Burning out

[Haynie]

I have been a teacher of some sort for 13ish years. I am burning out earlier and earlier each year. It is very hard to put your heart and soul 24/7 into something and get very little in return. The passion is there the drive is leaving.

The happiest I have ever been as a teacher was the three years I had before I came here. My partner teacher and I were so dialed into each other that her class and mine hummed. She moved and I went into a quasi administrator role working with and helping struggling teachers through a massive district direction change.

No jobs like that here or anywhere I have looked, plus those positions usually go to teachers with longevity in the buildings. Where my partner teacher moved, they pay in scenery, other wise I would work with her again in a second. My wife liked her too, which was a HUGE bonus and my kids called her Auntie Mer.

So I am wondering if there are any ex teachers out there who moved into something new? What are you doing now?

 

[76winger]

Teacher or non-teacher, you need to find what is in your heart to do. What gives you joy and makes you think "This is what I was put on this earth to do!". Then get about doing that, whatever it is. You'll live a much happier life, richer or poorer, just because you won't be stressing out and you'll be doing something you enjoy doing.

 

[nava1uni]

Teacher or non-teacher, you need to find what is in your heart to do. What gives you joy and makes you think "This is what I was put on this earth to do!". Then get about doing that, whatever it is. You'll live a much happier life, richer or poorer, just because you won't be stressing out and you'll be doing something you enjoy doing.

I agree. I have had a few occupations and have always done the thing that makes my heart sing. I now own my own business doing Home Care Nursing and I almost never regret having to go to work

 

[ctubbs]

When I was just a kid, I had a very wise neighbor for whom I occasionally worked. One summer he leaned on the hoe he was using and said, "Charles, you're pretty damn lazy, ain't ye?" Being taught to always tend toward being honest, I replied, "Yes sir, I sure am." Whereupon he freely gave me some of the best advice I ever received, "Then boy, find something you'd do for free, then find some damn fool to pay you to do it." Then we went back to hoeing tobacco, most definitely not something I would do for free! I tried many different things until I did find something I would do for free and someone willing to pay me well for doing just that.
The moral of the story, if there really is one, life is way too short to spend it doing something that you hate just to make a living . If you are not having fun at work, then you are in the wrong job. It is time to find another one. Pay is secondary to enjoying your work. Where is the gain to die with a sock full of money with ulcers and stress from your work. I have never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. That is my $0.02 and as always, YMMV.
Charles

 

[Andrew_K99]

I'm not a teacher (my wife is) but I can relate. 14+ years at the same place doing the same thing is getting to me. I'm pondering change but don't know to what.

AK

 

[Autonoz]

Twenty years as a firefighter and I am sick of the politics. Was hoping to go 25, but I just don't think I can go that long.

 

[dogcatcher]

I had one of those "cushy" inside jobs, good pay, excellent benefits, but I hated the place. Finally found something different, the work was hard, outside and usually back breaking, I took a pay cut, it ended up the best choice I ever made.

 

[leehljp]

I am retired now but am looking to get back into similar work that I was in before. Like teaching, ministry work is stressful for quite a few and there are lots of burnouts in this work too - due to the stress caused by high ideals and reality being so far apart, for many.

Still, for LOML and me, our work in Japan was absolutely rewarding and great and we still are seeing the fruit or our work grow. All I can say, there is nothing like enjoying your work to the point that you look forward to doing it the next day!

On the other hand, a very good forward focused plan can help some get through tough times so that later, as Dave Ramsey says: you Live like no one else (now) so that you Can LIVE like no one else (later) - but sometimes, some jobs or work is just not worth it.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Like Hank, I'm retired from my career and the last year or so I worked I was getting really tired, but spent 40 years in the same industry... international transportation and traffic... I more or less went into the business by accident - a friend worked for an airlines and suggested I join him... we were navy buddies and stayed in contact after we got out... he was in L.A. and I was in Dallas... I did join him and roomed with him for a year before he left for other parts and I moved to SF... When I got tired of the nights - bid jobs on seniority and even with 11 years seniority only shift I could get was an evening shift with days off in the middle of the week... I left for a job with a forwarding company, worked day and nights, but at least had weekend days off with the family... since I didn't know much else, I think I enjoyed my job and never felt bad about going to work... it was something new almost every day... I'm really enjoying my retirement now and work at what I want, when I want and right now I need to get up off the ol' duff and go work in my shop...

 

[glen r]

Having retired after 35 years in a municipal gov't job that in the last few years has become more political than what I was supposed to be doing. The politics of most jobs are resulting in people getting burned/stressed out. In the school system here you cannot fail a student, you cannot discipline a student and then they wonder why so many get to the university/college level and cannot read. The parents blame the teachers when they should be the ones looking in the mirror.

