The Principal's Handbook

Navigating Burnout as a Principal
[00:00:00] In today's episode. I want to talk about navigating burnout as a principal. That's all coming up next, right here on the principals handbook. Stay tuned.
Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance, I'm Barb Flowers. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
Hey everyone. Today, we're going to be talking about navigating burnout as a principal.
And I think this is such an important topic and I'm actually surprised. I don't have any episodes on this topic yet. , and I [00:01:00] am so passionate about burnout because I have experienced my own burnout as a principal. And I actually did come back from it before I decided to leave being a principal altogether.
So I want to start by talking a little bit about my own journey with burnout, and then I'm going to give you some tips and strategies and talk a little bit about where burnout comes from and what you can do to help with burnout when you're a principal. So first I want to just say that. Burnout comes from prolonged stress. And what happens when your burnout is you feel physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.
So if you've ever felt burnout, This term is thrown around a lot and I've heard it. With teachers. I remember I saw a teacher said they were burnt out after the first day. You can't be burnt out after the first day, you could be stressed. You could be overwhelmed, but burnout really comes from being physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. And burnout is typically work-related in the symptoms actually look really similar to depression. So you feel exhausted, you have [00:02:00] headaches, you might have gastrointestinal issues where you feel those stomach problems.
You could have muscle pains, you get sick often because your immune system's lower. You could have high blood pressure. It has a lot of physical symptoms that are really not good for your body. And mental symptoms that happen with burnout. Really a loss of interest in your job.
Maybe you're thinking I don't want to be a principal anymore. , you're not motivated to be better as a principal. You have a hard time focusing when you're at work. You have a lack of creativity, you could be frustrated with the job in general, with the people around you. Maybe you have emotional numbness.
This is a terrible feeling like you just really don't care. You don't care what happens. It's a very odd feeling, but you just are numb to everything. You have a negative attitude towards your job or others. So if you find yourself just being annoyed and feeling really negative towards teachers, coworkers, parents, it could be that you're feeling burnt out.
Decreased satisfaction, and you don't have [00:03:00] any sense of accomplishment. You don't see. Any wins or any good things that are happening in the building. , It can look really similar to depression.
And burnout really just comes from prolonged stress.
And so I've heard this described once before, and I really liked this as stress being on a continuum, right? We hear people say I'm stressed out, but that can look very different person to person situation to situation. So on one end of the spectrum is little to no stress. And on the other end, you have chronic stress and burnout. So having some stress in your life is okay.
That's good. It can motivate you. It can put pressure on you. , to get things done in a positive way. However, if we're feeling like we're under stress all the time and we can't get out of , that's when stress triggers a fight or flight response. Because stress was originally created in our bodies for us to survive.
It was so that we could protect ourselves from getting eaten, basically. And [00:04:00] I love this book by Emily and Amelia Nagorski and they have a book called burnout, the secret to unlocking the stress cycle. And they really talk about the importance of completing the stress cycle.
So we don't make it to burnout.
And what happens so often? Is we don't complete the cycle. And so basically the stress cycle they're talking about is that we get into this fight or flight mode, but then we need relief. We need to get out of it. We need to find a way to, , stop our body from feeling stressed. Instead of getting out of it, we end up adding more stress and more stress and more stress until we can't finish that cycle.
And we're just in stress mode and that's what leads to burnout. And so the key to fighting burnout is really finding ways to get out of fight or flight mode. So that we can. Stop feeling stressed and have that relief. And so I want to talk a little bit now about my experience. What I was experiencing. As a principal is [00:05:00] that. I'd been a principal for a couple of years at this point when I started to feel burnout.
I went through this period of time and it was, I remember it so vividly.
It was really from January to March that I just felt so stressed. And you know, it was stress in my professional life, but it was also stress in my personal life because we have to remember even good things are stressful and I was getting ready to get married again. , I had two little kids at home. And I was a principal and there was just a lot going on and I was feeling so stressed out.
My stress never ended. And so what that led to was one day I was driving to work. And I didn't want to go to work because I thought of all the things that were going to go wrong that day in my mind, I'm thinking of all the discipline I'm going to have to deal with. And the meetings I had , and the parents I had to deal with, and I was so stressed thinking about it, that I just started balling.
I started hyperventilating. And I couldn't go to work. I turned around and I went home. And it actually led me to calling my [00:06:00] doctor and getting put on anxiety medication. And I knew that was the only way I was going to get to work was to medicate myself. And That's what I did.
I got on anxiety medication and I got on one that I could be. , Get instant relief so that I could just go to work on Monday because this was on a Friday and I knew I needed to be there. , but I also knew that something needed to change and it couldn't just be about anxiety medication. And so that is really what started my journey of personal development.
I have always been a huge fan of personal development.
