Category: reduce stress

Ten Tiny Experiments to Ease Burnout for Educators – Faculty Focus
I am busy, stressed, perhaps feeling the first prickles of burnout. I feel tension may be getting between me and my students, colleagues, family, and others I care about. I feel that my mind is out of my control, going down rabbit holes, ruminating on the past or stressing about the future. How do I dip my toe into mindfulness, to see if it could work for me, so I can be better for myself and others?

However, my plate is full: I do not have the capacity to take on any new things. So any suggestions must not take much time.

Also, I have never been a fan of the self-help industry and not sure I am such a spiritual person. I am just not interested in woo-woo. Finally, I am not really convinced there’s anything wrong with me that needs to be fixed.

I have heard that mindfulness may be able to help with runaway thoughts and the associated stress, anxiety, and burnout. How can I dip my toe in those calm waters in a way that satisfies all my concerns?

First, you are not alone. People in the helping professions: teachers, counselors, aides, advisors, and others, need help. Stress, anxiety, and burn-out remain at unsustainable levels. People in these professions are especially at risk because they must help others address their own stressors, anxieties, and fears to do their jobs. Failure to do this effectively and consistently means the teacher does not teach, advisors do not advise, and so on. It can also mean that professionals internalize their clients’ challenges, creating a vicious circle. Burnout—a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, social detachment, and reduced self-confidence —can result from excessive workload and chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been effectively managed. This stress often stems from lacking both the necessary tools and authority to perform our jobs well and achieve meaningful goals. Can mindfulness help?

The scientific literature supports the notion that mindfulness practice, defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as “Awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally and with acceptance” can reduce stress, anxiety, and burnout. For example, a 2024 meta-analysis of 49 studies found that two-thirds of mindfulness based interventions reduced the effects of burnout, especially emotional exhaustion.

However, intention matters. Perhaps there really is nothing to fix; no self to improve. People should practice mindfulness not to reduce stress or anxiety or to sleep better, but a good thing to do for its own sake. Tightly focusing on goals like these can make them recede because such goals emphasize the gap between where we are and where we want to be, heightening our dissatisfaction with the present. It also reinforces the falsehood that there’s something wrong with us.

“When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float.” — Alan Watts

On the contrary, mindfulness is about being open and aware of the present moment, without judgment. While we’re defining terms, meditation refers to the many practices and ways of being deliberately mindful with intention, concentration, and compassion. It can occur sitting down, walking, doing certain tasks, or in moments between tasks.

The best reason to practice is not for self-improvement. It is because it is literally the most human thing we can do. Imagine asking an AI to be mindful for us or for itself. Mindful moments are when we are our best, truest selves, when we experience our connection with the world around us. Ideally, it will make us happier and better for others, but this is not the reason to do it, not least because everyone’s experience is different.

To get started, just experiment. Play around with different techniques, practices, and ideas and see what works for you. Try an experiment from the list below for a minute or two, while you change tasks or locations, so they don’t take away time from other to-dos. (Place a sticky-note reminder on your desk.) Every time you do one of these, give yourself a figurative pat on the back.

Here are ten tiny mindfulness experiments that anyone can do without any practice or instruction:
1. Just notice things as you go about your day. Experience novelty in the quotidian.
1. Breathe deliberately and deeply. Experience all of the different sensations that you can, without judgment.
1. Scan the body from head to toe. Experience all the different sensations that arise, without labels.
1. When working with students or others, see if you can relax the focus on the self when it appears. Turn off self-view on Zoom calls.
1. Let yourself feel connection with and compassion for others, even for those you don’t naturally feel positive about. Experience this in the body, not just cognitively.
1. Be aware of the thoughts that come and go in your consciousness, without you having to do anything about them. Hear unconstructive thoughts in a silly voice (I use Daffy Duck.)
1. When eating, for one piece of food, slow down to one-tenth your normal speed and experience all of the sights, sounds, and sensation of eating it.
1. The next time an unwanted sensation or thought occurs, relax the impulse to resist it. Instead, try RAIN: Recognize the sensation; Accept it; Investigate it (i.e. learn from it); and Nurture yourself.
1. Look at your feet. Slowly scan up the body. What is present when you attempt to look above the chest? What happens when you look for the looker? (This is a way to loosen the hold of our ego and relax.)
1. Take a day off from non-essential smartphone notifications and social media. Reflect on the effects.
You will notice as you try these activities that the mind will wander. That is natural and to be welcomed. The point of being mindful isn’t to eliminate thoughts, but rather to build a practice of returning to the object of attention when you want to, so that you don’t remain in the dreamlike state of being lost in thought.