Remember the days where you were disciplined in school and didn't dare come home and complain because at home there was usually the 2 for 1 special - twice a much discipline. My grade 5 teacher was my father's grade one teacher and I can say that my marks were all H's that years.

 

[low_48]

Burning out can be a self fulfilling prophecy. I left a really nice corporate job after 15 years. I started my own custom woodworking business, and found out I was a lot better woodworker than business man. I went from a 40 hour work week to a minimum of 70 hour week. When I found myself working Sundays, I knew I had to make a change. I lasted 8 years at that when I was offered a woodworking magazine job. That only lasted 3 years when a corporate buyout ended my job. Oddly, I went back to the corporate job, and have been back here for 13+ years. All the people I worked with here are retired, and I have that I can't wait to leave this da$$ed place again. Our darned creative minds work us up into hating a really good thing. If I can just "lower the bar" (my wife's term for just suck it up) for 16 months, I'll join those retired guys. The philosophy doesn't feel so good on Monday mornings though. Good luck on your decision. Look at what I did, you can always go back to teaching if you had to.

 

[greg544]

So I am wondering if there are any ex teachers out there who moved into something new? What are you doing now?

I am a former teacher. I taught for 7 years in public schools and then part time for 11 years at a community college.

I am now working a corporate job. The pay is much higher, the benefits are better, but on the other hand, I have two weeks off per year and that includes time off at the end of the year.

You did not write about issues of pay. I left teaching in public schools because of the lack of discipline. There is very little respect for teachers and that includes school administrators.

You should consider teaching at another level or age group if you need to get out of your rut. You would probably be a great teacher of teachers so you might need to work on an advanced degree and teach at the college level.

I found that the corporate training world was a good place for me but it took a long time to make the transition. Do you turn pens? You might look at trying to sell yourself as a technical trainer.

You could also look at being a technical writer or a training content developer.

Good Luck!

So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
(Ecclesiastes 3:22 ESV)

 

[Haynie]

I love and thrive in a photographic darkroom. Something about the isolation the quiet, the creative flow totally suits me. So, I got a job as a darkroom tech while I was getting my teaching certificate, because I was going to do what I loved. I figured that, by the time I got my certificate I would be able to choose between the two loves. Doing what I LOVED gave me a freaking ulcer. It was where I discovered that what I presented to the client had to be beyond perfect. After he saw my work, I was offered a much higher paying job with a world renowned photo printer. If I was not on ulcer medicine and suffering other stress induced issues doing what I loved, I would have taken the job in a heart beat. This perfection bar is set by me and I ALWAYS saw something I could do better. I never missed a deadline but when I saw the prints displayed or presented to the client

I love teaching plain but I am getting tired. It is hard to explain if you have never done it, or worked in a profession like it. The ministry has been likened to teaching.

Thanks for the thought.

Thanks Greg. I had not thought about those two areas. Pay is one area that is causing the burn. Due to circumstances beyond my control we are a 1 income family and as you know a teacher salary is hard to get by on if its all you got.

 

[Padre]

I was a English teacher. Then a telecommunications specialist for AT&T for 10 years, and now I'm a Episcopal Priest. For 25 years now, and still loving every minute.

 

[76winger]

I am retired now but am looking to get back into similar work that I was in before. Like teaching, ministry work is stressful for quite a few and there are lots of burnouts in this work too - due to the stress caused by high ideals and reality being so far apart, for many.

Still, for LOML and me, our work in Japan was absolutely rewarding and great and we still are seeing the fruit or our work grow. All I can say, there is nothing like enjoying your work to the point that you look forward to doing it the next day!

On the other hand, a very good forward focused plan can help some get through tough times so that later, as Dave Ramsey says: you Live like no one else (now) so that you Can LIVE like no one else (later) - but sometimes, some jobs or work is just not worth it.

And one of Dave's team members, John Acuff, has a book called "Quitter" that lays out a good approach for moving from one job to another. And Dan Miller's "No More Mondays" is also a good one for this topic.

Another thing Dave teaches is how keeping your eye on the goal will help you get through a lot of crud on the way to it. I'm sort of in this position myself in that I've worked for the same company for 25+ years now in IT, done computer operations, PC tech, system admin, helpdesk, etc. But more and more all I see is corporate trying to take over the subsidiaries and control everything. Office politics is at an all time high and I keep thinking about a simpler life. However I've still got 10-15 years of working ahead, so drawing from the books I mentioned above, I'm working on figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, but not giving up on what I have either, because you never know what opportunities the next "job shuffle" might bring. Till then, I take joy in the parts of the job that still gives me pleasure, while pondering what might be a better fit today.