How to Manage Your Back-to-School Mindset and Avoid Burnout

As a career educator for almost three decades, August has always been a bittersweet time for me. It’s the beginning of the summer to school transition. The days are often more beautiful than ever, especially in Vermont. Our gardens swell with ripening tomatoes and the sunflowers are shining their happy faces to the sky. The humid days of July have given way to cooler nights that hint at the crispness of Fall’s imminent arrival.

If you’re a teacher or a parent, you know what Autumn means. As the longer summer days come to an end, they trigger that back-to-school mindset and the remembrance of the burnout you felt last spring. Fall ushers in the return of the chaotic, more stress-filled lifestyle of the academic year. The very lifestyle that I had vowed to get a handle on last year! This year, I aim to manage that stress and support my wellbeing! No more burnout for me.

Set annual goals.

I often use the start of the school year to set new goals, much like others use January 1st. As I enjoy one of those perfect August days out on my back patio watching the hummingbirds drain the feeders, (they’ve got their migration South to think about–talk about stress!), I’m using Positive Framing to keep my summer vibe going into the new school year for as long as I can.

What is Positive Framing?

Positive Framing comes from the book Conversations Worth Having, which invites you to name what you want instead of what you don’t want. You name the negative and then “flip it” to the positive opposite.

You identify the positive impact of the flip to “frame it,” helping you focus on desired results or outcomes.

Then, you craft Generative Questions that help you create a plan and pathway to reach your desired outcome.

Here are some positive frames I’ve come up with for my situation; these are my desired goals!

Generative Questions

Here are a few generative questions I might ask myself to help me hold onto this summer ease:

• What gives my life meaning and helps me feel joyful and fulfilled?
• When do I feel most alive?
• As I reflect on all the people I hang out with, who are the people that are most enlivening and uplifting?
• How might I create time to engage in joyful activities during the work week?
• How do other educators I know manage to create work/life balance?
• What needs to happen for me to achieve this?
• What strategies have worked in the past to help me remain mindful of my well-being?

Want to hold onto your summer ease?

What’s your anxious thought or fearful outcome as you head into the academic year? Try flipping and framing it to focus on what you want instead. Then craft a few generative questions to help you think about how you can achieve that outcome and when you will make the time.

When those hummingbirds make their return journey north next Spring, my hope is that Positive Framing will have helped me remain in Summer’s joyful frame of mind. I hope it does the same for you!

P.S. If you're having trouble figuring out how to flip your negative back-to-school mindset, sign up for the September Monday Kickstarters. It’s free. Bring your challenges to the sessions and get helping creating a positive frame and generative questions. It will be worth your 30 minutes!

Shared by Guest Blogger Kristina M. Hansen  is a National Board Certified Teacher with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. She delivers presentations of her first-person account of burnout and how she found her way back to thriving. KMH Resilience and Wellbeing offers coaching for both individuals and groups interested in increasing the resilience and wellbeing of themselves, their workplaces, or their communities. Kristina is currently working on her certification for Conversations Worth Having.

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