[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 Principal’s 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 well-being is the top priority.

Hey everyone, today we’re talking about navigating burnout as a principal, a topic that I think is incredibly important. I’m actually surprised I haven’t addressed this before. Burnout is something I feel really passionate about because I’ve personally experienced it as a principal—and I did come back from it before deciding to step away from the role altogether.

So, in today’s episode, I’ll start by sharing a bit about my own journey with burnout. Then, I’ll give you some tips and strategies, talk about where burnout comes from, and what you can do to manage it as a principal.

First, I want to say that burnout comes from prolonged stress. When you experience burnout, you feel physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. We hear the term burnout a lot, and I’ve even heard teachers say they’re burned out after just one day. But burnout doesn’t happen after one stressful day. It takes time—it’s the result of persistent, ongoing stress. It manifests as total exhaustion, and it’s typically work-related. The symptoms of burnout often resemble depression.

Physically, burnout can show up as headaches, stomach issues, muscle pain, frequent illness (since your immune system is compromised), and high blood pressure. These are physical signs that your body is not coping well with the ongoing stress. Mentally, burnout leads to a loss of interest in your job, lack of motivation, difficulty focusing, and a sense of frustration. You might feel emotionally numb—like you just don’t care anymore. There’s a decrease in satisfaction and a sense that you’re not accomplishing anything.

Burnout can look very similar to depression. But remember, burnout comes from prolonged stress. It’s a buildup over time.

I like to think of stress as existing on a continuum. On one end, you have little to no stress. On the other end, you have chronic stress and burnout. A little bit of stress is okay—it can be motivating and push you to get things done. But if you’re under stress all the time and can’t get out of it, that’s when the stress triggers your fight-or-flight response.

I love the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. They talk about the importance of completing the stress cycle. What often happens is we don’t finish the cycle. Stress puts us in fight-or-flight mode, and we need a way to get out of that state. But instead of finding relief, we add more stress to the situation, making it worse. That’s what leads to burnout.

The key to fighting burnout is finding ways to complete the stress cycle, so we can get out of fight-or-flight mode and stop feeling constantly stressed.

Now, I want to talk a bit about my own experience with burnout. At one point, I’d been a principal for a few years, and I started to feel burnout in a very real way. I went through a period from January to March where I was just overwhelmed by stress—both professionally and personally. I was preparing to get remarried, had two young kids at home, and was dealing with the everyday stresses of being a principal. It felt like stress was never-ending.

One morning, I was driving to work, dreading everything I had to do that day—dealing with discipline issues, meetings, and parent interactions. I was so stressed thinking about all of it that I started hyperventilating and just couldn’t go in. I turned around and went home. That’s when I called my doctor and got put on anxiety medication.

It was the only way I could make it to work. But deep down, I knew something had to change. It couldn’t just be about managing the anxiety with medication. That’s when I started my journey into personal development. I found a coach and began learning how my mindset and my thoughts were contributing to my burnout.

Yes, there were external factors that caused stress, but my own thoughts about those situations were really what pushed me toward burnout. After a lot of coaching and personal work, I was able to come back to work feeling more refreshed. By the end of that school year, I was able to power through and, with a focus on self-care over the summer, returned the next year feeling much better.

I share this with you to offer some hope. If you’re feeling burned out, it doesn’t mean your career as a principal is over. It doesn’t mean you have to leave the profession. But I also want to emphasize that if you want to leave, that’s okay too. There’s no shame in stepping away if you’ve tried everything and nothing seems to work.

Burnout is not the same as stress. I’ve heard teachers say they’re burned out after one stressful day, but that’s not what burnout is. Burnout happens over a period of time. If you notice that you’re feeling disconnected or checked out, you might be heading into burnout territory. While burnout isn’t classified as a mental health disorder, it definitely shares many symptoms with depression and anxiety.

If you’re feeling burnt out, it’s not a sign of weakness or that you’re a bad principal. Burnout is common in high-stress jobs, and anyone can experience it. But it’s crucial to be aware of when it’s happening so you can take action before it becomes overwhelming. The more we take care of ourselves and manage our stress, the less likely we are to burn out.

Now, let’s talk about how to prevent burnout:

1. Be Aware of Where You Are on the Stress Continuum: Regularly check in with yourself. How are you feeling? If you’re feeling stressed, think about what’s causing it. Spend some time journaling or brain dumping to clear your mind. If stress builds day after day, it will eventually lead to burnout.

2. End the Stress Cycle: Find activities that help you relax and complete the stress cycle. This could be exercising, practicing yoga, doing a short meditation, or even just talking with a friend. It’s essential to make time for these activities regularly to help your body and mind recover from stress.

3. Practice Time Management: One of the biggest causes of burnout is poor time management. I used to overbook myself, leaving no time between tasks. This made me feel stressed all the time. By learning how to manage my time more effectively, I was able to create a schedule that was more realistic and sustainable.

4. Set Boundaries: Learn to leave work at work. Set clear boundaries around your time. For example, I knew that taking home teacher evaluations helped me get more done in a quiet space, so I set that as my boundary. Delegate where possible, and avoid overcommitting yourself.

5. Connect with Others: Talking to colleagues and sharing experiences can significantly reduce stress. If you can, find a fellow principal or colleague to talk to. When I was going through burnout, having another principal to talk to was incredibly helpful.

6. Check Your Thoughts: What negative thoughts are you having? If you’re thinking, I can’t handle this job anymore, it’s going to feel like too much. Instead, try reframing those thoughts into something more manageable. For example, think, I’ll take it one hour at a time instead of stressing about everything all at once.

7. Prioritize What’s Important: As a principal, there’s always a to-do list. But you don’t have to do everything at once. Prioritize what really needs to be done and focus on fewer initiatives at a time. This will not only reduce stress but also help you achieve better results.

8. Focus on What You Can Control: In education, there are many things beyond our control. Don’t waste energy stressing over things you can’t change. Focus on what you can control and take it step by step.

I hope these tips help you manage stress before it becomes burnout. If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, I’d love to meet with you one-on-one. You can click the link in my show notes to schedule a free consultation. Let’s talk about your burnout, your vision as a principal, and how I can help you get there.

If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review on Apple. And remember, you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose.

Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time.