Posted on by hildaweisburg

Walk Away and Get More Done

School librarianship has always been a demanding job. We work with the entire school community, keep current on the latest technology and its potential impact on our teaching, and manage the library environment. The last alone can be daunting with people dropping in while you are leading a class, creating bulletin boards and displays, getting books back on the shelves, sending notices to students, and writing reports to the principal. Just reading this list is exhausting, and it doesn’t include the pressure from book banners and the negative political climate.

You need to be the Energizer Bunny to get it all done. And therein lies the problem. How many of you don’t take a break? How can you when it feels like there is no time? You probably even eat lunch at your desk, if you do eat lunch, and jump up whenever someone needs you. You come in early. Stay late.

But an exhausted leader doesn’t plan well and is not truly efficient. As Larry Robertson says in his SmartBrief article, Want to be a better leader? Walk away, you need to take a break. Easy to say, but how do you do it and get everything done? Here are his thoughts along with my usual additions.

The power of walking away – According to Robertson, and my own experience, walking away allows you to see more. When you are so focused on doing what’s next, you lose that broader perspective. It’s the reason I always recommend making a point of entering your library (and the building) one day a week as though it were the first time you walked in. How does it look? When you are concentrating only what you have to do first or on the library, you can miss what is happening in your school. Stepping back allows you to see the bigger picture.

Misunderstanding what walking away means – It doesn’t mean abandoning what you are working on, it means clearing your brain. You are planning to create a new genre category and are frustrated by the logistics of it. You are getting up to speed with a new technology and are stuck. Do something else. The break clears your brain and gives you new impetus to get the task done. Walking away can also be more literally true. Sometimes your job, and particularly the administration can be draining the life from your passion. When I had a superintendent announce her retirement, I knew that my difficult principal was going to become a bigger problem. I defined what I would need in a new place, travel, library environment, school culture, and successfully job hunted. The move opened new opportunities that more than made up for my loss of tenure.

The simple practice any leader can develop – Robertson says go to lunch. As I mentioned, many of you are eating at your desk. You aren’t proving anything by being chained to your desk – or library. He also recommends going for a walk. That’s a practice that keeps me energized. My eyes stretch when I am not so narrowly focused on a screen. I get to breathe fresh air. I speak to different people along the way, and. I return with more energy and a better frame of mind.

Working without a break doesn’t work. Finding ways to stretch your body and mind by stepping back from what you’re doing both during the day and when you’re away from work. This gives you an opportunity to recenter and bring your positive mindset back with you. Then your whole body becomes more welcoming to others and better able to plot any new directions. You have become a better leader by simply walking away.

And now, I am going for a walk.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Lessons in Leadership – From Drawing

Being a leader—and always learning to be a better leader—is an essential part of our job. In today’s world, we need to embrace AASL’s Vision, “Every School Librarian is a leader; Every learner has a school librarian.” When we aren’t leaders, our learners are more likely to lose their school librarian.

The stress school librarians are facing while trying to do their jobs is taking away their joy, replacing it with fear. It’s time to turn the page. We must be interwoven into our school community and the outside community as well. We must become like Velcro, totally attached. Someone who would be unthinkable to eliminate.

After spending too much time focusing on work and losing touch with what was most important, Joshua James, co-founder of 8 Bit Content, made the conscious decision to spend more time with his family and children. And while coloring… he learned important lessons about leadership. In his article, 5 Leadership Insights from Drawing with My Kids, James provides us with an idea of not only in how to be better leaders, but how to restore balance in our lives. These are his insights, with my thoughts on how we can best manifest them:

