[Massplanners] Planner Burnout

Fri Mar 4 12:15:31 EST 2022

Hi Mariah!

I'm sorry that the misinformation and personal attacks are happening to you/your team/your community.  That's both disconcerting and frustrating at the same time (not to mention contributing to burnout, as you described).  I'm happy to read, though, that you have found some places of support within the community and the Town's officials.

I'm a planner by training but I'm currently the Community Engagement Manager at MAPC (so, not working at a municipality or really as a planner per se).  Erving isn't technically in our region but I would be more than happy to chat with you about community engagement techniques/tools to deal with what you're experiencing.

With regard to burnout, I have personally found, like what Elijah and CJ said, that I need engage in something not-at-all work related to turn off my work brain.  Sometimes I have to do this in the middle of the day to help recenter myself (but I also do this after work too).  For me this involves cooking, going to the gym, watching tiktok (lol! Great for turning your brain off tbh), watching my fav tv shows.

I also love Tim's suggestion about finding things you can accomplish without PB or TM approval and Andrea's note about public servant vs. public professional.

Good luck!

[cid:image001.png at 01D82FBF.DA75C580]
Check out our Community Engagement Department<https://www.mapc.org/our-work/services-for-cities-towns/community-engagement/> Website!
Join the team! We're hiring Community Engagement Specialists!<https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mapc/jobs/3376263/community-engagement-specialist?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs>

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Tim Czerwienski via MassPlanners
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2022 11:35 AM
To: Mariah Kurtz <mariah.kurtz at erving-ma.gov>; Massachusetts Planners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Planner Burnout

The both good and bad news, Mariah, is that I don't think you're alone. I saw a lot of my own experience in your message. Everyone all over has been having a tough time during the pandemic. It's hard, but it's important to extend to yourself some grace and patience.

Two bits of advice I would give are to try to fit into your workflow some projects or initiatives that you and your department can accomplish independently of a Planning Board or a Town Meeting vote. It sounds like you've got a good plan to chase after some grant funding. Winning some of those will help you make tangible progress toward your planning goals, and will serve as small wins that you can be proud of.

Finally, you need to be an advocate for yourself and your time. It sounds like you're serious about doing a good job, and that's great, but you need to look out for yourself and make sure you've got time away from the job to live your life. This is where it's good to lean on your supporters on the Select and Planning Boards.

Good luck out there!

Tim Czerwienski, AICP
Director of Planning & Community Development
Town of Milton | 525 Canton Avenue | Milton, Mass. 02186 | 617-898-4847

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org>> On Behalf Of Mariah Kurtz via MassPlanners
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2022 10:17 AM
To: Massachusetts Planners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>>
Subject: [Massplanners] Planner Burnout

[External Email- Use Caution]
Happy Friday y'all.

This is a much less technical question than most here, but it's what our little Town is struggling with at this moment.

I write this 24 hours away from a Special Town Meeting where two zoning articles will be voted on. The situation has devolved into widespread misinformation and personal attacks on public officials over this. I have my slideshow, jumbo foam-core map, and beloved anxiety meds prepared, but more conceptually, how do you stay motivated when things like this happen and keep yourself from totally burning out?

I'm a relatively young planner and I understand that the nature of public work means not everything I work on will move forward, but our team here is exhausted. Several of us have been teetering on the edge of burn out for months. Luckily our Select Board (and some kind-hearted, informed residents) have been supportive of us taking a step back to evaluate our capacity for new projects. I've created a master project list which plans out 3-5 years. We're deciding which grants to apply for a year ahead to prepare ourselves. But it seems like every time we plan to take a breather something new happens: a flood washes out a bridge and three roads, construction can't be finished due to supply chain issues, a new wave of COVID hits, or we only have one plow driver available during a snow storm. I was only a Planner for 6 months before the pandemic hit so I feel like I've jumped into this career on hard mode. My light at the end of the tunnel is a public art project set to be installed in July and I'm hesitant to even look forward to that because I feel like something will go wrong.

I imagine that all of us are dealing with these struggles in some fashion, so what tools do you and your team use to cope with these hurdles short term and prevent burn out long term?

Mariah Kurtz (she/her)

Assistant Town Planner

Town of Erving

12 East Main Street

Erving, Massachusetts 01344

Phone: (413) 422-2800 ext. 1108 |  Online: www.Erving-Ma.gov<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.erving-2Dma.gov_&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=EaWBFhlgouCM-eqEWgXO8um7Dw-706JXLWQdmGem7AY&m=4xvitp3_Hc0AA5PZ4lOsVzRj78IvrTOhPJKvKd8IW1g&s=JqPJ_nftl26PDYlp54OuicpOv4PvP7hEBOiHY1h9Le0&e=>  | Facebook: Town of Erving<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_townoferving&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=EaWBFhlgouCM-eqEWgXO8um7Dw-706JXLWQdmGem7AY&m=4xvitp3_Hc0AA5PZ4lOsVzRj78IvrTOhPJKvKd8IW1g&s=0-wsPiq5OTMDlCJIEXSltsnhFmy8ahjibWXWkHxQmmk&e=>

When writing or responding, please remember that the Secretary of State has determined that email is a public record, is subject to the Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, and covered by Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you have received the communication in error, you are strictly prohibited from printing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or otherwise using this communication.
When writing or responding, please remember that the Secretary of State has determined that email is a public record, is subject to the Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, and covered by Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you have received the communication in error, you are strictly prohibited from printing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or otherwise using this communication.
Please be advised that the Massachusetts Secretary of State considers e-mail to be a public record, and therefore subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66 § 10.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://masscptc.org/pipermail/massplanners_masscptc.org/attachments/20220304/d0747ecb/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 35478 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://masscptc.org/pipermail/massplanners_masscptc.org/attachments/20220304/d0747ecb/attachment.png>