What is a Burnout Management Plan?
Wondering what one of the most common questions I get on social media and in Q&A sessions is?
“What is this burnout management plan you speak of? And while we’re at it, how do I create one?” *insert curious eyebrow raise*
If you want a short and easy answer, it’s, “Read my book.” *Wink*
That’s because in my book, THRIVing After Burnout, I spend the first 22 (short!) chapters explaining the five pillars of burnout recovery, including evidence-based strategies to address each pillar. Chapter 23 is where I lay out the framework for establishing a long-term Care Plan.
But since I don’t believe in gatekeeping information, let’s talk about why you need a Care Plan and what it includes.
Why a Care Plan?
Like any transformation we want to experience in life, we’ve got to have a little bit of knowledge and a plan to implement it.
And since our brains love patterns, and we’ve spent most of our lives “doing life” and “doing work” a certain way, changing that pattern requires both intentionality and strategy. In fact, there are whole professions (e.g. trainers, dieticians, life coaches, therapists, etc.) that help people make life changes — because simply put, life changes are HARD.
I always like to say, “There are no magic beans for burnout.” No matter what you hear on the internet, healing will take time and it’s not easy.
The good news is, it’s not impossible either — as long as we’ve got a solid plan.
One that helps us prioritize new ways of being, and one that has a high probability of success. That’s because it offers more than vague steps to follow — it’s got scientific evidence that supports its effectiveness.
What Are the Parts of the Plan?
Your Care Plan needs to include practices and new ways of being that address as many of the pillars of the THRIV model as are reasonable for you.
The best strategy? Start small and add practices over time. This ensures you don’t overwhelm your brain with too much change all at once.
First, ask yourself what commitments and practices you need to make to make sure you:
Tend to Yourself
Harness Social Support
Recharge Through Detachment
Ignite Compassion Satisfaction
Vow to Honor Your Humanness
Then to break it down a bit more, ask yourself what routines, events, and interventions could help you make small, strategic shifts in each of those areas.
Routines - something we do regularly the same way each time
Events - activities that support us, but are less regular
Interventions - activities that help us come back to a state of calm if we become upset
Once you have a set of them for each part of the THRIV model, you’ll have a robust burnout management plan. One that will take you into the future with hope for long-lasting change.
As you implement one or two changes at a time, you can amp up your plan. When you do, you’ll notice something: it will start to feel more a part of who you are, versus a set of routines, events, and interventions.
How Can I Get Help?
On March 19th, I’ll be hosting our first quarterly Teacher Care Network Well-Shop, where we’ll be digging into developing your burnout management plan — or as I prefer to call it, your Care Plan.
We’ll be talking more in depth about each part of the plan and discussing options for routines, events, and interventions.
You’ll also have opportunities to create as we go, and have conversations in the chat and breakout rooms about what might work for you.
Now, for my favorite part:
This year, TCN Well-Shops are all set up as a “Pay What You Can” option. That means that regardless of your financial situation, there’s still a spot waiting for you!
You’ll be able to attend live with us and contribute only what you can. Replays will be available, but will have a reasonable set fee to help cover the costs in making the recording available.
Where Can I Sign Up?
I am so glad you asked! You can hop over to my Well-Shop registration page to save your seat. I can’t wait to see you there!
(In the meantime, if you’re not already in the THRIV Support Community, head on over and join us!)