  1. Perfection Is the Enemy of Progress – James noticed that for his children “their best work isn’t the one with the most perfect lines or flawless details. The drawings they’re most proud of are the ones they finish.” We can’t be perfect. Neither can our students. Consistency and growth bring progress. You will smooth out the wrinkles later. Everything we complete, everything that goes well, if not perfectly, is a win. If you need help to see your progress, keep a Succes Journal to record all your wins, big and small.
  2. Frustration Is Part of the Process – Sometimes it feels as though you will never get it right. But that… is part of the process, part of learning and leading. James says, “How we respond to this frustration is critical to how we lead. By taking a step back, reflecting, and giving ourselves space to reframe a situation, we can model healthy coping strategies for our staff and students.” Being emotionally resilient means we are patient when needed and can adjust our perspective. We allow it in our students. We must allow it in ourselves.
  3. Plans Don’t Always Go as Expected—and That’s Okay – In my experience, if it’s a large plan, it will rarely go completely as expected. I end up learning – and growing – along the way. It’s getting to the desired outcome that matters. As Ursula LeGuin famously said in The Left Hand of Darkness, “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Learning doesn’t occur in a straight line. We face a block, we pivot, we find a new way, a work-around and learn something new along the way.
  4. Unplug to Be More Present – We are attached to our devices and our to-do lists. If you are doing that at work and home, you have a higher chance of burn-out and overwhelm. On top of that, you are also likely to become short-tempered and miss important subtle messages we get from students, teachers, and our family. Make time to get away from your devices. My salvation is taking walks. Yours can be anything you enjoy. Block it into your schedule. You will be a better leader and person as a result.
  5. Surround Yourself with Passionate People – Being around his children, sharing what they loved was a game changer for James. While we work to have good relationships with everyone (teachers, students and administrators) because all are served by the library, you need to connect with people who are feeling positive about what we do and why. We don’t need to buy into the views who only see gloom and doom. Reach out to your PLN not to mention friends and family. My life Vision includes “living with passion and purpose.” I choose to be close with those who are passionate about what they do. It motivates me further, enriching my life and well-being.

Bring balance into your life. Reconnect into your passions and your purpose. Remember why you became a librarian and what you want to achieve. As you internalize these five lessons, you present a more positive face to the world, making it easier to build more connections and become that Velcro to your school and outside communities.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Rediscover Your Passion

I have been hearing more often from librarians who are so stressed they are considering early retirement. Given the hostile political climate and its impact on many schools and communities, this is more than understandable. Most of you became school librarians because you were passionate about the differences you can make and the important role school librarians play. When you can’t follow that passion, what do you do next?

Your students and teachers need you to be fully present and engaged in what you bring to learning and growth. That means being as connected as possible to your commitment. In Alaina Love’s article, Are You Sacrificing Passion to Fit in at Work?, she discusses the changes that can be necessary to accommodate our work environment and help us reconnect to what matters most.

To get back to your passion while still being able to fit your environment, Love identifies ten passion archetypes: Creator, Conceiver, Discoverer, Processor, Teacher, Connector, Altruist, Healer, Transformer and Builder, saying we all have at least three. We are at our best when we work from them. Once you know your key archetypes, Love poses looking through that lens and answering these four essential questions:

  1. What is the most essential work you can accomplish to ensure success now and in the future? Think of your Mission Statement. It’s your Why. How have you been dealing with it? It may need some tweaking, but it’s your purpose and your perspiration. By that I mean it’s what you are working toward accomplishing in all the tasks you do and the responsibilities you have.
  2. From which activities do you derive the greatest fulfillment and how can you be more directly engaged in those activities? Is it creating a learning activity with a colleague? Perhaps it is in the one-on-one contacts with students whether guiding them in the research process or finding that perfect book for them. Do you love finding new tech resources and apps and sharing them with teachers? There is a long list of ways you connect with your school community that give you a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Look for ways to identify them.
  3. What behaviors are you demonstrating at work that are misaligned with who you are? Have you been so upset and stressed that you are no longer reaching out to teachers? Have you been brusque with students because there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done? Have you unwittingly been telling yourself that teachers are too busy to care about that new app? Make sure you’re doing what you can to build relationships even with colleagues who may have ideological differences.
  4. What do you want to be remembered for by those you’re closest to? When you do retire, what do you want your administrator to be grateful for? What do you hope teachers will still continue to do because you introduced it to them? When students return, what would you like them to say to you about the impact you had on their time in school? Would you want to be remembered for the person you are today or the one you used to be?

You need to be the leader you were and still are underneath all that stress, frustration, and anger. Reflect on all you have to offer and re-ignite your passion for what you do. Don’t let outside forces take that away from you. Consciously bring back that passion you started with and you will bring back your best. You are too important to your school community to be less than that – and your own mental health will benefit from being aligned with you living from your values.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

A Better Balancing Act

The feelings of overwhelm, exhaustion and burnout are on the rise. Between our work, our world, and our families, we are frequently unsure how to manage all we are responsible for. Then we’re told to take time for ourselves, because if we don’t, we run the risk of things getting worse. Sounds like more stress.

Unfortunately, most of the advice out there is generic. Do this, eat that, stop saying yes. But the truth is we are unique. Our lives are different from the ones we see and read about. Our needs are different. What works for one person, doesn’t work for another. What is true is that we require balance so that the stressors in our lives don’t suck out all the joy.

So how do we find and succeed at our personal balancing act? Fortunately, Sandeep Gupta explains how to go about the process in his blog post, Work-Life Balance: A Myth or Reality? He starts with the following 4 myths referenced in the title of his blog:

  1. Work is pain, and personal life is pleasure – While it’s true that most of us have to work, it isn’t true that work is always pain. If family life is currently stressful, it could be that your personal life is not always pleasure. Which is true for you? Is it always the case? Hopefully we enjoy our jobs – most of the time. We love our family and friends. Most of the time. What is the best balance for you, personally? How much work and how much personal time are the right balance for you?
  2. Work and personal life are separate – We categorize it that way when we think about balance, but the two overlap often. You take work home. You don’t forget personal issues when we are at work. I used to tell my staff to let me know if they were under stress from home so we could adjust their day. As Gupta notes, when you have a bad day at one, you bring it into the other. What we need, he says, is not a “work-life balance” but a “balanced life.”
  3. Time is the only constraint – Gupta says we think having more time would allow us to have a work-life balance. But it’s not about the hours and minutes, it’s the quality of the time and what we choose to do with it. Having the time to enjoy dinner or play with our children is more enjoyable than just making it home at a specified hour while still thinking about a task at work.
  4. One Correct Solution – Just as there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to having a balanced life, there is not one solution that will always continue to work. What you need today may not be what you need next year. It’s important to be reflective about how you feel and make changes as necessary when necessary.

So, how do you go about it finding your balance? Gupta recommends considering these questions.

  • What needs to happen to make life more fulfilling? 
  • How can life be more balanced and fulfilling?
  • Who do I need to become to lead a fulfilled life?

To answer the first question, ask yourself: what are your priorities? What things can you do to make more time for them? What unnecessary things are you doing which can be delegated or eliminated? Take time to notice when and if these might change.

For the second question, identify your passions – both at work and in your personal life. Ensure that you make a place for them. The usual advice about making time for physical activity is true here as well. It energizes you and promotes a positive mindset.

The third question requires you to include time to reflect on your life. Are you feeling fulfilled? Do you need to revise what you are doing? Remember, there is no one correct solution and today’s solution may not work in a year. Life brings change at home and at work. Accept it, be ready for it, and make any needed adjustments.

Burnout is a real thing. It comes when over a period of time, what we expect or think we can do doesn’t align with the truth. We can burnout because of both work and personal stressors. It may not seem like you have the time to look at this, but the truth is, you can’t afford to ignore it. Ask yourself these questions (maybe you do it one your commute). Listen to the answers you receive, and then do what you can to act on them.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Building Resilience

Life has been throwing a lot at us for the past years. We got through the pandemic only to be faced, in America, with being the target of groups determined to censor books and demonize librarians all in the name of a political agenda. And that’s on top of the usual heavy demands of our job. We need to cultivate the talent of resilience if we are to survive.

According to the American Psychological Association, “Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” The definition is an excellent description of the experiences librarians have been facing. How can you “successfully adapt” to it is the challenge.

Elena Aguilar provides the answer in her blog post, The Resilient Educator/ What Does a Resilient Educator Do? While there are just three tips, there are several steps as you work through them.

  • 1.      A Resilient Educator Reflects – With so much requiring your attention, it is natural to dive in and do what you seen needs to get done. Despite the pressure to get going, you will accomplish more if you build in a pause to reflect (see also my blog on the importance of taking time to review). What are you trying to achieve? Is this really the problem or is it a symptom? Aguilar recommends checking in with your Core Values. This is more likely to build your confidence in your actions. To make reflection work even better, do it regularly. Another of Aguilar’s tips is to put space for reflection in your calendar. Make this a priority. If there are others in your school you enjoy working with, consider holding a monthly meeting with colleagues for everyone to take this time.
  • A Resilient Educator Sets Boundaries – We need to know when enough is enough. Unless you know when to say, “no”, you will inevitably say “yes” to that proverbial straw. Just adding to your workload doesn’t create resilience – it’s more likely a step toward burnout. You need to know, set, and stick to your boundaries. What things are your hard/fast “no?” How do you preserve that time for self-care and/or family time? Just because we can doesn’t mean we have to be the one to do it. Aguilar rightly says, “Boundaries preserve our energy.”
  • A Resilient Educator Is Clear on What Matters Most – This is where your regular Reflection gets put into action. Using the Eisenhour Matrix, make what is “urgent and important” a priority. Recognizing what is “important but not immediately urgent” keeps you from overlooking that need. Being clear and not compromising on your hard/fast “no’s” prevent burnout. Remember your Core Values and your Mission and Vision. Is there a way to turn a challenge into an opportunity? If used properly, challenges allow you to think in new ways about your situation, what you are doing, and how you can do it differently.

