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3Sep

3 Ways for SLPs to Stress Less this School Year

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice Reduce Stress Self Care
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SLP Stress Less Pinterest

With a new school year here and many of us already back at school and (yikes!) even seeing students already, you are bound to start having those dreaded, stressful thoughts that you left on your desk at the end of the year, start to find their way back to you.

Even if you are excited and feeling recharged form the summer break, you might find your thoughts starting to flicker back an forth between excitement and anxiety, the familiar pull that you know will eventually take over by the end of the year. I don’t mean to paint a dark and dreary picture for you, but to show that you are not alone in this. If you have ever felt the exhaustion of chronic stress or burn out, you know that it can slowly creep in and take over before you realize what has happened.

That is the bad news.

The good news is that this usually only happens because we go through the same cycle each year or excitement about the start of the new year and all that it could bring right on to the reality of the work it entails and then the sheer exhaustion it brings by Summertime. For most, this cycle gets slightly more difficult each passing school year, because the few months in the summer, where you could really take time to recharge and create some changes in your work-life balance, are spent ignoring the feelings while you relax for a few months, or you work like crazy in a PRN job or running errands all summer. (more…)

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28Aug

Manage Your Stress Better All Year Long

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Reduce Stress Self Care
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Manage Stress PinterestAt the start of a new school year or new season, there is often this rush of excitement, and readiness for a change or fresh perspective. It lasts for awhile, but then it can feel as if, quite swiftly at times, the perspective shifts and you are right back in the midst of stress, overwhelm and exhaustion. You start to wonder if there is a way you can manage your stress better.

Paperwork has piled up, you aren’t enjoying your time with students/clients, and you are starting to feel drained, or even anxious, from your work. You feel exactly like you did before the year/season started, and you know that it is only going to pile up. Again. And it seems to get a little worse each time.

So you push through until the next break, and start the cycle all over again, hoping that one day it will get just a little better. On that day, you’ll have more time, more freedom, more energy, more drive, more…enjoyment for life and work.

You just have to wait a little longer for it to happen…one day.

But then things continue in the cycle of stress and release and more stress, all while growing more irritable at work and at home, until one day you decide to switch jobs or quit altogether.

Does this story sound familiar?

This was my everyday routine (and sometimes I get drawn back into it for a moment before snapping out of it again), and one that most SLPs I know are stuck in as well.

We are always fighting stress and trying to find ways to work more efficiently, enjoy it better and not drown in paperwork, stress and exhaustion.

We, as SLPs, are struggling. And stress is the reason why. (more…)

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10Jul

What to Ask Yourself Before You Quit Your SLP Job or Career

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice Goal Setting New SLP Reduce Stress
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quit your SLP job

Quit SLP Job Pinterest

Being an SLP can be incredibly wonderful at times, and at other times incredibly stressful. A great deal of this stress comes from the parts of the job that are outside of the therapy realm and often seem to have more and more rules around them, such as paperwork and productivity rates. Some of the stress, though, comes from the nature of the job itself. As SLPs, it is our job and our mission to help people communicate, nourish and thrive, as best they can with the situation they are in. Our schooling and career are set up around us being able to give our tine and energy to these, sometimes without a break during the day. It is highly rewarding at times, and also highly frustrating and draining. It can be enough to make you want to quit your SLP job at times.  (more…)

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12Jun

Stop Waiting for Summer to Happen and Manage Stress Better All Year

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice Reduce Stress
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Manage Stress Better PinterestThere is a common saying and feeling in the Speech Therapy world: I just need to make it through until Summer. It is often heard and seen, especially once the second part of the year and Spring Break rolls around. This is usually due to the “IEP season”, where you are having to not only complete all the IEPs for your huge caseload, but also attend and hold the meetings, as well as provide therapy for your kiddos. It is also progress report time, again, and time to wrap things up for the end of the year. If there was any small glimmer of stress earlier in the year that you were able to push aside, this is the time of year it will ooze out and saturate your day.

