Tag Archives: Burnout

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Public, School Media Specialist, Special, Training

Looking ahead: December's topic is Stress Management!

Winter Wonderland
Manage your end-of-year stress!

We know December is still several weeks away, but it is such a busy time of year, we wanted to let you know about this event so you can mark your calendars now!

We decided to make the Monthly Topic for December Stress Management. This is because the end of the year can be a stressful time in libraries. There is so much going on, and everyone else is busy and stressed so they are not helping to calm things down!

But this is not just a seasonal issue. Mary’s research into stress in libraries has shown there is a LOT of stress happening in libraries all over the place – probably including yours! Library people have been embarrassed to admit being stressed at work, even though we have plenty of stressors – but it has not been discussed often enough.

So in this seminar we will look at some common stressors in libraries, and identify some strategies for addressing them. And we will work through some skills for personal relaxation, to help us survive the end of the year chaos, then take our new skills of stress management into the new year!

We will offer this seminar twice in-person on Tuesday, December 6: from noon to 1:30, and again from 4:30 to 6:00. You are invited to attend either in-person session (they are identical). Feel free to bring your food! We will provide beverages. Web material will be available for members unable to attend.

Sign up on our Eventbrite! Looking forward to seeing you there! 🙂

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

How will you deal with end of the year burnout?

I have a plan. (187/365)Many of our academic librarians are already done for the academic year, public librarians are gearing up for summer reading programs, and our K-12 audience is usually coming to the finish line on fumes. Just in case you want to throw your hands up in the air and simply storm out of the worksite at year end, dig deep, and consider taking the time to reflect on the year. Seriously…even if it felt like this year almost killed you! I find it enormously helpful to take a breath, get honest, and take stock about this time of year. Consider the following questions, and write down (and save) your answers if at all possible.

  1. What was hardest this year? Why?
  2. What brought you joy? How often did you feel joy?
  3. What do you know you could do better next year?
  4. What skills must you learn to feel fully up to speed doing your job?

You may be too tired to set goals, but wouldn’t it feel great to have a plan for next year? Wouldn’t it be nice to end next year without feeling completely exhausted, depleted, or sad? The folks at Edutopia recently wrote a Teacher Wellness post about dealing with burnout throughout the year. You will notice one of the strategies is writing it down! A quick read, and you could even save it to put with your notes from this taking stock exercise I described here! You will enter a new academic year confident that you have a plan!

Have a phenomenal summer, you all deserve it.

Patricia-

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/qc788l4, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Are You on the Path to Burnout?

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photo-1428891786829-23a17f38b8f0After attending the ITEM and MLA Conferences recently, I was struck by how often the word burnout came into casual conversations. I was also struck by how often I heard  phrases like, “taking a step back” and “regrouping”. The hot wave of tech integration has warmed in “early adopter schools” and some media specialists are recalibrating, re-examining their practice. Public librarians are licking their wounds after summer reading programs. Smart professionals know burnout is a hazard of the profession, but also know they don’t need to idly wait for total burnout to happen!

Our friends at Edutopia did a great blog post about 12 steps to prevent burnout. Even if one idea works for you, it is worth a read. Do Pinterest boards called Happy Thoughts or Things That Make Me Laugh sound appealing? Or how about creating a joy journal? A quick read with all the links you need await you! Peace.

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Ryan Pouncy), licensed under CC0 1.0