One of my close friends in high school was the daughter of a man who worked in a paintbrush factory. Every single day for forty years, he woke up, drove to town, stood alongside an industrial stamping press, and churned out ferrules— the metal part connecting the bristles to a paintbrush handle— and then he got in his car, drove home, and lived his life.
“Do you get sick of it?” I asked him when I saw him recently. He’d just retired from the factory and was working a new job as a part-time grocery store manager.
He looked at me like I’d asked if the Pope was Catholic. “Of course I got sick of it,” he said.
“Forty years of paintbrush ferrules—?” I grimaced. “Seems like something where you could really… I don’t know. Burn out,” I said.
He shrugged. “The factory was a job, and I needed a job.”
This man was never passionate about paintbrushes. He was passionate about his family, about the sweet little ranch house he owned outright, about the peonies that bloomed in his backyard every May. He loved his job because it let him live a life of riches— family, children, security, a home in a small rural town, a garden with lush, lovely flowers.
I think about him whenever I have a moment— and we all have them— when I question whether I should stay in education or, in darker moments, whether I should have gone into education at all.
These days, a lot of principals are asking, “What else might there be? What else can I do?” Facebook groups have daily posts from principals who are looking to get out of the profession. “I can’t do it anymore,” some say. Others say, “Help! I’m so tired.” “I’m so discouraged.” “Is it normal to feel this way?”
Here’s my perspective: Before anyone does something rash, we should slow down and think about what we are really feeling.
Exhausted?
Or burned out?
There are clinical and practical differences.
Think of exhaustion as a temporary state of depletion, whereas burnout is a deeper, systemic erosion of your relationship with your work.
Let’s break it down further, starting with exhaustion.
Exhaustion is a deficit. It is a state of extreme fatigue. It is the direct result of overexertion—whether from an intense stretch of long hours, recurring stress and strain, or maybe just coming up on the end of a long and difficult school year.
It feels like, “I don’t know where I’ll get the energy to keep doing this.”
It happens when there is high output without adequate recovery time.
You are deeply tired, but your core motivation, values, and engagement with your work remain intact. You still care; you just don't have the fuel to show it right at this moment.
The cure for exhaustion is rest and space. A weekend off. Getting away. A distraction. A day with a book, a latte, and a massage. A hike. A trip. Summertime. (Ah, summer! The pool, the beach, mountains, parades, slow morning coffee, afternoon naps!)
Burnout is different. It is more than just being tired. It is a response to chronic, unmanaged stress. According to the World Health Organization, burnout comes with three main symptoms:
Fatigue. A deep, systemic tiredness that sleep or space cannot change. You wake up tired even after solid, full sleep. You feel depleted even after vacation.
Cynicism and detachment. You develop a cold, distant, or resentful attitude toward your responsibilities, colleagues, or the people you serve. You start feeling numb— everything is just going through the motions.
Lack of efficacy. You feel like nothing you do matters, your competence is diminishing, or you are failing to achieve results despite trying.
If you’re burned out, you’re asking questions like, "What's the point? Nothing I do makes a difference anyway."
Burnout happens if there is a chronic mismatch between demands and resources, a lack of control, toxic environments, or a misalignment of values.
The cure for burnout is to make changes. Rest alone won't fix burnout; it requires changing something about your work: Setting firm boundaries, modifying expectations, or changing your environment.
Okay, so here’s the deal. If you’re struggling, you’ll want to identify the feeling. Exhaustion or burnout?
You might just be “whupped,” as my father used to say after a long and difficult job had wrapped up. Whupped, yes, but you still have gas left in the tank, provided you just take some time over the summer to take care of yourself, to step away, to use any PTO you have to remember the really good things about this job.
Or you might be miserable to your core— angry, disengaged, disillusioned, despairing. You might see yourself turning into someone you don’t like. If so, it might be the right decision for you to flee education. There might be nothing left for you to give to your school or to the field itself.
I think back to my friend’s father, the man making paintbrushes. Do I get sick of my work? Sure. Are there days the problems feel insurmountable? Absolutely.
But unlike him, I actually really enjoy my paintbrushes. My career has given me a wonderful platform to make a difference for children, and it’s given me phenomenal relationships with hundreds of teachers, students, and families. I feel like I make a difference, and I have hope for the future.
I’m tired, is all. Nothing a good break won’t fix.
That’s how I know I’m not burned out. I still love the work. I love the people.
But that’s just me.
If you’re struggling, and you’re not sure if it’s exhaustion or burnout, I am certainly not qualified to give you that answer. I do know, however, that it’s worth taking some time to really think, to make a careful distinction between the two. There are a couple of good articles and citations listed below if you want to learn more.
My friend’s father is thoroughly enjoying his new job managing the grocery store. It requires a different pace and new skills. “Now that I’m on the other side of it, I can see I was burned out with the paintbrushes,” he says. “I’m glad for the chance to be doing something else now.”
Whether you just need a restorative nap or a whole new career, I’m rooting for you.
But let me say this: I hope you stay right here, doing this critical work. It’s never been more important.
Stay curious,
Jen
P.S. No AI is used in writing this newsletter, except spell check.
P.P.S. A few links to studies about burnout:
Bianchi, R., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2023). Examining the evidence base for burnout. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 101(11), 743–745. https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.23.289996
Durand-Moreau, Q. V. (2019). Is burn-out finally a disease or not? Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 76(12), 938–938. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2019-106094
Walker, Tim. (2025). What’s causing teacher burnout? NEA. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/whats-causing-teacher-burnout
World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases