{"id":14841,"date":"2014-06-20T08:30:32","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T13:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=14841"},"modified":"2025-10-14T08:32:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T13:32:37","slug":"committing-to-not-overcommitting-building-a-life-career-without-burning-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=14841","title":{"rendered":"Committing to Not Overcommitting: Building a Life & Career without Burning Out"},"content":{"rendered":"


\npreviously published 3\/29\/13<\/em><\/p>\n

Committing to Not Overcommitting: Building a Life & Career without Burning Out<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The library field is an exciting, busy place full of people and theories and (dare I say it) books, but it\u2019s also an easy place to get burnt out. If you\u2019re not a librarian yet, you might be a student with a job, classes, and an internship or two. If you\u2019re already a librarian, you\u2019ve probably been roped into at least one committee, work lots of hours with patrons, and try to squeeze in some professional development. Whatever your job status, you\u2019re probably also adding networking and social media to that list. And then, of course, comes the rest of your life responsibilities, like laundry and eating breakfast and spending time with your significant other, which are often the things that get pushed to the wayside first. What\u2019s a librarian to do?<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to avoid, or recover from, burnout!\"phillylib\"<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u2019re already overcommitted<\/strong>, the first thing to do is figure out what your priorities are and what, if anything, can be put on hold or let go of. You don\u2019t have to ditch everything, but try to scale back. If you\u2019re on 4 committees, try to pare down to 2-3. If you\u2019re interning at 2 places, think about cutting down to one or trimming down your hours.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fit in some \u201cme time\u201d every day<\/strong>. Even if your days are crammed full, give yourself a little chunk of quiet and\/or alone time. Whether that means knitting a scarf, playing Portal 2, or going to the gym for 20 minutes, do something nice for yourself. \u00a0If you have to schedule it in your smartphone or recruit a friend to help make it happen, do it.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Try to incorporate some non-library social time<\/strong>. Even if it\u2019s only once or twice a month, don\u2019t forget to have a social life. If you can\u2019t spare lots of time or money, going out for dinner and movie might not be feasible, but takeout and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus with friends will still be fun and give you some time to unwind.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget to breathe<\/strong>. Take a deep breath, hold it for a moment, and then release it slowly. Do that a few times in a row and you\u2019ll feel a little more human and a little less burnt.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to say no.<\/strong> This is probably the hardest thing for most people. We don\u2019t like to disappoint others, or we think that if we say yes to everything, something is bound to stick and get us that permanent position or title change. But if you\u2019re taking on too many projects, it\u2019s likely that the quality of your contributions will suffer with each new task you pile on. Do yourself and your coworkers a favor and only take on what you can reasonably handle.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, overcommitment will leave you feeling overwhelmed and hinder your productivity. It\u2019s good to be engaged and involved, but not when it\u2019s at the expense of your well-being. Give yourself permission<\/strong> not to do 9,854 things every second and your brain, body, and patrons will thank you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

author’s name removed per their request 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

previously published 3\/29\/13 Committing to Not Overcommitting: Building a Life & Career without Burning Out The library field is an exciting, busy place full of people and theories and (dare I say it) books, but it\u2019s also an easy place to get burnt out. If you\u2019re not a librarian yet, you might be a student…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[4028,4029,6311,4030],"class_list":["post-14841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-burning-out","tag-career","tag-over-committing","tag-phillybrarians"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-3Rn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112948,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14841\/revisions\/112948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}