Far too many librarians and teachers are burning out and leaving the profession. What is happening in your life might lead you that way, but taking time to reflect might offer insight into a better way to manage what you need to deal with. Finding a way to develop the resilience to stay and thrive is the target that will allow you to grow and thrive in your position for the long run.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

ON LIBRARIES: The Return of Burnout

Burn out is a common problem at the end of the school year, but here we are a month or more after schools have ended and for many the challenge continues. You are not alone. The workload, the assessments – of students and you – and the feeling that you aren’t valued are all contributing factors.  Add to this all the ways COVID-19 has exacerbated the issue, and it’s hard to change course. How can you rekindle your enthusiasm?

Moving at top speed to get everything done will not help.  Once you recognize you are burnt out – whether from things at work, home, or a combination – your first step is to pause and breathe.  To create a pause, do what you can to remove yourself from the environment you are in. Go sit outside. Take a walk. Drive to park and, if necessary, sit in your car. Just get away from your usual surroundings with its reminders of all you have to do.

Next consciously take a deep breath, slowly in and slowly out (this is good even if you can’t change your environment).  In the article The Benefits of Deep Breathing, Andrea Watkins, LCSW, writes that the benefits of this one action include:

  • Decreasing stress, increasing calm,
  • Reliving pain,
  • Stimulating the lymphatic system (and detoxifying the body),
  • Improving immunity.

Once you’ve taken these steps, you’ll be better able to think clearly and see the ways you’re capable and succeeding. You are used to dealing with many demands. You have proven how flexible you are. Throughout the quarantine you have been a source of information –and comfort – to students and teachers. Trust yourself to continue to be that. And make sure your principal and even your superintendent know what you have been doing and how it has contributed to learning and student engagement throughout this time.

Another action that can help is to reconnect with your “Why.”  It’s amazing how powerful this can be. Think back to the reasons you became a librarian.  Recall the special moments you have had with kids, teachers, and others. Maybe even some that took place during this crazy final semester. Remember your Mission and Vision statements.  This is who you are and what you bring to others.

You can also try reorganizing your day and possibly your work environment. A change-up will help to energize you. Be sure you are including “me-time” of at least 30 continuous minutes. You will get more done by taking a break than if you worked through it.

When you’re feeling calmer, identify what was the “straw” (or strawS) that triggered the burnout. Look at both your work and personal life. Each may be a contributor. Once you’ve determined what that breaking point might be, taking action – even one step – can help.

I’ve been reading on the School Librarian’s Workshop Facebook page that many of you are worried that after all you have done, you won’t have a library to go back to. You might be re-assigned to the classroom if libraries and other specials are being cancelled for the year, or perhaps the administration is talking about eliminating you entirely. Your action step can be stepping up your advocacy. All across social media you can find numerous charts and infographics for “sharing” with your administrators.  Here is  one from New Jersey Association of School Libraries or this one from Arlen Kimmelman, also of NJASL. AASL has one specifically for administrators.  You might also request time with your principal to discuss how you can impact student learning in the various potential configurations for school in the fall. Bring your awareness of trauma-informed learning and teaching. Discuss how you can assist in helping teachers who are also suffering from trauma.

The switch to distance learning, helping teachers who are struggling, and doing the same for students has been incredibly draining.  As you look toward a new school year, the extent of uncertainty about how the new configuration will look, and what your role in the new configuration it will be is increasing your anxiety and exhaustion. But if you take the time to use your support systems, make a plan, and take a step, you will discover you can do this.  You have already done so much.  Don’t let burnout stop you now.

Take the time you need and, as always, breathe!