And if you listen to this podcast, you probably are too. , but I decided I need something different and that's when I found a coach, I found a life coach and started learning about how my mindset and everything that I was doing and thinking, and. All of the things, , that were causing me burnout were really contributed by my own thinking. And yes, there were tons of circumstances around me causing me stress.
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to say that. Oh, it was really being a principal was easy and it was my thoughts. No, that was not the [00:07:00] case at all. However, it was definitely my thoughts about the circumstances happening that was really causing that burnout. , after lots of coaching and working on myself, I was able to come back to work. , and like I said, this burnout happened in March.
So with a lot of personal development through the rest of the school year, I just kinda got through that school year. Through that summer really focused on myself. I was able to come back the next year and not feel burnout. So I tell you that story to just give you some hope that if you are burnout, it doesn't mean that you're done as a principal.
It doesn't mean you have to leave. Now I will also give you the caveat that if you want to leave, there's no shame in that. I think so often we think that, you know, we have to stay in a profession or there's no way we could ever leave because it's such a big part of our identity. And I do always want to say, if you're not happy in the position and you've tried. Lots of different things.
I do think you should leave, right? You need to find something that really brings you purpose and makes you happy. [00:08:00] And if you're burnout and you're stressed all the time. Then maybe it isn't the job for you, but I just want to give you some hope that you are able to overcome this. If that's something you want to do. So I just wanted to share my own story.
And for you to know that I have been through it. I get it. I know where you're coming from. It's hard, but you can't overcome it. And I also want to reiterate that burnout is not the same as regular stress. Like I said, I've heard teachers say I'm so burnout. One stressful day is not burnout. It takes a long period of time. And you're going to notice when people are burnt out, they seem checked out.
They seem disconnected. , and burnout, , it isn't considered a mental health disorder, but it definitely feels like it. And it can be linked with depression and anxiety. So like I said, I got anxiety medication. And that helped me while I work through it. And then again, just know if you're feeling burnout.
It's not a sign of weakness. It doesn't mean you're a bad principal. It doesn't mean you're a bad leader. Anyone can experience burnout. It's very common [00:09:00] when we're in these high stress jobs. And I think that you just need to be aware of when it's happening, because I think there's so much pressure as principals that so many teachers are getting burnout and we have to have it all together, but we need to know that we need to take care of ourselves and we need to do the things, , to help with our own stress.
So we don't get to the point of burnout. I always say,
once you stop taking care of yourself and not focusing on your stress, that's when the burnout happens. So you've got to focus on your wellbeing. So now I want to talk about how do we prevent burnout. Well, first, you have to be aware of where you are on that stress continuum. Check in with yourself regularly. How are you feeling?
If you're stressed, think about what is causing that stress. Really take some time. Journal brain dump a brain dump just where you take some time and write down all of your thoughts. Think about why are you feeling stressed? If you find that you're stressed out day after day. You're going to lead to burnout.
It's going to lead you there. So you need to figure out what is going on in your life. What is causing so much stress and it could be [00:10:00] personal. It could be professional. It just depends.
Then you need to find ways to end the stress cycle each day, that can help you relax. And the tricky part about this is sometimes when I didn't even feel stressed, my body still was, and we talk about regulating our nervous system. I actually have a podcast episode about that, that I did with Molly funk.
And we were talking about the emotionally regulated school. I'll link that in the podcast notes. Because we have to regulate ourselves to end that stress cycle. And so that could be exercising each day. It could be doing yoga. It could be doing a five minute meditation. It could be going out with a friend and talking.
It could be going for a walk, reading, a book, watching a good show. You have to have things in your life that help complete that stress cycle. That help. Regulate your emotions. So make sure that you are finding activities. That really helped keep you calm. I know so many principals that don't have activities or things that they do for their own self care. [00:11:00] And that is going to lead you to burnout.
So find those things that can help you relax.
Also practice time management skills. , this was one of my number one areas that caused me burnout. Is I would GM pack my schedule. To get a lot of things done and I wouldn't have time to end that stress cycle because it was go, go, go. And I didn't have any time between activities. And so I was constantly in this. Heightened stress, in this state of heightened, stressed, even from school to home, right?
Like I would overbook myself after school. And so really practicing my time management skills has helped me so much to feel less stressed. I've learned to schedule things in making sure that I'm, , creating a schedule that's realistic and not something that I can't sustain.
So really be mindful of what you're planning, what you're trying to get done in a short amount of time.
And then set boundaries with your time. Leave your work at work, and this can be something that's really hard, but try to prioritize the things that you need to take home. So for [00:12:00] me, one thing I knew that I needed to take home because it would stress me out at work was teacher evaluations. I just, I could get so much more done at five in the morning if I just sat and worked on it for 30 minutes than if I did it in my office, or I did it after school. So knowing that about myself, I could set boundaries with my time that I was going to spend time doing it.
