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5Dec

Burn Out and What to Do About It

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice
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Burn Out Webinar PinterestAs Helping Professionals, especially Speech Language Pathologists, we are no stranger to feeling stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted. But did you know that these can lead to a condition called Burn Out?

Most SLPs love their work and are passionate about helping people, young and old, to communicate, grow and thrive to the best of their abilities, but at some point this passion starts to fade. The stress of paperwork, productivity and managing a caseload can start to make it hard to really enjoy the work, continue to learn and grow as a therapist or to even feel supported and respected by your co-workers. As this stress and dispassion builds, it can become chronic and lead to exhaustion, overwhelm, and burn out. (more…)

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28Nov

4 Ways for SLPs to Increase Your Energy at Work

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Well-Being
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SLP Work Energy Pinterest (1)

Have you ever had one of those days where you didn’t do anything physically, or even mentally, exhausting, but you feel completely drained and exhausted by the end of the day. These are the days that can easily make you feel like you are in the wrong job, aren’t good enough or are completely out of balance. I had one of these days recently, and just felt so exhausted by the end of the day. My caseload had been pretty easy, I had plenty of sleep the night before and I didn’t do any extra work that day. By the end of the day, though, I was too exhausted to make dinner, go for a walk or really be of much company to anyone.

It kind of sucked.

I often find that the days I sit at my computer, typing, for hours at a time are the most exhausting ones. The days where I am up and moving, or in and out of my office, are the days when I feel energized and ready to do more after work. Sometimes, it can also be a really tough caseload or overbooking my students. But other times, it has nothing to do with the work itself.

You might find that it’s not the work you are doing, but the way you are experiencing your work day that is taking a toll on you, physically and mentally. Your posture, the meals you are or aren’t eating, and what you are drinking might all be things that can zap or give you energy. If you often feel exhausted at the end of the day, try these 4 tips for more energy.

  1. Swap coffee for water, or at the least, tea.
    • Caffeine can be just what you need at certain times of the day. It provides a little invigoration, helps wake you up, and studies even show it helps to give you more mental clarity and focus. But overdoing caffeine can do the exact opposite. You might find your energy plummets, you feel jittery and nervous, and you suddenly feel scatter-brained.The best thing to do is to drink more water, whether or not you cut back on coffee. This will help you to stay hydrated and flush out any symptoms you might accidentally have from over-caffeinating. Try swapping out coffee for some caffeine-free or low-caffeine drinks instead. Tea is also a great option, hot or cold, if you need a little boost or flavor, without the huge crash from coffee. Go for a cup of coffee in the morning and a chai or green tea latte in the afternoons.
  2. Find some down time. 
    • Work can be all about productivity. If you aren’t helping clients and making money for the facility (or yourself), it might not seem like time well spent. Unfortunately, this type of go-go-go attitude can lead you to burn out, quickly. If you don’t have time to recharge at work, you won’t be able to keep up the pace, stay focused and get done what needs to get done, as efficiently.Have you ever had a day with no breaks and a million things to do, only to find yourself staring blankly at your computer screen, not focusing during your sessions and feeling completely disorganized with your paperwork? Instead of rushing around and doing a million things at once, take 5 minutes to grab a cup of tea, stretch, go for a walk, etc. You’ll be a little more clear headed, have more energy flowing through your body and be more ready to tackle the tasks at hand.
  3. Get up and move during the day. 
    • Sitting at a desk, in one spot during the day can really start to wear on you. NPR recently released an article showcasing just how many hours we sit during a day, and how it can affect your overall health more and more as you age. It’s not just your risk of heart disease, diabetes or weight gain, but also your body actually starting to age and tighten into a “sitting” stance. In yoga, sitting is done during meditation, with a tall spine, so energy and breath can travel through the body as you sit, and your digestive system is uncompromised and able to do its job. This is rarely the way we sit during the day at work. We tend to slump, slouch and cave in a bit. If you find it hard to sit with good posture, or find yourself sitting all day, you might notice your energy levels slump, you breath is more shallow and you feel sluggish and tired.To help combat this, take 5 minutes after every few sessions to get up and move. Walk to grab more water or tea or a bathroom break, do some push-ups and squats at your work station with your desk and chair or even just get up and stretch. You’ll release tension, lengthen your spine and breath deeper, so you start to feel more energized, focused and ready for the next patient or student to walk through your door.
  4. Eat Something.
    • When you are busy and stressed, one of the easiest things to forget is to take a break and eat. When I was working in the schools, I would often have just a few moments to grab my lunch, or eat a snack during my morning and afternoon. I was constantly hungry and has a stomach ache every day.  I also felt exhausted and foggy-headed on a regular basis. Most teachers and health care workers I know ate even less than that. Many would wait until the end of work to eat, or just drink coffee all day and have a really big dinner at night. Coincidentally, these were some of the people who were either super stressed or in really poor health.
    • Without nourishment from food, your body and brain are not able to maintain the energy and focus needed to get you through your work day. You r body needs the carbs and protein to maintain the proper energy levels throughout the day. Your brain needs healthy fats (like those in nuts) to function properly. All of these help to combat the feelings of mental fatigue and physical exhaustion we experience throughout the day. Not eating during the day, or not getting enough calories, can also send your metabolism into “starvation mode”. This means your body thinks you are trying to fast for the long winter, so it slows down and hold on to everything it can. It can cause you to gain weight or have a difficult time maintaining your weight, even though you feel like you never eat.  Make sure you have scheduled breaks for meals and snacks, even just a few minutes, so you are able to make a proper meal or snack to fuel you through your day. Have fresh fruits, nuts and whole grains nearby, so you’ll have something even on the shortest of breaks.

