Teaching Guide Authored by Alyssa Valenti, Electronic Services Librarian

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“I can’t do this… I just can’t do this. I’m just gonna quit, walk away. I bet it’s really nice in Zihuatanejo right now” (Alyssa Valenti, internal dialogue, November 6, 2017).

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Mid-semester burnout: it’s here! After my internal dialogue, (which has been severely edited for the purposes of the Center website) I remembered vaguely writing something at the start of this semester in which I recommend to colleagues on how to prevent and address faculty burnout! Lesson 1 – Listen to your own advice!

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Self-care is so important! Community college faculty are known for tirelessly giving to their students.  I attended a teaching conference in June of 2017 where I happened upon a session about ‘Tending the Teacher: Self-Care for Dynamic Faculty” (Clare & Freeman, 2017).  My original article has a lot of great advice and suggestions from experts Bevin Clare and Camille Freeman of the Maryland University of Integrative Health. The caveat is thinking about what self-care techniques work best for YOU. Clare and Freeman offer the following pillars of self-care for ‘Tending the Teacher’:

• Course design can be self-care

• Day-to-day wellness practices

• Food and fuel

 

Please view the original ‘Tending the Teacher’ article linked HERE. My insights on these three pillars mid-semester are as follows – these opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer. YMMV (your mileage may vary), and remember do what works best for YOU!

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Course design as self-care. For me, mid-semester is not really the best time to plan for new and innovative teaching practices. I’ve been sick of saying the same things, doing the same activities, and using the same lessons so I’ve added unnecessary stress by trying to try out multiple new things. How about, just pick one, and try that first.

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Day-to-day wellness practices. I moved into a new office which is wonderful, but focus on my environment has fallen to the wayside. Clare and Freeman recommend analyzing your work environment and incorporating green living things, working in short bursts, and including visual inspiration – I need to get a stability ball chair, asap!

Some days, I’ve stopped leaving my desk at lunch. What happened to me? I used to have a great plan where I went to the fitness center and used exercise endorphins to power me through the rest of the afternoon. I still work out at night, but I don’t have the same energy during the day that I used to. Ignoring the importance of a break in my day has compounded my burnout. This issue feeds directly into the third pillar of ‘Food and Fuel.’

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Food and fuel. I know that what I eat affects my functioning. Clare and Freeman recommend starting your day with breakfast, something with protein and substance – Ok! I do this! They suggest that you snack with sense: actually take a snack break! Some healthy, filling snacks DO NOT INCLUDE: leftover Halloween candy, cupcakes from bake sales, cookies en masse and pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks even if you ask them to ‘make it skinny.’  

 

Awake without caffeine… we are all fighting our own battles.  Clare and Freeman are herbal experts (evidence-based and grounded scientific research herbal uses) and suggest using herbs such as tulsi, ashwagandha, lemon balm, bacopa monnieri, and ginkgo biloba for awakening, boosting brain power and calming.

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Final thoughts – everyone suffers from burnout differently and has his or her own ways of working through it. If you don’t suffer from burnout, share your secrets with your colleagues that do! I think one of the most important pieces of advice I took away from my own article is to identify my support systems and to call on them as necessary. We do not work or live in isolation! Combat stress, beat the burnout!

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References:

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Clare, B., & Freeman, C. (2017, June 2). Tending the teacher: Self-care for faculty [PDF document]. Retrieved from https://padletuploads.blob.core.windows.net/prod/27219528/
c1790b0aa6715042d3c6912c0bb3bcba/Tending_the_Teacher__1_.pdf

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Clare, B., & Freeman, C. (2017). Self-care for dynamic faculty. Retrieved from https://padlet.com/bevinclare/selfcare