Oct 28

Oct 28 Episode 85: Burnout

Welcome back! Grace and Alvina are talking about burnout on this week’s podcast episode. Merriam-Webster defines burnout as this: “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” The book friends discuss when they've experienced it, ways to prevent it, and how to recharge. But first as always, they catch up on each other’s lives.

“How have you been?”

Alvina is thrilled because her company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, has three books on the #1 Bestsellers list right now! The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary, by Robb Pearlman/Illustrated by Melanie Demmer, A Tale of Witchcraft by Chris Colfer and Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

Grace is happy because she has recently started horseback riding lessons for her daughter Hazel who really loves it. She was a little nervous about it at first because she didn’t want to to be too expensive or exclusive. As it turns out, Hazel can try out western style of riding and they aren’t pretentious at all. They’re figuring out a way to do Halloween appropriately in these Covid times! They’re going to have some pod friends over for a candy hiding in the tree game.

Burnout

Alvina has some stress at work that inspired this topic of burnout. They talk about when they’ve experienced it and what really defines it. They both say they’ve felt very close to becoming burned out but never quite get there. Grace explains that she sometimes feels an overwhelming amount of stress and anxiety but that burnout is more about feeling of total despair and lost of interest in moving forward. The only time she’s felt that way was when Robert was sick. Alvina felt the same about the time when her late husband Greg was also sick and dying. She describes her closest to burnout feeling as “when I feel like I’m just treading water.”

The book friends say that there were times during the Pandemic that have certainly lead to almost becoming burnout as well.

What prevents them both from burnout seems to be exercising or moving in some way. For Alvina it’s running and for Grace it was taking long solo walks in the morning. Alvina also realized that she could schedule her days off accordingly so they happen to fall at a time when she most needed them. When they hit that almost-burnout phase, Alvina likes to recharge by getting out in nature and recognize how big the world is and how small her own world is in the grand scheme of things. She likes to relax by watching shows and listening to audio books. She also makes sure to schedule in some fun social events or things to look forward to that aren’t work or exercise.

Grace recharges by reading old books from when she was younger and eating food that is relevant to that book! She'd love to read Charlie & The Chocolate Factory while eating chocolate!

Grace also does things that make her feel better like helping a great cause such as creating the *Kidlitwomen podcast and reaching out to influence voters this year for the election by sending postcards from postcardstovoters.org. On another note but also helpful for recharging: Grace recently bought a dress she was dreaming about wearing to an event someday so she’s calling it an “optimistic purchase.”

“What are you grateful for?”

Grace is grateful for her math board books that came out and were well-received so far. She’s very proud of them and thankful for the opportunity to do the 5 Questions from the Horn Book!

She’s also grateful that the kids in her Kids Ask Authors Kid Reviewer Club are still wanting to read paper books instead of anything online.

Alvina is grateful for her colleagues this week. They’ve all really felt like “we’re all in this together” feeling with the week of long and intense meetings.

2-Minute Book Review with Alison Morris:

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.