If you are feeling drained by the end of the day, give these a try. See which one might be affecting you the most and try to make a small change each day to increase your energy level. Leave a comment and share what works for you. You can help keep track of your energy levels with the “Daily Check-in” journal page found in the SLP Toolbox (subscribe below).

If you are still feeling exhausted and want to dig deeper into it, make sure to check out these webinars (certification hours and CEUs!) to reduce your stress, and increase your energy.

3 Common SLP Stressors and How to Manage Them  on Xceptional ED (1.5 CMH Hours)

Managing Common SLP Stressors before Burn Out Occurs on Northern Speech Services (2.5 ASHA CEU hours .025 units)

3 Biggest Stressors for SLPs and What to do About Them on SpeechPathology.com (1.5 ASHA CEU hours .15 units

The more awake and alive you feel at the end of a work day, the better you will feel after work and looking ahead to the next day.

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

 

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9Oct

Are you at Risk for SLP Burn Out?

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out
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SLP Burn Out Risk Pinterest

When I was at the height of my burn out, I was working in the school system at a fairly standard caseload, had fantastic support from the principal and assistant principal, and worked with great teachers. I had taken over mid-school year for someone who had quit and it left me with an extremely difficult schedule, difficult therapy sessions and a lack of community. I had also been laid off, then fired, from previous jobs, so I was feeling bitter towards the profession in general. This was a great job, but the only one I could find and it was a huge pay cut. I had also just finished my yoga teacher training and wanted nothing more than to teach yoga full-time.

Despite my training in a holistic practice, I was in a constant state of stress, anxiety and exhaustion.

As SLPs, we are considered to be in a “helping” profession, which puts us at a greater risk for burn out than most others. And, I believe, that we might be in one of the highest positions, since we fall under both healthcare workers and education professionals. As an SLP, you are constantly having to work with patients/students, families, and the school or care team, as well as organize your therapy materials and keep up with your continuing education and professional licenses. You are also sometimes the sole person who understands how your client needs and wants to communicate their desires and needs, which, at times can seem like the weight of the world on your shoulders. And while there are plenty of rewarding moments in your career, most of the time you may find you feel underappreciated and misunderstood as a professional.

While all of this can lead to a cycle of burn out, there are a few more factors that make us prone to burn out. The main 4 factors for burn out are:

  • Perfectionism:
    • When I was an SLP graduate student, I felt a constant pressure to do more and do better. There was a competitive mindset to the class, which was often fostered by the professors of the classes themselves. It was very rare to have an instructor praise us for something other than receiving top marks, and most of the time, we were told what we were doing wrong. This really wore me down and made me feel as if I was never doing enough.
    • As an SLP, you might always feel like someone out there is doing more, doing better and doing it the “right” way. There are pinterest boards dedicated to the latest and greatest DIY therapy tools, FB groups full of people spending their weekends working on SLP lesson plans and loads more trainings to take. It makes it easy to seem like what you are doing, especially if you are a type “b”, is not enough or not worthwhile. (These are all lovely things and can be super helpful, but can also be super overwhelming).
  • Pessimism
    • This can also lead to a bit of pessimism. When our patients don’t get better, or our students just don;t grasp that /r/, we can start to feel cynical about our profession. When I was going through burnout, I often stated that I felt like I was baby-sitting my students or just a glorified “snack lady” in the SNF setting. I would say that I didn’t think the profession mattered as much as we were trained to think. I was bitter, pessimistic and ready to quit. If you have a high caseload, no respect from co-workers, or patients/students that just don;t seem to be improving, it can be easy to slip into this mode of thinking.
  • High Achiever
    • I am not a Type “A” personality. I am a Type “B” with “A” tendencies, or a Type “A-“. Many SLPs, however, are Type A. They like to plan, be organized and have everything in order for each therapy session and each client. They want to know that they are doing everything exactly how it should be, with no mistakes. With such high caseloads and demands each day, this can be nearly impossible to achieve. When it doesn’t happen, it can make it seem as if you are not doing enough, not serving your clients as they need to be and not doing a “good job” as an SLP, even though you are doing fantastic.
  • High Need for Control:
    • It can also be extremely difficult to delegate as an SLP, if possible at all. In some places, there is no one else there to help you take on new clients, copy paperwork or organize therapy tools. You may be the sole SLP in your facility and the go-to person for everything from articulation to swallowing to cognitive and memory deficits. When you are able to delegate, it can be difficult to communicate the way you would be doing the therapy, what your client is capable of and what risks the client is facing. Taking on every task, every work day, can really start to wear on you and make you feel as if you can;t have a break or have time to take care of yourself (or work on any of your passions for the field).

