Member Article

5 Expert Steps to Navigating Burnout from ex-Headteacher Turned Coach

This week, Nadia Hewstone, a mum of two, from Norwich, who swapped 25 years of teaching and leadership roles, to follow her passion to empower school leaders is celebrating A* success as her book ‘The (un)Happy Headteacher’ storms the top of the Amazon charts, the book hit number 1 in 8 education categories.

Nadia, an ex Headteacher turned coach is on a mission to positively influence the education system and increase inclusivity in our schools and society, through adopting more of a coaching approach to their work.

Nadia is determined to bring about change with her book.

One of Nadia’s main focus areas in the books is avoiding/managing burnout. Here are her 5 steps to navigating burnout:

Nadia said: “Our well-being is inside of us all and by tuning in to ourselves, we can counter some of the things that lead to burnout, lessening the impact on our lives and our work. Here are the main signs you are heading for a fall:

· Feeling tired or drained most of the time · Feeling helpless, trapped or defeated · Feeling alone in the world · Having a negative outlook · Self-doubt · Procrastinating and taking longer to get things done · Feeling overwhelmed

1. Do not resign!

The autonomic nervous system has two components: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system functions like the accelerator pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, providing the body with a burst of energy so it can respond to perceived dangers. Your body actually thinks your life is under threat and so resignation seems sensible. However, your life is unlikely to be in immediate danger and

making a big decision based on false information may not serve you when you reach emotional safety. You may well decide to resign further down the road to recovery but now isn’t the right time, even though it feels like it is.

2. Secure your safety

You cannot make decisions or manage effectively when you re in an emotional crisis. I recommend the following steps to secure your emotional safety as quickly as possible:

• Prioritise your basic care needs. Drink water, eat food, go to the toilet and sleep for a minimum of eight hours each night.

• Grieve. Make space to acknowledge things have not turned out as you planned. Allow yourself time to be sad or cry until you can reach some level of acceptance from which to take the next step.

• Surround yourself with people who make you feel supported and safe. Make time to see and speak with the people who make you feel seen, heard and supported.

• Create space. Taking some time off work, even one week, will make a significant difference to how you feel. You need space away from the trigger in order to process its impact. Cancel plans and delay errands and engagements outside of work too. This reduces distraction and noise at the time you most need space for your emotions to stabilise.

3. Get help

When friends and family ask what they can do, allocate them chores or childcare support – reduce all the demands on you as much as you possibly can. Buy in support if you can afford it. This is important for three reasons:

• It gives a signal to the body that you are out of danger, as there is no pressure on you or your time. Then you can think more clearly.

• It makes more of the space you have created so that you can stabilise more quickly.

• It helps you accept that you are in crisis and that pushing on is not an option.

4. Focus on yourself

Make the time and space you’ve created count. Focus on you unapologetically for set times each day and, if possible, large chunks of time. You may find it helpful to work with a professional counsellor or coach to get the maximum benefit from this.

5. Connect with your well-being

Listen to your body and respond to its needs. Will a gentle walk feel nourishing? Are you thirsty or tired? Check-in with yourself frequently and identify your care needs.

If you follow these steps, you should feel more grounded within a week or two but sometimes it might take longer. This does not mean you’re ‘fixed’. It means you can start to manage some tasks, put a recovery plan in place and consider what your next steps might be with more clarity.

After a crash, it is a long road to recovery. While you will grow and learn from the experience, you can avoid it altogether by stepping in now and taking your mental and physical health seriously. Preventing burnout is part of your success criteria, as you can only achieve your goals if you are there to do so. Headteachers work in a high-pressure environment and will burn out if their only strategy is to work at their capacity limit for sustained periods while ignoring their well-being needs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .