Why is Burnout a Thing?

I recently came across a reddit post about how burnout appears to be a part of the teacher culture, something to aspire to, a goal.

https://www.reddit.com/r/teaching/comments/9e5qt5/teacher_burnout_is_a_culture_not_a_trophy/

But should it really be? Should we always be trying to do more, work more, create more? Should we be proud of the fact that we get to work at 6:30 am, don’t eat lunch, work through our lunch, don’t take washroom breaks, and stay at work until 7:00 pm? Does this make us better teachers? All my profs told me to never reinvent the wheel, to not work harder than my students, to not grade what doesn't need to be graded. So why don't we follow that advice?

My first year I burned out, I hated going to work, I hated my school, I loved my students, but I wasn’t being the best teacher I could be. I didn’t realize it until too late, but I was pushing myself too hard. I was working harder than the students. I fell asleep on the couch every night. When my husband would wake me and tell me to go to bed, I’d be too tired to even get up and go into our room. I worked through every lunch, I stayed late, I got there early. I ran clubs, I prepped for them, I took on roles I wasn’t ready for.

My second year, I found a school that let me be a completely different teacher. My principal encouraged us to leave on time, encouraged mental health days, encouraged us to take our lunch to regroup for the afternoon. I am happier, I am a more effective, and better teacher because I can take that time for me, because I am not pushing myself too hard.

An interesting point brought up in the reddit discussion is the idea that perhaps society brings it on us. Society has a perception that teachers have it easy, “you have every summer off”, “You’re done work at 3”, “you get 2 weeks at Christmas” etc, etc. Do we work extra hard to be able to reply, “Yeah but I also don’t take lunches”, or “Yeah but I also work 12 hour days during the school year”.

Why do we praise the teachers who work so hard that they can barely function? We laugh it off that teaching is the one job where it’s more work to call in sick than it is to go to work sick. We support these ideas, and we try to outdo each other with how hard we work. I have been guilty of it too. But why? Is it really sustainable? Is it really healthy? Why have we allowed this culture to permeate teaching, why have we allowed it just be part of what you sign up for?

We don’t need to outdo each other with how hard we work, we don’t need to look down on teachers who don’t work as hard as we think we do. So many of the people who replied to this post mention that ever since they have instilled work hours for themselves, they are so much happier and more productive. Work hard when you do work, but realize that you don’t have to work hard all the time.

I realize that this culture permeates professions other than teaching. Just take a look at nurse memes, or doctor memes, or parenting memes.

We all seem to aspire to be exhausted, overworked, overrun, burnt out shells of who we really are. Why? Take the weekend off, call in sick, the sub can handle your class for a day, set up hours where you work and then when you’re off the clock, really be off the clock. Watch the movie, play with your kids, leave the marking until tomorrow. It will still be there, but you will be better equipped to handle it if you’ve had some time to recharge, reset, and renew yourself.