You will also notice how everything you experience changes on its own. Many of the ideas and sensations you experience you don’t have to do anything about, they just come and go on their own. You may even notice that ideas and sensations themselves don’t come packaged with good/bad judgements: we just tend to automatically and mindlessly layer those on ourselves. Experiment with just being with experiences, pleasant or otherwise, and seeing what that’s like.

Where to go from there? There are many organizations, podcasts, and apps to try (I like Waking Up for its variety of teachers, learning opportunities, and guided meditations). Consider setting a time every day for a short “sit”, for example, as part of your morning routine. I have found mindful practice an excellent supplement to other kinds of self-care including psychotherapy. Consider also working with a therapist on issues relating to stress, anxiety, and similar challenges. Finally, invite a friend or loved one to join you in these experiments. Sharing can make the experiences more fun, meaningful, and help you to persist.

To be sure, reducing stress and burnout it’s not only up to us as individuals. As employees, labor union members and voters, we must also advocate for employer and government policies that support safer, more sustainable working and living environments. Excessive workloads, lack of autonomy, poor labor relations, job insecurity, and low pay may all contribute to chronic stress and burnout. Managers and policymakers must address these issues even as they support worker mindfulness and self-care.

In sum, mindfulness need not be time consuming, woo-woo, unscientific, or frustrating. Be playful and experimental about it. Try some of the activities above during the interstices of your day. Over time, you will see what works for you and create habits and rituals that make them more automatic. The Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron argues that over time, as life gets smoother, we build capacity to “move closer” to help people in need. Isn’t this what all of us in the helping professions need?

Note: The above reflects my personal opinion only and may not reflect the views or position of CUNY or BMCC.

Brett Whysel is a lecturer in finance and decision-making at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, where he integrates mindfulness, behavioral science, generative AI, and career readiness into his teaching. He has written for Faculty Focus, Forbes, and The Decision Lab. He is also the co-founder of Decision Fish LLC, where he develops tools to support financial wellness and housing counselors. He regularly presents on mindfulness and metacognition in the classroom and is the author of the Effortless Mindfulness Toolkit, an open resource for educators published on CUNY Academic Works. Prior to teaching, he spent nearly 30 years in investment banking. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University and a B.S. in Managerial Economics and French from Carnegie Mellon University.

References

Brach, T. (2024). RAIN: Recognize, allow, investigate, nurture. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/

Chödrön, P., & Kullander, J. (2022, July 17). Turning toward pain: An interview with Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön. Beliefnet. https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/physical-health/pain-management/turning-toward-pain.aspx

Ford, B. Q., & Mauss, I. B. (2014). The paradoxical effects of pursuing positive emotion: When and why wanting to feel happy backfires. In J. Gruber & J. T. Moskowitz (Eds.), Positive emotion: Integrating the light sides and dark sides. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926725.003.0020

Langer, E. J. (2023). The mindful body: Thinking our way to chronic health. Ballantine Books.

Steiner, E. D., Levine, P. R., Doan, S., & Woo, A. (2025). Teacher well-being, pay, and intentions to leave in 2025: Findings from the State of the American Teacher Survey (RR-A1108-16). RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-16.html

Watts, A. W. (1951). The wisdom of insecurity: A message for an age of anxiety (p. 40). Pantheon Books.
Source link
January 5, 2026
Ten Tiny Experiments to Ease Burnout for Educators – Faculty Focus
I am busy, stressed, perhaps feeling the first prickles of burnout. I feel tension may be getting between me and my students, colleagues, family, and others I care about. I feel that my mind is out of my control, going down rabbit holes, ruminating on the past or stressing about the future. How do I dip my toe into mindfulness, to see if it could work for me, so I can be better for myself and others?

However, my plate is full: I do not have the capacity to take on any new things. So any suggestions must not take much time.

Also, I have never been a fan of the self-help industry and not sure I am such a spiritual person. I am just not interested in woo-woo. Finally, I am not really convinced there’s anything wrong with me that needs to be fixed.

I have heard that mindfulness may be able to help with runaway thoughts and the associated stress, anxiety, and burnout. How can I dip my toe in those calm waters in a way that satisfies all my concerns?