Take a moment to see if you relate to any of these 4 factors. Be honest with yourself, as these are not negative traits, just realities of being an SLP and a human being. If you do relate to any of the factors, you might be heading towards burn out in the future. Burn out is no joke and can lead to more health issues and a total disengagement from your work and career. Try taking charge of burn out before it begins with a few simple daily practices, such as self-care, exercise and eating well, or try one of these 3 practices.


Do you relate to any of these? If so, which one has the biggest impact on your work life and what is your plan for working through it? Leave a comment below to share and help inspire another SLP. If you want additional help towards preventing burn out, check out these webinars and earn some credit towards your certification:

3 Common SLP Stressors and How to Manage Them  on Xceptional ED (1.5 CMH Hours)

Managing Common SLP Stressors before Burn Out Occurs on Northern Speech Services (2.5 ASHA CEU hours .025 units)

3 Biggest Stressors for SLPs and What to do About Them on SpeechPathology.com (1.5 ASHA CEU hours .15 units)

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

 

 

 

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6Sep

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Reduce Stress
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SLP Stress and Overwhelm Pinterest (1)

For awhile now, I’ve been trying to figure out where exactly I fit in within my “chosen” career path. I have a degree and am certified as an Speech Language Pathologist, but my passions also sit with yoga, holistic health and nutrition. I also have a deep love of learning and teaching ways to reduce stress, decrease overwhelm and move through, or prevent, burn out, because I have been through it all. Needless to say, this is not the way I had planned for this blog to happen.

My visions of a career at first were of working in a hospital, doing big and amazing things with my patients. I imagined drastically changing lives and improving health, The reality of it was not quite the same.

I was constantly feeling stressed and moving through different phases of being burnt out, lost and a little overwhelmed with my life. No other SLPs seemed to be feeling this, at least to me. I felt very alone, like I was the only one interested in more than just my work as an SLP. After feeling really overwhelmed, I decided to quit for awhile and focus on building a career as a yoga teach, health coach and writer.

These few years “off” were full of hustle, working for not much money and learning a ton about wellness, stress and myself.

After taking 4 years off, I decided to get back into the Speech Therapy field. I soon realized my whole perspective had changed. I could see how even small things can really make a difference in patients/clients/students lives. I understood that having balance between work and daily life was everything to me. And I finally realized that I was not alone in feeling overwhelmed and burn out. It seemed like every SLP I met or spoke with was feeling that way and ready to breakdown or quit.

So I decided to share my experience of working through burn out, put all of my different training together and create this site and blog as a resource. I wanted to share with you how I had finally figured it out and had balance in my life again.

I wanted to share with you how you could move away from these things, like I did, and become a much more balanced, less stressed, overwhelm-free Speech Therapist/Pathologist/Teacher. I wanted to show you how it could all be “perfect”.

But then life happened and I realized, that’s not possible.

Why? Because we are human, life is full of ups and downs, and I will never, ever be free from overwhelm and stress. And that’s ok.

Recently, my life has been full, but a bit chaotic. My husband and I moved to a new state, into a beautiful but outdated home. He started a new job that sent him to Europe for 2 weeks, while I was at our new home with visiting family and friends, trying to unpack, repair and remodel the new house, all with a toddler in the mix. And when August rolled around, I started back to work as well.

It has been beautiful at times and worth every moment, but it has also  been absolutely overwhelming.  I found myself feeling those old feelings of overwhelm, doubt and anxiety creeping in.