Posted on by hildaweisburg

ON LIBRARIES – Beating Burnout

It happens to the best of us – in fact, the most invested in your job you are, the more likely it is to happen to you. Burnout. Your alarm goes off, and you don’t want to get out of bed.  It’s not just tiredness and lack of sleep, although that’s part of it.  You have given and given, worked and worked to make do with less and less, constantly striving to demonstrate the value of your library program and what you bring.  Now it feels there is nothing left.

Burnout is common to leaders –so take some comfort in knowing that as lousy as it feels, it’s a sign that you are acting as a leader. Going into work when you’ve been feeling this way for a while leads to little getting accomplished.  Worse, because you are not at your best, you are less likely to handle situations with your usual skill. This, in turn, will give you more work to do in repairing any damage to relationships and the last thing you need is more work.

Although the feelings of burnout are most likely to happen during the school year, vacation is a good time to prepare for the likely possibility of this condition. Knowing in advance how to deal with this challenge will help you get past it quickly.

Once again, I’m using advice from the business world to address this. The first suggestion Mark Ellis offers, in his article entitled What to Do When You Can’t Face Your Team, is to take some time off.  During the school year, that’s probably limited to one “mental health” day (personal or sick – your choice) but it’s vital that you use it if you truly need it. And when you do use it – do what you can to make the most of it. Since you’re reading this during vacation, make sure you currently are taking the opportunity to replenish yourself. It’s also a good time to stop and think about what makes you feel burned out and what most helps alleviate the stress. This way when “symptoms” appear, you have a plan.

Ellis’s next suggestion is to remind yourself why you do what you do.  In other words, connect with your Why.  Read last week’s blog as a reminder.  And if you still haven’t defined your Why, this should be a further incentive to do so.

For those of you who can, meditation is another one of Ellis’s methods for breaking out of burnout. There are not only shelves of books to help you with this, but videos and apps as well. If it works for you, you’ve got a great new tool to use whenever you need it.  I use walking to get out of my head and find an inner peace.  You deserve to find an equivalent that works for you.

If you have been beating yourself up because your library program doesn’t “look’ the way you want it to or you are comparing your library to someone else’s—give it up.  As Ellis says, “putting that much expectation on yourself as a leader will only leave you chasing something that doesn’t exist.”

Wendi Pillars, writing for ASCD, presents Eight Burnout-busting Self-care Strategies that can also help. The first is Monitor Connectivity.  We are far too attached to our digital devices and need to schedule unplugged time for ourselves.  I now shut my computer down for the day at supper time.  Watching some of my favorite television programs after dinner (I’m hooked on several British mystery series) is a great way to tune out and give my brain a time to rest.

Create is Pillars’ second recommendation (and – bonus! – it’s one of the four Domains of our new National School Library Standards). There are many ways to create. Knit, crochet, draw, doodle, take pictures, scrapbook, or put together a puzzle. Adult coloring books can bring out the artistic side of just about anyone. Is it any wonder they are so popular. Look to things that give you pleasure.  Even writing a snail mail thank you is a form of creativity.

Pillars follows that with Get Back to Nature which can mean camping, walking even simply going to a nearby park to sit on a bench and relax.

Review Your Diet and Sleep are her next two suggestions. When you are feeling burnt out you are likely not eating wisely.  Usually, that means too many sugars or carbohydrates which leads to worse eating and also affects your sleep.  Figure out how much sleep you need and do what you can to get those hours.  You deserve them and your career and relationships will benefit from it.

Choose Your Frame is about mindset. Negative self-talk makes everything worse.  Find a better way to see the situation.  What are you doing well despite the challenges?

Enjoy Friends and don’t say you haven’t time because you have too much to do.  You will always have too much to do.  Time lost with friends and family can never be recovered. And you will feel restored after being with them.

Finally, Practice Gratitude.  This is advice I love.  It also helps your mindset.  When you see how much you have to be grateful for, you are much less likely to indulge in negative self-talk. Keep a list, a journal, or even jot it down in your calendar at the end of each day. As the list grows you’ll find yourself feeling better.

None of these ideas are earth-shattering. You probably could have come up with many of them yourself, but now you have them laid out. As Ellis concludes in his article, don’t consider burnout as a failure. “Leadership is tough, and we all have to go through these difficult periods if we are to grow and thrive.”