Carleton doesn’t have semesters or even quarters, we have terms. Each term is 10 weeks long, and there’s Fall, Winter, and Spring term. The week numbers of each term matter so much that at the end of every spring term I look ahead to the next year and enter “Week 1, week 2, week 3…” as events on the Monday of each week for the next year’s terms. Week numbers matter more than months or dates or days of the week. Classes start on the Monday of Week 1 and end on the Wednesday of Week 9. Then there are two Reading Days, and then finals run on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Right now we’re at the beginning of 7th week of Spring Term, and it feels like we’ll never survive through to graduation next month. On top of that, it’s been a crazy intense year+ that’s left me burned out and used up. Apparently powering through Chronic Fatigue Syndrome while juggling a ton of extra work, a few massive transitions, plus all the normal intensity of this job only works for so long. The fallout is starting to show up in medical bills and mental anguish.
So how do I turn it around? I like my coworkers and don’t want to let them down. And I’m pretty sure that when I step out of my own head I actually still believe that the work matters. And then there’s the mortgage, which probably won’t pay itself. I want to get back to liking my job. I want to get back to liking me in my job.
Have you taken a look at the Librarian Burnout blog? Lots of great stuff there. https://librarianburnout.com/
I’m pretty sure that you won’t be letting your colleagues down by needing less stress in your life. You are important to your community, and getting burned out to a cinder won’t do them any good even if in the short term you can’t deliver all that you feel you have promised. Take care!