First, you are not alone. People in the helping professions: teachers, counselors, aides, advisors, and others, need help. Stress, anxiety, and burn-out remain at unsustainable levels. People in these professions are especially at risk because they must help others address their own stressors, anxieties, and fears to do their jobs. Failure to do this effectively and consistently means the teacher does not teach, advisors do not advise, and so on. It can also mean that professionals internalize their clients’ challenges, creating a vicious circle. Burnout—a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, social detachment, and reduced self-confidence —can result from excessive workload and chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been effectively managed. This stress often stems from lacking both the necessary tools and authority to perform our jobs well and achieve meaningful goals. Can mindfulness help?

The scientific literature supports the notion that mindfulness practice, defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as “Awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally and with acceptance” can reduce stress, anxiety, and burnout. For example, a 2024 meta-analysis of 49 studies found that two-thirds of mindfulness based interventions reduced the effects of burnout, especially emotional exhaustion.

However, intention matters. Perhaps there really is nothing to fix; no self to improve. People should practice mindfulness not to reduce stress or anxiety or to sleep better, but a good thing to do for its own sake. Tightly focusing on goals like these can make them recede because such goals emphasize the gap between where we are and where we want to be, heightening our dissatisfaction with the present. It also reinforces the falsehood that there’s something wrong with us.

“When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float.” — Alan Watts

On the contrary, mindfulness is about being open and aware of the present moment, without judgment. While we’re defining terms, meditation refers to the many practices and ways of being deliberately mindful with intention, concentration, and compassion. It can occur sitting down, walking, doing certain tasks, or in moments between tasks.

The best reason to practice is not for self-improvement. It is because it is literally the most human thing we can do. Imagine asking an AI to be mindful for us or for itself. Mindful moments are when we are our best, truest selves, when we experience our connection with the world around us. Ideally, it will make us happier and better for others, but this is not the reason to do it, not least because everyone’s experience is different.

To get started, just experiment. Play around with different techniques, practices, and ideas and see what works for you. Try an experiment from the list below for a minute or two, while you change tasks or locations, so they don’t take away time from other to-dos. (Place a sticky-note reminder on your desk.) Every time you do one of these, give yourself a figurative pat on the back.

Here are ten tiny mindfulness experiments that anyone can do without any practice or instruction:
1. Just notice things as you go about your day. Experience novelty in the quotidian.
1. Breathe deliberately and deeply. Experience all of the different sensations that you can, without judgment.
1. Scan the body from head to toe. Experience all the different sensations that arise, without labels.
1. When working with students or others, see if you can relax the focus on the self when it appears. Turn off self-view on Zoom calls.
1. Let yourself feel connection with and compassion for others, even for those you don’t naturally feel positive about. Experience this in the body, not just cognitively.
1. Be aware of the thoughts that come and go in your consciousness, without you having to do anything about them. Hear unconstructive thoughts in a silly voice (I use Daffy Duck.)
1. When eating, for one piece of food, slow down to one-tenth your normal speed and experience all of the sights, sounds, and sensation of eating it.
1. The next time an unwanted sensation or thought occurs, relax the impulse to resist it. Instead, try RAIN: Recognize the sensation; Accept it; Investigate it (i.e. learn from it); and Nurture yourself.
1. Look at your feet. Slowly scan up the body. What is present when you attempt to look above the chest? What happens when you look for the looker? (This is a way to loosen the hold of our ego and relax.)
1. Take a day off from non-essential smartphone notifications and social media. Reflect on the effects.
You will notice as you try these activities that the mind will wander. That is natural and to be welcomed. The point of being mindful isn’t to eliminate thoughts, but rather to build a practice of returning to the object of attention when you want to, so that you don’t remain in the dreamlike state of being lost in thought.

You will also notice how everything you experience changes on its own. Many of the ideas and sensations you experience you don’t have to do anything about, they just come and go on their own. You may even notice that ideas and sensations themselves don’t come packaged with good/bad judgements: we just tend to automatically and mindlessly layer those on ourselves. Experiment with just being with experiences, pleasant or otherwise, and seeing what that’s like.

Where to go from there? There are many organizations, podcasts, and apps to try (I like Waking Up for its variety of teachers, learning opportunities, and guided meditations). Consider setting a time every day for a short “sit”, for example, as part of your morning routine. I have found mindful practice an excellent supplement to other kinds of self-care including psychotherapy. Consider also working with a therapist on issues relating to stress, anxiety, and similar challenges. Finally, invite a friend or loved one to join you in these experiments. Sharing can make the experiences more fun, meaningful, and help you to persist.