But if I took all this stuff home and had a big to-do list of things I wanted to work on at home. Nothing would get done. But if I knew I was going to work on one evaluation for a half hour in the morning when my brain was fresh. That would get done. So really set boundaries on your time, know what you can commit to know, , what are things that you can make sure you have time to do at school and what are things that you just do better at home when you're all by yourself? When it's completely quiet.
, also. Set boundaries around, , what all are you involved in? You know, are you putting yourself on every committee? One thing that I did that was really helpful was I made teachers chairs of all the morning committees that we have that way. If I had a doctor's appointment or I couldn't make it right on time.
[00:13:00] For some reason, I had a teacher who was leading it and not everybody was waiting for me. So setting boundaries. You know, making sure that you're delegating and having others help you is really helpful.
Another way to help with burnout is connect with others. Take time to talk to colleagues and decompress. I always find that the more connection I have, the less anxious, I feel the less overwhelmed. I feel because even talking to principals, talking to people, going through the same thing really does help you have that connection. And so I started going to a principal's meeting at least once a month.
And it would be really hard to get there, but I will say just taking the time to go and connect with those other principals who are going through hard things was really helpful. We could share stories, we could share strategies. Just having that was helpful. Also, my colleagues at school, I was lucky to be in an elementary where I had another principal I worked with, but I know, , even like our high school and middle school principal worked closely together.
. Having a. Another principle that is like your colleague that you can [00:14:00] call, you can text. If you just need somebody to talk to. When I went through that burnout, I was able to talk to my other colleague and just share what was going on with that. So, Having somebody that you can have those positive interactions with, they understand what you're going through.
You can decompress can be really helpful. That connection is really important. Also, I talked about this a little bit, but you have to be aware of your thoughts. What negative thoughts are going through your mind. So if you're having this thought, , I can't be a principal, it's too hard. It's too hard.
It's too hard. And you're always thinking that then it is going to be too hard. Where if you break things down, it really helps. 'cause , I remember I would have these thoughts. Like my phone would blink. The light would blink on my messages and I would just have this thought it's an angry parent. , or somebody is so mad at me and I'd be afraid to check my messages and it stressed me out. When I realized that and I stopped having that thought it changed so much for me. , even when I had the thought, when I had the panic attack that day of. There's going to be so much going on today.
It's going to be so [00:15:00] stressful having that thought made it hard to go to work. Right. So check your thoughts. What thoughts are you having? What do you need to reframe? Having the thought I can handle whatever comes at me today, or I'm just going to take it an hour at a time. Think about that.
If you take your job an hour at a time, that makes all the difference. Right. Instead of thinking about all the things that can go wrong, that doesn't help anything.
And then make sure you're prioritizing what's important. As the principal, we know that. It feels like your to-do list never gets done. There's so much to do. However, prioritize what needs to get done. It goes with what I said about time management and really manage your time. You know, what are the most important things you need to do as a new principal?
I thought I had to change everything in the building right away. I wanted to implement all these different initiatives. And I learned over time, it only stressed me out and it stressed my teachers out. It didn't help anything. I couldn't make progress that way. And so I've learned less initiatives. It's not only better for burnout and stress, but it's also better on [00:16:00] actually getting things done.
And then my last tip is really focused on what you can control.
There are so many things in education that we can't control. I was in public education where we're always getting different initiatives from the state. And we have expectations of what we're supposed to be doing in our building or what. , the third grade guarantee, what does our third graders have to do?
What do they have to get on this test to go to the next grade level? And having those state initiatives are really stressful. However, there's nothing I can do to control that. So getting stressed about it, getting worked up, getting worked up about it. There's no point in it. And so really just taking it a little bit at a time.
We've also been implementing the science of reading, which I love, but you know, there's been so many state initiatives that have really been stressful. Working with my curriculum director at the time and really making sure I just took it one step at a time. I didn't get upset about it.
Didn't get worried. I wouldn't let it stress me out because we just did the best we could with the information that we had.
So just remember. It's easy to get [00:17:00] stressed out, but we just have to have ways to really let that stress go. Stresses and normal part of life. But you have to be proactively managing it. So it doesn't become burnout.
So I hope that you found these tips helpful today. , if you are dealing with burnout and you're just feeling stuck in your job, I would love the opportunity to meet with you one-on-one and have a conversation. You can click the link. In my show notes, I have a Calendly link that you can sign up to do a free consultation.
I would love to talk to you about what your burnout looks like and what's possible for you as a principal. What would your ideal vision look like as a principal and how can I help you get there?
So if you're interested in that, click the link in my show notes and let's schedule a free consultation, but if you love the show, if you're listening on apple, scroll down in your app, leave a review. And keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life. According to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week and I'll see you back here next time.