Are You Lit Up or Burned Out?
By Sarah Bryant
The folks on the Living Proof editorial board are engaging and lovely people, and I am proud to be involved with this blog since it is a project that gives insights into the journeys of mathematicians. And yet, I have been avoiding writing this essay for Living Proof. With help from the team in October 2022, I created and shared a survey on the topic of burnout to gather some information for a Living Proof blog post. That was months ago! Why haven’t I shared the results of the survey yet? Because I have been weighed down by my own stresses—struggling to dig into the ones shared via our survey—and this weight caused me to procrastinate. What have I been feeling? Apparently something not uncommon, a feeling of energy depletion and mental distance from the task at hand. That is: I’ve been experiencing burnout.
We did not define burnout in our survey. The term has been in the zeitgeist for years now, though popular awareness (and Google searches) peaked in early summer 2019 shortly after the World Health Organization recognized burnout as an occupational syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized not just by feelings of exhaustion and cynicism related to one’s job, but also reduced professional efficacy.
When we posted the survey link, it was essentially framed this way: are you experiencing burnout and, if so, how is it affecting your life? Our survey was not a part of a formal study. Instead, it was a call for stories told in snippets. And we got them! The last time the Living Proof board put out such a survey, we got 20 responses on the topic of teaching during the pandemic. We sent this survey to our networks (primarily via the MAA Connect listserv and Facebook groups) on October 21, 2022. We got 88 responses the first day. By the time we closed the survey two weeks later, we had 308.
Just over 90% of the responses came from faculty, not surprising given the Living Proof editorial board members (all of whom are current or former faculty members) distributed this survey using our networks. In this essay, we summarize the survey responses along the axes of academic work.
The Bad News
So, how bad is it? When asked, “Within the last 3 months, have you been experiencing burnout?”, 244 (that is, 80%) replied “yes.” When asked, “To what extent has your own burnout negatively impacted your teaching/scholarship/service/work-life balance?”, respondents indicated scholarship and work/life balance were taking the brunt of the impact, as indicated in the following chart. In the sections below, we will summarize themes and share snippets of the many (often heartbreaking) responses.
Impacts on Teaching: We got many reports of stepping back from innovative and active learning, having less patience with students, being slow with grading, and struggling to get students engaged.
“I don't have the energy to prepare as thoroughly. I forget things - due dates, posting homework, when students are meeting me in my office. Everything feels do [sic] much more difficult than it used to.”
“I spend more time managing student's absences and lack of engagement than planning meaningful learning opportunities for them.”
“Since the burnout leaves me with less mental energy and overall time, I am not putting as much effort into creating truly meaningful exercises and assignments as I would prefer.”
“My motivation to keep up with marking and feedback cycles is very low and I'm largely failing at being on time.”
Impacts on Scholarship: There was frequent mention of feeling a lack of institutional support, loss of travel opportunities, pressures to attend to student needs and other emergencies bumping research time, and projects started but not touched in months or years.
“My project team has to remind me to do my parts.”
“I have difficulty focusing and forget results I have already proved.”
“It seems like we've been asked to do more over the last few years, and the time that may have been spent on scholarship just isn't there right now.”
“I just don't have the energy to follow through on projects that I have already started, let alone start anything new. I have several papers that are atrophying right now.”
Impacts on Service: Most respondents told us they are now saying “no” to service to the extent they could, feel less engaged with the service activities they do, and feel their work is underappreciated.
“I have decreased the amount of service I am doing and I don't feel I have lived up to my commitments for others which is not at all normal for me.”
“Ironically, I do more service. My colleagues are also burned out and there is more service work than people to do it.”
“I'm less creative with my input into specific service goals. I think I'm also less positive minded.”
“I tend to get more annoyed at committee meetings, especially when I perceive that no progress is being made and it's wasting my time.”
Most people suffering from burnout said they were unsure how their institutions could support them. Among those who did have suggestions, the most frequently-cited request would, on its face, seem to be the easiest to do: acknowledge the challenges faced by faculty. Respondents noted that they wanted the same kinds of flexibility they were tasked with providing for students, more teaching and staff support, and fewer demands on their ever-dwindling time and energy.
A Bright Spot
About 20% of the survey respondents said they were not experiencing burnout. Of that group, two-thirds had experienced burnout in the past and made changes that improved their quality of life at work. Many of their suggestions involved staying connected to friends and family, attending therapy, reducing expectations about meeting unrealistic demands, and leaning into their love of the profession.
Tips from those who have seen improvement in their burnout symptoms:
“I have a really close colleague I can discuss issues and difficulties that I struggle with. It helps me be realistic about my expectations and not get overly overwhelmed.”
“I do what I can during the day, and I try not to be too hard on myself for things I am not able to get done.”
“I left academia. Honestly, my suggestion is to leave academia and academia-adjacent fields. I now work for the government and my work life balance is SO much better.”
“I would advise people experiencing burnout to 1) talk about it, 2) allow themselves to seriously consider making changes - even big ones - to remind themselves that they are valuable and have agency, and 3) make even just one appointment with a counselor.”
The Takeaways
While our survey was not a formal study and what we can infer from it has its limitations, there is a lot we can learn from our colleagues about how to move through burnout and get to a more fulfilling place. Here are some actions we might consider taking to get to the other side of burnout or help those around us who are experiencing burnout to overcome this challenge.
Acknowledge others for their efforts. If you are in a leadership or mentoring position, you can tell the people you lead or mentor how much you value their work and how much you value them as people. If you are in a more junior position, you can give your peers and supervisors kudos for the efforts they’re making. Work to create a culture of acknowledgment and support.
Reconnect with your values. Why did you get into the job you’re doing now? What do you value about it? Are there aspects of your job that are distracting you from living your values and pursuing your personal mission? Are any of those distractions things you can let go of?
Reconnect with people. During the pandemic, many of us experienced a fracturing of relationships and communities. If that’s true for you, how can you reconnect with friends and colleagues and reestablish or engage with your communities of support?
Let go of perfectionism. Your job is probably impossible. Cut yourself some slack. Be ok with “B” work sometimes.
If you are in a position to do so, advocate for your colleagues and yourself. For instance, if a colleague needs to take some time off to deal with mental health issues, you can advocate for them to be granted a short leave through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
If you have come to the conclusion that you really hate your job, see a counselor and/or talk to people you trust about whether a big change might be in order for you. You were probably conditioned, like we were, to believe that once you found a permanent academic position, you’d be in that job until you were old and gray. Challenge that assumption. What if that’s not the path for you? Start dreaming about what else your life might hold for you.