I felt a bit defeated. Here I was, trying to start a blog and resource for other people and SLP’s who were feeling this way, showing them that they could live this super amazing life, while I was feeling less than amazing myself. I questioned myself, thinking “Who am I to teach anyone anything about stress, when I am so stressed and anxious at the moment?” And that’s when it hit me. I was back in my former way of thinking (the way that made me quit being an SLP for 4+ years, swearing off the profession forever). I had spent years treating myself better, learning about my own needs and, finally, getting back into the field with a renewed passion for it. It didn’t mean that I was completely free of stress, overwhelm, anxiety or really tough days forever – that wouldn’t really be living or human of me – but it did mean that I could use tools that I had learned over the years to make it a little better and move through it. It meant I didn’t have to stay stuck.

So here is what I did:

  • I allowed myself to throw a fit. Then I got over it.
  • I took a few deep breaths and reminded myself “This too shall pass”.
  • I made a cup of tea.
  • I promised myself to go for a walk in the woods as soon as I could.
  • I made an effort to get more sleep that night.

The next day wasn’t perfect, but I could feel things were already turning back around. Instead of resenting the less than stellar evening I had, I looked at what I had learned from it. These simple, everyday experiences seemed like a set back at first, but then I realized, they were universal, not something I was going through alone. We all have days that feel like everything is falling apart. Sometimes it does and sometimes it gets better. The thing we need is to remember that it will pass, if we allow ourselves to move through it, and that we are not alone in it. There are thousands of other people in our field who feel absolutely lost and unsure, about their job or home life, each and every day.

Now, instead of bringing you a perfect blog, reflecting an “I’ve Made It!” lifestyle, I get to keep it real. I get to share with you how hard it was for me when I started out as an SLP and how I finally made it through (and how you might be able to make it through a little easier). I can share with you the struggles and triumphs of working in the field and balancing daily life. And I can share with you some things that help me, and that might help you in return.

I promise to never be perfect, but instead, be real, and be human.

If you are ready to start your journey towards learning from your stress and overwhelm, make sure to sign up for the SLP Toolbox for free resources.

 

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

 

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1Sep

3 Ways to Beat SLP Burn Out Before It Begins

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out
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3 Ways to Beat SLP Burn Out Pinterest

A little over 6 years ago, I was a burnt out SLP. It was my 3rd year in the field and I had been lied to by a supervisor, laid off, hated my new job, was bitter, tired and completely dispassionate about my work. Every night I would start to feel an overwhelming sense of dread, because I knew that the next day would arrive too soon, too early, with too much I wasn’t looking forward to. My schedule didn’t work for me, I didn’t really feel like I was making a difference and, honestly, I just didn’t care about my work. I was miserable with every moment of my work day, and felt like a fraud trying to hide it.

I was also miserable in other parts of my life, because that burn out seeped through to things that had nothing to do with work. It was one of the loneliest points in my life and I felt like I was losing myself a little more each day to my burn out.

Burn out is no joke and is actually a recognized diagnosis by the World Health Organization. It is defined as exhaustion of physical or emotional strength usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration. The  Mayo Clinic defines job specific burn out as a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work. This means burn out, especially from work, is a real condition that can absolutely affect all aspects of your daily life. It can exhaust you, physically and mentally, due to long term stress and lead to a host of other health ailments. It can lead to insomnia, depression, anxiety, obesity, heart disease and stroke, just to name a few.

The SLP world is filled with many people who feel they have or are nearing burn out. If you have ever hopped on an SLP FB group , you have likely seen at least one post about someone who is starting to feel dispassionate about the career they once loved, or a grad student who is terrified they spent all their savings on a degree they don’t want to use. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm, more than people discussing how much they love their current position and job. “Helping” professions in general are more prone to burn out, and SLPs, with the high demands from caseloads and often lower recognition, are almost set up for burn out.

When I was going through this 6 years ago, I didn’t know burn out was a thing. I thought I was just unable to handle stress or that I had made a terrible career choice for myself. I didn’t know that so many other SLPs felt the same way. My co-workers really seemed to love their job, or seemed to thrive off of the constant stress and high demands. I, however, felt like I was losing a piece of myself more and more every day that I was working in the field until I finally decided to quit.

At the time, I had no idea what I was doing, but I was actually taking steps to treat and heal my burn out. I thought I hated being an SLP, but I really just needed to figure out how to deal with the stress I was experiencing and find fulfillment again. It took me a long time, but if I had started when I first suspected I was getting burnt out, things might have been very different.

