March 11, 2025
2
Min Read Time
10 ways to relieve adviser burnout
It’s second semester, and we’re exhausted. Book fairs, grading, packing lunches, classroom celebrations, and family obligations are fantastic. We love them. They also wear us out. Layer the laudable task of gathering storytelling photos and husting the greatest yearbook your campus has yet to see, and it could be too much. If you're a team of one or two (or forty-two), yearbook adviser burnout is an especially strong possibility.
Treering staff member and yearbook mom Tevis D. said, “It’s okay to be not okay.” We just hope you don’t remain that way.
Remember your why
It’s a privilege to be entrusted with this task! It’s the opportunity to capture meaningful moments. The impact this year’s book will have cannot be measured now. It's not just about the visual elements, but also about the sounds of laughter captured in photos, the feel of the pages as you flip through them, the scent of freshly printed paper, and the breath of satisfaction as you see the finished product.
1. Express appreciation
Recognize and appreciate the efforts of your volunteers and the people on campus who champion your yearbook program. We know gratitude changes attitudes. It’s a great way to rejuvenate.
2. Recognize yearbook milestones
Celebrate throughout the yearbook production process to boost morale and maintain momentum. Upload your roster and toast yourself with a latte. Create a ladder with the team, then go out for pizza. Other steps to consider:
- Every x spreads marked complete
- Selling 25-50-100 yearbooks
- Having all the sports team photos complete by a certain date
Sometimes, a celebration can be as simple as a hat day or a classroom dance party. (Even high schoolers like a throwback GoNoodle video.)
3. Practice mindfulness
Incorporate mindfulness exercises into your routine to reduce stress, increase focus, and maintain a sense of perspective and balance. Schedule regular breaks during yearbook production to rest, recharge, and prevent burnout.
Ask for help… and get It!
If you’re creating the yearbook solo (or just feel like it), help is available.
4. Use your publisher
Treering Customer Success Manager Liz T. tells advisers, “If it is stressing you out—and yearbook related—contact me.”
If you’re not a Treering editor, what are you waiting for? call your publisher and tell them you are at a standstill. They should have resources and training to help you move forward and create a workflow to simplify your process.
Newer to the yearbook game, you may not yet know what you don’t know, so it helps to follow a plan. Here are two popular ways to tackle a yearbook project:
5. Create a support network
Reach out to fellow advisers in your district, journalism mentors, or your publisher for guidance, advice, and support. Bring in experts as guest speakers to do some teaching for you: utilize your area journalists, alumni yearbook students, or even the Team Treering.
Strengthen your workflow
You can release stress from your mind by systematically addressing and resolving challenges in your yearbook project. It's about taking a methodical approach to problem-solving, allowing yourself to let go of stress, and approaching each task with renewed focus and energy. Remember: you don’t have to do it all at once!
6. Chunk your work
Breaking it down is more than a call to action on the dance floor: it’s a project management technique.
Here are some tips from the Treering staff:
Yearbook Specialist Karen B. said, “I like to stay on top of my pics and layouts: right after the event, I create the spread. This way, I'm never buried in spreads from October when it's January. And on slow event months, I catch up on other spreads.”
Yearbook Specialist Ali J. gives herself a cushion with her public deadline (yearbook purchases and custom pages). “As an elementary school advisor, I always set the deadline earlier than needed for parents to submit, then added a few days for the procrastinators (mostly for me),” she said.
The lone yearbooker
Identify and prioritize the most important tasks, focusing on those that contribute most significantly to the yearbook's quality. Typically, this encompasses your ladder, school portraits, and candid photos.
Some easy ways to simplify your workflow from Yearbook Specialist Kate H. include:
- Re-using layouts from previous years and changing out the headlines and captions
- Copy portrait settings from one class to the next
- Create photo and text styles
- Use pre-made page designs or templates
“One of the hardest things for editors to do is get content. Without it, you don’t have a book,” said Customer Success Manager Jason S. He helps advisers set up a system to collect photos from homeroom teachers.
Remember, saying no to additional responsibilities or requests that may overwhelm you is OK.
Managing a class or club
After you break down the yearbook project into smaller tasks, distribute them to your team. This way, there are no surprises on who is expected to cover what.
General tasks to delegate include:
- Photo management: uploading, crowdsourcing, tagging, selection
- Layout selection: templates, style guide
- Interviews: questions, scheduling
- Sections: people, athletics, student life, reference
- Copy editing and proofreading
7. Set clear expectations
We all need to clearly communicate roles, responsibilities, and expectations to volunteers, staff, and students from the beginning. The same goes for ourselves.
Think about the tasks you'll need to oversee, such as organizing photo assignments, designing layouts, and marketing the yearbook. (And remember, using Treering means we handle payment processing, yearbook sorting, and order tracking. Phew!)
8. Receive (and share) ongoing training
Find training sessions and shareable resources for inspiration or to fill in knowledge gaps. It may seem counterintuitive to add something when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes, an outside force (hello, inertia) is the change we need to pivot in a more positive direction. Our go-tos include:
If you are part of a class, club, or committee, use these opportunities to up your skillset as team building. Oreos also help.
9. Use automations
Embrace the ways tech can help increase efficiency. Treering’s software helps you create polished layout effortlessly by
- Auto-flowing portraits from any photographer
- Laying out your photos in a professionally design yearbook spread
We tossed the orange wax pencils and scaleograph for a reason!
10. Addition by subtraction
Sometimes, to move forward, we have to take a page from the Oregon Trail playbook: jettison what’s holding you back and keep moving forward.
These strategies can help you navigate the challenges of yearbook advising while staying motivated, resilient, and passionate about your role as a memory-maker and historical record preserver. Say no to adviser burnout and yes to another great year(book)!