It is not a saying that I particularly care for, since it is seems more hopeless than hopeful, but it was one I found myself repeating over and over again in the last few months of the school year. (more…)

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5Jun

How to Really Reduce Stress this Summer Vacation

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice Reduce Stress
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How to Reduce Stress PinterestIn all honesty, the last quarter of this year was very difficult for me to get through. I had felt some burn out in the middle of the year, but I knew a lot of it was from outside of work circumstances related to our recent move, renovating a house, and not really having the time I needed and wanted to recharge and connect to some of my passions. The end of the year was much different. I didn’t just feel burn out, I felt stuck and disconnected at times from my work. I felt like there was an overwhelming amount of pressure (not from anyone) and I wasn’t sure how to manage the stress at times or make it seem less. I was doing the thing I hated – pushing through until Summer Break. (more…)

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10Apr

Are You Feeling Bitter About Your SLP Job?

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Journal Techniques for SLPs Self Care
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Are You Feeling Bitter Pinterest

What is the first thing that floats through your mind when you hear “It’s time to go to work?”. Are you filled with purpose, albeit a little exhaustion, or are you filled with dread, stress and, even, bitterness?

If you used to be really excited about your career and the changes you would make in people’s lives, or the difference you could make in the world, but now you just think about how there are only 5 more days until Friday, you are starting to experience bitterness. This bitter attitude towards your work and job can start out small, but, if not recognized and managed, can be the thing that makes you dream about quitting your job and leaves you feeling unfulfilled in your life.

A few years ago, bitter was all I felt about my work. It was like I was trapped each day and living a life I wasn’t happy in and my job was the thing to blame for it. Going into the same place each day with no flexibility to my schedule, no fresh air, and no freedom left me feeling drained. I grew so bitter each day that I really didn’t find any enjoyment out of the work, even when I had colleagues who were in the same field or other professions who were stressed and overwhelmed too. I felt like maybe I was in the wrong career. No matter what, I just felt bitter and eventually quit.

After I quit, I started doing mindfulness practices and learned about self-care, coaching, meditation and more. I taught yoga and mind-body fitness classes, and blogged about eating healthy and feeling good in your body. It wasn’t until after I cam back that I realized all fo that work was simply me trying to heal my bitterness. And it was only then that I realized my bitterness was caused by burn out. (more…)

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3Apr

How to Come Back After Break without Feeling Anxious, Stressed or Burnt Out

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Reduce Stress Self Care
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SLP Spring Break Pinterest

This week might be one of the most important weeks when it comes to mindfulness and taking care of yourself. As an SLP, you are constantly on the go, either driving or running from patient to patient, or shifting from groups to classes to paperwork or meetings, or even just seeing client after client after client with little break in between. There are times when you might not even have a change to stop and grab a snack or a drink, let alone run to the restroom, or even sit in silence for a moment to collect your thoughts. It is one of the reasons that time off becomes so important for mental well-being.

It is also the reason it is so hard to come back after a break.

It is no joke, coming back from a break is really tough when you are feeling even one tiny bit of burn out. It can seem like all hope is lost and that everything is bad, harder and not as it should be. It might even feel like your job is sucking the soul out of your life. That sounds dramatic, but I know many can relate. (more…)

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13Mar

Are Your Weekends Contributing to SLP Your Stress?

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Self Care
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SLP Weekend Stress Pinterest

As a Speech Therapist, not matter how many years you have into the field, you are probably really, really busy. You are either trying to juggle a full caseload, piles of paperwork, productivity standards or trying to keep up with your CEUs and education. This can all lead to a huge, exhausting amount of stress. When you are constantly stressed at work, the weekends can seem like the light at the end of the tunnel.

The weekends are there for you to take a break from work, relax and unwind, and perhaps even dabble in some hobbies or non-work related interests. They are time for you to recharge your brain and take care of your needs. The weekends are a time to decompress and fill up before the week begins again. (more…)

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