If you feel like you might be heading that way, here are 3 things to do before burn out begins:

  • Sleep:
    • Its no surprise that you might need more sleep, but are you actually taking steps to get more? Sleep helps you to restore you body and mind, aiding in recovery after a long and trying day. According to the National Institutes of Health, sleep not only aids in your physical health, but also your emotional health. When you sleep, your brain builds new pathways and restores tired ones. This helps you to problem solve, make decisions and even control your emotions. All of these will help improve your well-being and efficiency during your work day.
    • Burn out can cause you to feel exhausted mentally and physically, and it can also lead to insomnia. All of this means you can feel like you aren’t getting enough sleep. But it can still be hard to get 7-8 hours a night. To make sure you are getting enough sleep, try setting an alarm 20 minutes before you need to be asleep, have a nighttime routine that you follow each evening and set the mood for your room (make it cooler, turn off devices, play white noise, etc). Don’t aim for perfection, that can cause stress and less sleep, just try to get a few more minutes of sleep each night.
  • Gratitude Journal:
    • According to Positive Psychology, it takes 3 positive moments to balance out 1 negative moment in our day. Our brains are also hardwired to recall the negative things or “dangers” from our day, instead of the positive things that happened. It’s part of our survival mode. This can make it really hard to remember and feel like there was any good to your day. If you had a day packed with a difficult caseload, mountains of paperwork and tense IEP meetings, you might be feeling really negative about your work. Writing down some of the good things, even small moments like a smile from a student or an email from a co-worker. It could even be something like a really good latte or no traffic on the commute. This practice can help you to feel more uplifted about your day and remember the positive moments that happened.
    • It also helps to end on a high note. We tend to categorize moments from your day based on how they ended, no matter how great they were overall. If it ends on a bad note, we’ll remember it. If it ends on a great note, we’ll remember it as being better than it was.
    • Try to do this right before bed, so you end your entire day on a positive note. Take about 2-5 minutes for this practice and keep it simple.
  • Meditate : And perhaps take a few really good, deep breaths.
    • In the past, meditation was seen as something that was for the woo-woo’s of the world, the new age or old school, or the hippy-dippy, but in recent years, meditation, along with yoga and deep breathing, has gone mainstream. Research has shown that meditation is not only great for creating a few moments of calm in an otherwise hectic day, but it actually rewires your brain to handle stress better, improve your memory and perhaps even prevent diseases of the mind. This done by helping your brain function better. According to Mindful Magazine, a study from University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds shows meditation can increase your gray matter thickness, which can help you with everyday functions like problem solving, attention and memory. It also helps decrease activity in the amygdala, which houses our “fight or flight” response and be triggered from stress and anxiety.
    • It has also been shown to help you focus better, which plays a huge part in feeling like you are working more efficiently and making decisions with ease.
    • Getting into the relaxation zone also helps you to reduce cortisol, the hormone that releases when you are feeling stressed and burnt out, and is also a contributor to weight gain around your middle, increased anxiety, decreased digestion, sleep problems, heart issues and memory problems, to name a few. Meditating can help reduce and regulate your cortisol release, to help bring balance back into your body and mind.
    • Take just 5-10 minutes a day to meditate.  Find a quiet, comfortable seat and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and repeat a mantra (quote or saying), count down from 50 or 100, or pay attention to your inhales and exhales. Here are a few meditations from the Balanced SLP audio library: Free Meditations. You can also try one of these downloadable meditation practices from UVA.

*A few other things that might help are exercising and eating well. Preventing (and often treating ) burn out is all about treating yourself with a little more care. Fill up your cup, so you have enough to share during your day. 

Managing stress and preventing (or sometimes even treating) burn out is all about taking care of yourself. These tips might seem so simple, but if you take a moment to think, you might realize you are not doing them as often as you need to. You might be surprised to find out that you know to do them, but aren’t making it happen. When we are feeling overworked and overwhelmed, it is often because we have put everyone else before ourselves, letting our cup empty and dry up until we have absolutely nothing left to give. Try adding on one of these exercises at a time. If they don;t seem right for yo, simply make time to do something just for you each day. A cup of tea, a yoga class, a few moments with a good book. Try and find ways to connect with what you really want and need from your work and life, not just that is going wrong. It might make all the difference.

If you feel that you are not just heading in that direction, but are already there, you might want to reach out to a coach or to get some help moving beyond it. Here are a few resources to get help: Burn out. Depression. 

Have you ever dealt with burn out or feel that stress is starting to creep in more and more at work? Leave a comment below or share what you did to help it on someone else’s comment. I’d love to hear from you and see how we can support each other. Remember, you are not alone.

If you need more support, please email me to schedule a consultation and talk about starting The Balanced Life Coaching program. jessi@jessiandricks.com

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

 

 

 

PS As always, this is not medical advice. Please consult a medical professional if you are experiencing burn out, depression or anxiety, or as needed. 

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