In a recent wellness sharing session in our learning centre, the topic of burnout was brought to light as a means to expose the Educational Therapists and other members of the staff to the health and mental risks of experiencing burnout for a prolonged period of time. Seeing the overwhelming response from the staff on the issue, it prompted us to write about our experience and knowledge on the topic and hopefully, spark a healthy conversation among colleagues on this issue.

 

Definition of burnout

According to the Health Hub SG, burnout is a state where one feels emotionally, physically and mentally drained and it is usually caused by prolonged and excessive stress.

Most adults and even children have felt some form of added stress during the COVID pandemic. For some of us, these stressors may have continued to play on even now as COVID is becoming a day-to-day part of our lives, and measures against it have been easing. This can be anything from additional measures that were taken during COVID that continues now that adds on to your workload. For many students, online learning has caused them stress as they felt they were not learning as much as they would in an actual classroom. Teachers may feel the added pressure of getting students prepared for examinations despite the lost time during the online learning phase.

Needless to say, online teaching was definitely more challenging compared to teaching face-to-face. Without in-person interactions, keeping students engaged becomes even more challenging. Teachers then faced the additional challenge and burden of planning interactive online lesson plans so that students pay enough attention for learning to take place. With limited knowledge of the know-how and a limited supply of online lessons, planning takes on two folds amount of energy and effort. This is the perfect atmosphere for burnout to commence.

 

Difference between stress and burnout

Experiencing burnout and stress are two different issues. Nonetheless, burnout may be the product of experiencing stress for a prolonged period of time. However, it isn’t simply having too much stress. Being stressed out could mean that you are under pressure, however, you are still able to operate and get everything under your control. On the other hand, burnout is when you feel mentally and physically fatigued and feel demotivated to do anything, even with your daily routine (Burnout Prevention and Treatment, n.d.).

Not everyone can easily recognise that he or she experience burnout. Hence, here is a short list of some signs and symptoms if one experiences burnout.

 

Signs and symptoms of one experiencing burnout

These are some signs and symptoms of burnout.

 

Physical Symptoms

1) Exhaustion
Do you feel like you are constantly tired and it is difficult to drag yourself out of bed to go to work? It could be a sign of burnout. Besides being physically tired, it also affects you emotionally.

2) Poor Sleep Quality
Was there a period of time when you are so exhausted but found it difficult to sleep? Even in bed, your mind is still so active. You are finally able to fall asleep, but your sleep quality is not fantastic either. You became a light sleeper and get woken up by the slightest noise around you. This could be a sign of burnout too.

 

Behavioural Symptoms

3) Everything gets under your skin
Was there a point when you experience an immense amount of stress and the slightest comment, error or behaviour that your students display amplifies greatly and you lose your cool? That could be a sign of burnout as well. You turn irritable or impatient with people around you, including your co-workers, family and friends, or worse, your students. It is important that we take a step back to recognise our emotions and behaviour (Ratini, 2021).

 

Emotional Symptoms

4) Experiencing the feeling of self-doubt
Have you ever felt that you do not have the confidence of the work that you have done? Despite spending time to craft/create an excellent lesson plan, you think that it is not good enough (Integrisok, 2021).

5) Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment
You put in effort crafting lessons and your students thoroughly enjoyed your lessons. Yet, you do not feel satisfied, and even worse, felt that you did not execute the lesson well. At other times, your colleagues praised you for your great efforts but you did not feel accomplished at all. If you felt that way for a prolonged period of time, you may be experiencing burnout too (Integrisok, 2021).

 

Experiences relating to burnout 

How does burnout affect our quality of teaching 

If you think burnout only affects you, you may want to think twice. This condition not only affects you but also the people around you. 

Imagine constantly flaring up at your students when they commit a minor or careless mistake. Or, imagine that you lose your drive to plan a meaningful lesson for your students because you are feeling burnout. Students with dyslexia in general, have lower self-esteem. It is important that as their educator, we set the right mindset and attitude to help them grow and learn in a safe and supportive environment. As an educator, if we do not provide positive

affirmation and a positive environment in our lessons, they would feel even more demoralised. So, it is important for us to detect early warning signs of burnout and address it. We should not take burnout lightly because it not only impacts you, but your quality of teaching and as a result, impact our students’ mindset, attitude and behaviour. 

 

Let’s be responsible educators! 

 

How can we help one another and ourselves: 

Positive affirmations 

Just as an apple a day keeps the doctor away, speaking to our fellow colleagues can keep the blues away. No one else in our lives can experience work stress as well as our colleagues can. Hence, doesn’t it make the most sense to speak to them on a regular basis to both receive and give encouragement? Whether it is just stopping by our colleagues’ desks for a quick chat or purposely seeking them out at a very stressful time just to rant, we have all had our fair share of comfort from engaging with our colleagues. 

 

Breathing Techniques 

Practice Calming ourselves before stressful situations. This may be something that we hear all the time. As educators, we must practise what we preach. Students often suffer from exam anxiety and teachers often teach time strategies to calm themselves down. One of which is breathing in and out deeply, or focusing on your breathing for a while to calm your mind. One thing that can help with Burnout is identifying stressful situations and calming ourselves down before they begin. For example, if a particular class causes us more stress due to behavioural challenges, then allocate 5 or 10 mins before the class comes in to do deep breathing exercises and centre your thoughts. Power poses can also be done to increase your confidence. 

 

Reorganise your Priorities 

One of the biggest challenges one experiences during a burnout is the lack of motivation to reorganise your to-do list. Take time to sit down and list out what is essential and important to be done right away and what can wait. List down how you can better care for yourself and what steps you can do towards that. Even planning your meals a day before can make you feel a lot more contented and confident going forward. 

 

Take time off 

Whenever possible, try to take breaks from your work. Now that the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted (somewhat partially), go on short trips to Malaysia/getaway! Use the time overseas to rejuvenate yourself. If you are unable to take breaks from your work, strike a balance. Craft a schedule and list the activities you wish to do at certain blocks of time. Intentionally include time for your family, friends, hobby and, most importantly, yourself (Burnout Prevention and Treatment, n.d.). 

 

Make friends at work 

Work without social support can be arduous! Having meaningful friendships and bonds in the workplace can tremendously relieve stress! Crack a joke with your colleagues, or simply share your experiences in class, it can get you through your rough day more easily!

We hope that this article provides exposure for you to know more about burnout. Remember, detect early warning signs and address them! Pull it through educators! 

 

References: 

Burnout Prevention and Treatment. (n.d.). Help Guide 
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm 

Ratini, M. (2021). Signs You’re Burned out. 
https://www.webmd.com/balance/ss/slideshow-signs-burnout 

What Are the 5 Stages of Burnout? (2021). Integrisok. 
https://integrisok.com/resources/on-your-health/2021/november/what-are-the-5-stages-of-bu rnout