Dealing with burnout?

Dphoenix

Dphoenix

Love lasagna, hate mondays
I've been instructing for about 9 months now, have given about 600 hours of dual.. and finding myself pretty burnt out. I know this is not uncommon, just curious what people did to overcome burnout. I love flying, but instructing is not quite the same.
For those who stuck with instructing for quite some time, how did you keep it fresh and overcome the repetitiveness of it all?
 
If you have different types of students (ppl,inst,com) I always placed my most favorite ones at the end of the day so I had something to look forward to. Also try taking a long weekend and not doing anything work related, Or maybe even just go fly on your own with no student and no agenda.
Best of luck, though I can say it prob wont be your last burnt out feeling.

You teach at TP?
 
Start a drinking habit? Lol

Srsly tho, i was an instructor, then flew jumpers for a summer, then instructed in the off season, then flew jumpers again. I looked forward to the change each time.
 
How long are you planning to be instructor? Is it something you want to do for awhile, or is it just a time building measure until you can move on to other things? If it's the latter, stick it out until you have enough experience to move on.

Although I'm not a CFI, I can understand your burnout predicament; my current job involves constant travel, and due to the type of flying I do, we can fly from anywhere between 6-12 hours in one sitting. In fact, the longest flying day I've ever had was 12.8 hours without leaving the pilot seat.
 
I experience burnout every so often, typically a long weekend gets me over the hump. I had it so bad over the summer I almost took a bad job, however the days I took for the interview cleaned my head. Lately I've been working 6 day weeks, and I think I'm due for a 2-3 day weekend
 
Der_Meister said:
If you have different types of students (ppl,inst,com) I always placed my most favorite ones at the end of the day so I had something to look forward to. Also try taking a long weekend and not doing anything work related, Or maybe even just go fly on your own with no student and no agenda.
Best of luck, though I can say it prob wont be your last burnt out feeling.

You teach at TP?
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No comment... you can probably figure out where I work, heh. Unfortunately, I work at a large 141 school and I don't have control over my schedule - all my students are typically in the same 'phase' anyway. Instructing is primarily a time builder for me, although I think it could be fun in the right school with the right students. Language barriers are not fun. To those teaching at Mom n Pop FBO's, do you still get burnt out? Has anybody gone from 141 to part 61 and if so, were you glad you did or did you end up regretting it?
 
hate to say it, but only thing that fixed my burn outs was vacation. Tough to do on that pay, but time off is key to any job.
 
Dphoenix said:
No comment... you can probably figure out where I work, heh. Unfortunately, I work at a large 141 school and I don't have control over my schedule - all my students are typically in the same 'phase' anyway. Instructing is primarily a time builder for me, although I think it could be fun in the right school with the right students. Language barriers are not fun. To those teaching at Mom n Pop FBO's, do you still get burnt out? Has anybody gone from 141 to part 61 and if so, were you glad you did or did you end up regretting it?
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Ah I know a few people you prob with then, one was my student. I work at a school that does both 141 and 61. I am normally more 61, but I do, do quite a bit of 141 stuff. Yep burn out is burn out. It just happens
 
Don't take it personally. Find a fellow instructor to talk to. Take some time off. Get plenty of sleep. Don't skip meals. Put your best kid last. Hit the gym. Figure out how you can be better. The last thing is what really keeps me going. The right seat is my "stage" and I'm constantly trying to improve my act. There are a million different ways to teach the same thing. Also, most of the jokes are for my student... but some are just for me. Everybody goes through ups and downs. Sounds like you need at least one domestic student.

Oh, don't forget.... Turn the heat OFF!
 
Dphoenix said:
No comment... you can probably figure out where I work, heh. Unfortunately, I work at a large 141 school and I don't have control over my schedule - all my students are typically in the same 'phase' anyway. Instructing is primarily a time builder for me, although I think it could be fun in the right school with the right students. Language barriers are not fun. To those teaching at Mom n Pop FBO's, do you still get burnt out? Has anybody gone from 141 to part 61 and if so, were you glad you did or did you end up regretting it?
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I work at a small flight school. I have been burned out for a while and it has only been a little over a year. I have some school students that like to just fly for fun some days, and then I have other students that make me want to jump out on crosswind.