To be sure, reducing stress and burnout it’s not only up to us as individuals. As employees, labor union members and voters, we must also advocate for employer and government policies that support safer, more sustainable working and living environments. Excessive workloads, lack of autonomy, poor labor relations, job insecurity, and low pay may all contribute to chronic stress and burnout. Managers and policymakers must address these issues even as they support worker mindfulness and self-care.

In sum, mindfulness need not be time consuming, woo-woo, unscientific, or frustrating. Be playful and experimental about it. Try some of the activities above during the interstices of your day. Over time, you will see what works for you and create habits and rituals that make them more automatic. The Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron argues that over time, as life gets smoother, we build capacity to “move closer” to help people in need. Isn’t this what all of us in the helping professions need?

Note: The above reflects my personal opinion only and may not reflect the views or position of CUNY or BMCC.

Brett Whysel is a lecturer in finance and decision-making at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, where he integrates mindfulness, behavioral science, generative AI, and career readiness into his teaching. He has written for Faculty Focus, Forbes, and The Decision Lab. He is also the co-founder of Decision Fish LLC, where he develops tools to support financial wellness and housing counselors. He regularly presents on mindfulness and metacognition in the classroom and is the author of the Effortless Mindfulness Toolkit, an open resource for educators published on CUNY Academic Works. Prior to teaching, he spent nearly 30 years in investment banking. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University and a B.S. in Managerial Economics and French from Carnegie Mellon University.

References

Brach, T. (2024). RAIN: Recognize, allow, investigate, nurture. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/

Chödrön, P., & Kullander, J. (2022, July 17). Turning toward pain: An interview with Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön. Beliefnet. https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/physical-health/pain-management/turning-toward-pain.aspx

Ford, B. Q., & Mauss, I. B. (2014). The paradoxical effects of pursuing positive emotion: When and why wanting to feel happy backfires. In J. Gruber & J. T. Moskowitz (Eds.), Positive emotion: Integrating the light sides and dark sides. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926725.003.0020

Langer, E. J. (2023). The mindful body: Thinking our way to chronic health. Ballantine Books.

Steiner, E. D., Levine, P. R., Doan, S., & Woo, A. (2025). Teacher well-being, pay, and intentions to leave in 2025: Findings from the State of the American Teacher Survey (RR-A1108-16). RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-16.html

Watts, A. W. (1951). The wisdom of insecurity: A message for an age of anxiety (p. 40). Pantheon Books.
Source link
January 5, 2026
Taking Grades (Stress) Out of Learning – Faculty Focus
I found myself sitting in a classroom, staring at a test I couldn’t answer. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall learning any of the material. The harder I struggled to remember, the more my anxiety grew—until I jolted awake, covered in sweat. It was the same nightmare that had haunted me for over a decade. One day, during a casual conversation, a colleague—a psychology professor—made an unexpected observation: my experience resembled symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Me? Trauma?

My Learning Experience: From a Model Student to Getting Lost

I grew up in China in the 1980s as the only child of factory workers. Having experienced hardship, my parents hoped I would escape their life by earning a college degree. They told me a good education would guarantee a bright future.

From a young age, I pushed myself to excel academically. In my mind, the purpose of learning was to get good grades. Grades were everything—symbols of success and a source of validation. But this came with a constant fear: the fear of failure, of disappointing my parents, and of falling short of expectations.

This fear intensified in high school, where frequent tests ranked students publicly. I studied relentlessly under immense pressure, and my hard work paid off when I was accepted to my desired university. I continued this pattern in college, focused solely on grades and making my parents proud. But when I graduated, I felt lost. I had no clear direction or career. Didn’t my parents tell me a college education would ensure a bright future? Where was my future?

In my confusion, I began reading for curiosity rather than exams. One day, I came across The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, who critiqued the Chinese education system. He argued that modern education prioritized memorization over true understanding, with grades and diplomas replacing the real purpose of learning. He compared knowledge to an adventurous exploration, best enjoyed with an open and curious mind.¹

That moment of reading was transformative. I realized I had never understood the true purpose of education; I had equated learning with good grades, a narrow and misleading focus. Reflecting on my educational journey, I saw how it had been marked by stress, fear, and a constant chase for perfection.

