Burned Out vs. Bummed Out: Reignite Your Passion in Higher Education

Burned out and bummed out are often used interchangeably to describe exhaustion and frustration at work, but they represent two distinct experiences. Understanding the difference is crucial to finding solutions and reigniting your passion for your work.

Burned Out: Exhausted by Effort Without Support

Burnout happens when you’re working hard and achieving results, but the institution doesn’t adapt to support your efforts. You might create a wildly successful program or improve student outcomes, but instead of seeing systemic changes—like increased staffing, funding, or recognition—you’re left with more work and less energy.

Burnout feels like running on a treadmill that keeps speeding up. Your work matters, but the lack of institutional alignment leaves you drained and unable to sustain the pace.

Bummed Out: Deflated by Stagnation

Feeling bummed out comes from a lack of momentum and progress. It’s the result of stagnation—repeated attempts to innovate that seem to go nowhere, recurring institutional narratives about problems without progress, or years of trying to succeed without meaningful results.

Being bummed out feels like trying to push a stalled car uphill. No matter how hard you try, it doesn’t seem to move. Over time, this lack of forward motion can erode your motivation and enthusiasm, leaving you stuck and uninspired.

The Emotional Toll of Both

• Burnout drains you physically and emotionally as you work harder without adequate support.
• Bummed out weighs on your spirit, making you question the point of your efforts when nothing seems to change.

While burnout and feeling bummed out are different, they share a common root: systemic misalignment. Both arise when institutions fail to adapt or support the needs of their people.

How to Reignite the Spark

Whether you’re feeling burned out or bummed out, the solution lies in reclaiming momentum and aligning efforts with institutional support. Here’s how:

1. Acknowledge the Problem
   Recognize whether you’re dealing with burnout or feeling bummed out. Are you exhausted from overwork without support, or are you discouraged by stagnation and lack of progress?
2. Build a Collaborative Plan
   Work with colleagues and leaders to design solutions addressing symptoms and root causes. This might involve advocating for systemic changes, reallocating resources, or realigning goals.
3. Reclaim Agency
   Revisit what inspired you to pursue your work in the first place. Identify areas where you can make a difference, even if systemic changes take time.
4. Reframe Success
   Shift the narrative. Move away from “all-or-nothing” thinking and celebrate incremental wins that build long-term momentum.
5. Work with Me
   Fixing a systems problem is difficult if you have been inside the bubble. An outsider who respects the institution can find new solutions that solve problems at their source. Here is an example of my most recent work: The Florida Poly Project.

The feelings of burnout and being bummed out aren’t just about personal capacity—they’re also deeply tied to the systemic pressures within higher education’s unique triple-bottom-line business model. Balancing operational, academic, and employment goals can exacerbate these challenges. To explore this further, check out my article on higher education’s triple-bottom-line dilemma.

Burnout and feeling bummed out don’t have to define your experience. We can rediscover the spark that makes this work meaningful by recognizing their differences, addressing systemic causes, and focusing on what truly matters.

Let’s commit to strategies that energize, inspire, and sustain both ourselves and our institutions.

What do you think? Are we dealing with burned out or Bummed out?

Leave a comment to show some love for the content—or else I’ll have to call you out as a cheapskate 😉!

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