The one thing that makes it not so bad is working with other instructors that are cool. You can complain about students all day long with them haha. The only other cool instructor at my school is probably gonna leave soon... so I need to hurry up and get the minimums for whatever I plan on doing.
 
Dphoenix said:
I don't have control over my schedule - all my students are typically in the same 'phase' anyway.
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That's not all of it, but a big part IMO. The longest days were when I taught the same thing over and over. Try and mix it up a bit. Swap with another instructor. The monotony isn't great. If you can hit a private, instrument and multi/commercial student in one day, that keeps you on your toes.
 
Yeah, what Chief Captain said. I've been instructing for the last year and a half, and the closest I ever came to burnout was when I had nothing but private student, who were all in the same phase (most even the same lessons). As soon as I got some instrument students, things got a lot better, and it wasn't long after that before I got multi students. Just mixing it up really helps. Other things that I like to do is challenge my students to landing competitions, cross country flights where we grab a $100 hamburger (never from a fast food place, ask the FBO folks for the best diner/dive in town), and my personal favorite, messing with the students working on their initial CFI, as well as the new hire CFIs. One of my favorites is to take my broken piece of tie down chain, and place it on a new-hires tail right after they've shut down, then hide. Worth it every time!

Also the CFIs in my office tend to do things for ourselves since we know our school really doesn't "care" about us. We throw birthday, new job, and holiday parties all the time. We have one CFI that loves decorating our office for every holiday, and she really gets into it. You just have to take advantage of the little things, and make it fun. One thing I started doing, is keeping tabs with the new-hire CFIs, and right after they've cut the shirt on their very first student solo sign-off, we grab them and cut off their right sock (for all the pacing they were doing while their student was soloing, and for all the right rudder that was hopefully added without them saying it). By the way, we have an awesome collection of nasty sock pieces!

Some of the things we are trying to plan for the summer when the weather is better, is organizing a flight of multiple aircraft for fly-in breakfasts, as well as trying to organize a trip to OKC to go to the pressure chamber with a bunch of students. You just have to get creative with things, and have a fun loving mind with it. Also having some time spent away from the airport really helps. Being down there 12-15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, for months on end does wear you down. Take some time to enjoy life. Unfortunately right now, we are having way too much time off because of weather, so we are excited about any chance we get to actually fly. Remember, just bring the fun back into the airport and the job, and burnout becomes a thing of the past!
 
After two solid years of instructing (1200 dual) I worked my way up into the check department at a large part 141 academy in Florida. At first it was a bit strange going from an instructor role to examiner but it sure did help to change things up and I still get to log the flight time.
 
at1024 said:
After two solid years of instructing (1200 dual) I worked my way up into the check department at a large part 141 academy in Florida. At first it was a bit strange going from an instructor role to examiner but it sure did help to change things up and I still get to log the flight time.
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"But sir!"
 
I know what you mean... When you have 8 private students all in Stage 1 of training its hard not to feel like everyday of your life is groundhog day. "More right rudder", "Flare", "Stop choking the yoke", "Don't hold the yoke back and apply full rudder deflection please"... I recommend what others have said: Take a long weekend off. When I started teaching, my Chief told me that anytime I felt that I needed a few days off, no problem. You aren't a useful CFI when you are burned out. Your students will notice and you will become complacent and not even realize it. That is when this job can become dangerous. Its hard to pay attention to everything that needs it when your more worried about getting out of the aircraft and going home. 600 hours in a 9 month period is no small amount, especially these days. I would suggest planning to take a week off about a month in advance. Go somewhere with a friend or your significant other for a few days and just rest the remaining time. By the end of that you will be ready to get back to work!
 
I think it has to do with age and how to handle the feelings of boredom. When I was younger, I'd switch jobs once every couple of years because I'd get bored. Even my "dream" flying career got so boring I quit to go back to what I was doing previously. Now that I am older with a family, I hardly ever even think about things like that - I don't have the time! Once in a while I do get close to that burnout edge, but now I am able to just keep plugging away until the feeling subsides. The best advice I can give is to learn how to handle your feelings - being tired and bored are normal, but temporary feelings. Just keep plugging away and find something completely removed from aviation to engage your mind on your days off. I think it's why I have so many friends who fly, but do things like mountain biking, rock climbing, sports, etc on their days off.
 
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