressor, then we’d be done with the stress? But, is that really how it works?

I’ve been doing copious amounts of research recently (ok, for a while now) about burn out, and I want to point you to two great resources, if you’re interested in learning more about stress and managing it. One is a podcast on Dan Harris’ Ten Percent Happier series called “For the Burned Out, Fried, and Exhausted” with guests Emily and Amelia Nagoski. The other is the sisters’ book, jointly written, titled Burnout: The Secret of Unlocking the Stress Cycle. My copy of the book is ear-marked, sticky-note-annotated, and highlighted so that it looks like a code book, unreadable by anyone but me…but boy…how I read and re-read it! There are some especially good bits in both of these resources specifically for women (good for men, too, but I feel compelled to point out that women and men process, deal with, and experience stress and stressors differently, so specifics are a good thing to mention). I’m feeling like I’ll be writing much more about burn out as we drink our Sunday morning coffee over the next few months, so I’m going to leave you with these two valuable resources and some free advice (we all love free advice, don’t we?):

Take care of yourself out there.

Happy Sunday to you (or whatever day you’re reading this) and enjoy your cup o’joe (or whatever you’re drinking).

(P.S. last use of parentheses. Today. Promise!)

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