Are you busy, burnt out or both

It’s good to be busy, but Carl Smith explores how being busy can quickly turn into burnout 

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on ASCL

Everyone wants to be busy; it means we have things to do – but there is a point on the ‘things to do’ continuum where busy becomes burnt out or broken. It’s not good to be burnt out as this means we’ve got nothing left to give which, in turn, means we feel useless to others. 

In schools there are a lot of people feeling burnt out right now and that isn’t good for productivity; in fact, it is hard to think of anything that is less good for productivity. Of course, low educational productivity doesn’t result in bankruptcy or a run on the markets; interest rates don’t rise, and an epidemic of internal truancy doesn’t topple governments. 

Burnout happens because everyone feels insecure, and insecurity is like a virus; we catch it from other people. According to trauma-informed practice, people who have suffered trauma have a problem with trust and if you don’t trust people, you make them feel insecure.  We have a pandemic of insecurity in our schools, and we really need a vaccine. That vaccine is trust. Trust in the experts. Trust in the professionals. Trust in the intentions of people who have dedicated their professional lives to the service of others. 

This means having a bit of faith in others, not finding fault with them but seeking solutions with them. We all want to be busy – so, let’s be busy together for a change.