In that moment, I knew I wanted to become a teacher educator. I wanted to help future teachers see education for what it truly is—a journey of growth, curiosity, and empowerment, not just a pursuit of grades. My goal was to break the cycle of stress and fear that had shaped my own experience and instead inspire educators to foster passion, encourage exploration, and create a lasting, positive impact on their students’ lives.

My Teaching Journey: Cultivating a Growth Mindset Through Ungrading

For the past 11 years, I have been a professor of social studies education, working with both pre-service and in-service teachers. I have never used traditional tests in my classes because I don’t believe that teaching ability can be measured through exams. Instead, I assess my students’ learning through lesson plans, presentations, and projects—assignments that require logical reasoning, creativity, and critical thinking. To accompany this teaching philosophy, I adopt ungrading² in all my courses.

Below are some practices I use in my ungraded class, focusing on learning and growth.

Feedback-Only: No Points

I do not attach points to any assignments. Instead, I provide rich feedback. If students want to know how well they did in an assignment, they must read my feedback. I believe that mistakes are one of the most powerful learning tools. By removing the pressure of grades, students are less afraid to take risks and make errors, knowing they will have opportunities to revise and improve. In my classroom, mistakes aren’t something to fear—they’re an essential part of the learning process.

Steps:
1. Provide explicit instructions in class. Ask for questions to ensure every student understands how to complete the assignment.
2. Follow the “Feedback Sandwich”³ method to give each student rich feedback. Through the Learning Management System (LMS) in my university, Desire2Learn (D2L), I prefer giving feedback through video, allowing my students to hear my voice and see my facial expressions to better understand the tone. This personalized approach makes feedback more engaging and encourages students to reflect, revise, and improve their work.
3. Students revise and resubmit their work.
4. I review their revised work and provide further feedback.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until students’ work reaches the standards and the lesson’s objectives.
Guided Reflections

Reflection is a vital part of learning. It encourages students to recognize the value of their experiences, deepen their self-awareness as learners, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways to their lives.

In addition to the reflections accompanying projects, I use one mid-term reflection and one end-of-semester. ⁴

Some typical questions in the mid-term reflection include:
- What were your goals for this course?
- What are some of the main things you’ve learned so far?
- Review all your reading quizzes (or any other small assignments). How do you evaluate your preparation for them?
- How many assignments have you completed, including peer evaluations?
- Is there anything remaining uncompleted? If so, please list them here.
  
  Item(s)
  
  Anticipated date(s) of completion
- How do you feel about your participation during class? Explain.
- How many class meetings did you miss? If you missed any, what were the legitimate reasons?
- Is there anything you would like me to help with?
- What would it be if you were to give yourself a grade right now? Why?
Some typical questions in the end-of-semester reflection include:
- Read your (individual assignment) and feedback. Have you revised your work based on the feedback? Why or why not?
- Read your (group project) and feedback. Thinking of your contribution to this project, what did you learn from it?
- What do you know now that you didn’t know at the beginning of the semester?
- After taking this course, what profound insights have you gained about social studies education?
- How many classes did you miss? What legitimate reasons did you have for missing those classes?
- Please suggest a grade for yourself. Justify why you give yourself that grade.
Ungrading may not lighten an instructor’s workload, however, the effort I invested in this approach has proven immensely rewarding. I’ve witnessed a noticeable shift toward more internally motivated students, stronger professor-student relationships, and, most importantly, happier, less stressed students. The sense of fulfillment that comes from these positive changes is unparalleled.

Jing A. Williams is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of South Dakota (USD). She teaches elementary and secondary social studies methods courses. She is the three-time recipient of the Faculty Excellence Awards in Teaching at the School of Education at USD. In 2024, she was the keynote speaker at the Online Faculty Symposium hosted by USD’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Williams’ research interest focuses on the global perspective of social studies education. She is the lead author of Teaching with a Global Perspective: Approaches and Strategies for Secondary Social Studies Teachers, published by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) in 2024. She is the Book/Media Review Editor of the Journal of International Social Studies, the official publication of the International Assembly of the NCSS.

¹ Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998).

² Susan Blum, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020).

³ The Muse Editors, “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It,” The Muse, 12/23/2024, accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich

⁴ These reflection prompts are revised based on the samples from: Susan Blum, “Just One Change (Just Kidding): Ungrading and Its Necessary Accompaniments,” in Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan D. Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020), 53-73.

References

Blum, Susan. Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020.

Fink, L. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013.

Lin, Yutang. The Importance of Living. Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998.

The Muse Editors. “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It.” The Muse, 12/23/2024. Accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich
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April 18, 2025