Longing for a Snow Day

I am in a unique position for me - that of longing for a snow day. Up until this year, I had volunteered to be on the inclement weather staff at my residential school. We had students living on campus that someone had to supervise, so I would go in and do shorter sessions with all students and then get a day off of my choosing later in the year. As I have become more mature and stiff and unable to navigate the icy world easily, I have lost my enthusiasm for getting out there. Also, our staffing situation changed dramatically when we eliminated all the paraprofessional positions and the facility replaced them with facility-paid Behavioral Health Technicians. Now, the BHTs are required to work rather than choosing whether they will work on snow days (teachers still have that option, but BHTs do not). I decided to try the actual snow day life this year...and no snow days yet.

It is bitterly cold out there today. The school district in my town has already decided to go to virtual learning today to keep kids out of the wind, but my school is apparently open for business. I did not get to work early yesterday - it took all my concentration and lots of slow driving to make it safely. I am not looking forward to today's commute either, but I guess I have to go. I really do not want to.

This feeling is becoming more prevalent which indicates to me that I am heading towards burnout.

Burnout is different from compassion fatigue and secondary trauma in that it is usually tied directly to the professional situation that you are in at the time.

So, if I am feeling burnt out, it is important to get to the bottom of it all so I can make decisions about my future.

Okay, pity party for one. It is time to work on my burnout procedure and see what I need to change and adapt in order to continue in my role or move on to the next thing. The problem with moving on is that I am close to retiring early with my full pension available, and I am not sure what will happen if I leave my position. I'm just tired right now. Time to examine what is going on and see what I can do.

In the meantime, I'm going to refresh the school closing list just one more time... 

Comments

  1. Janice Lindstrom, MA, MT-BC8:01 AM

    Um...you've experienced at least 2 significant losses in a very short time. Do you have vacation days you can take? You need a break!

    ReplyDelete

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