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In today’s world, things are rapidly changing. Technology is advancing faster than ever, presidential changes, environmental changes, wars and more. We are worried about our identities, our families, our neighbors in personal lives and our students in our professional lives.
In our roles, students have increased anxiety over safety to travel, remaining inside the U.S., how their identities may affect them abroad and our role is support them, answer their questions, and provide resources. If you’re like me, then you want to put all your energy in supporting each individual student and providing them a wealth of information. This is in addition to our many other roles of supervising, compliance management, program management, risk assessment and more. Our jobs are both physically and mentally draining and can easily lead to burnout with the additional stressors in our personal lives. How can we continue to support others when we feel the stress and anxiety ourselves? What is burnout? According to the National Institute of Health, the term “burnout” is the “feeling of exhausted, empty and burned out due to stressful life circumstances” (InformedHealth.org). Signs of burnout in the workplace can include exhaustion, alienation from work-related activities, and reduced performance (InformedHealth.org). It is important to understand that burnout can also have real physical and psychological symptoms. “Physical symptoms include fatigue, insomnia or difficulty sleeping, gastrointestinal issues, and recurrent headaches. Psychologic symptoms of burnout include feelings of frustration and hopelessness, constant anxiety or disillusionment, continuously feeling overwhelmed and unable to overcome the situation, a lack of empathy, and an appearance of detachment” (Roux, 2020, p.32). While all of these symptoms may not affect us, it is important to take time and intentionally reflect and examine how we are feeling physically and emotionally. Take a moment to ask yourself the following questions: 1.“How full is your cup? 2.Do you need to stop and fill up? 3.What do you need in this moment? What activity or self-care behavior would help fill up your cup? 4.How can you regularly schedule checking in with yourself – and self-care practices– into your week?” (Modern Minds) After reflecting on these questions, what can you do to take time away from your stressors and put that energy towards caring for you, even if it is only for a short period of time? It is important to do self-care for each of the dimensions of wellness. Here are some recommended ideas for self-care.
Being part of IEI is also a great way to engage and reflect with others in our field that are experiencing similar situations and lean on them for support. A great IEI resource is the DEIJ group. This group is committed and passionate about supporting voices for all and advocating for the field. You can learn more about the DEIJ group on the IEI website. It doesn’t matter what the activity is, try to do something small every day for 5 minutes. Then from their increase your self-care time to what your body needs. Taking time for you is not a waste of time or selfish. It helps keep us healthy, positive and motivated. While taking time to care for yourself cannot solve the turbulent times we are in, it can rejuvenate you enough to keep going. Resources InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Depression: Learn More – What is burnout? [Updated 2024 Apr 15]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/ Roux, Nikki JD, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, NEA-BC, FACHE; Benita, Tiffany MSN, RN. Best practices for burnout self-care. Nursing Management (Springhouse) 51(10):p 30-35, October 2020. | DOI: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000698116.82355.0d https://modern-minds.com/you-cant-pour-from-an-empty-cup-why-self-care-isnt-selfish/#:~:text=Have%20you%20ever%20heard%20the,difficult%20to%20put%20into%20practice. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/ https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/caring-for-your-mental-health Comments are closed.
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