Financial aid professionals are no strangers to pressure. Tight deadlines, shifting regulations, backlogged verifications, and an endless stream of student needs can push even the most passionate staff member to the brink. Couple this with the need to commit to working overtime during certain periods of time, and this constant high-stress environment can take a toll—mentally, emotionally, and physically—even on the most hardened practitioners.
At work, burnout isn’t just about being tired. It’s a chronic condition that arises when prolonged stress goes unchecked. According to mental health experts, signs of burnout include persistent fatigue, loss of motivation, irritability, poor sleep, changes in eating habits, and growing detachment or negativity toward work.
In our field, where empathy and precision are essential, ignoring these signs can lead to high turnover, low morale, and reduced effectiveness among staff. But not everything needs to be all doom and gloom: there are concrete steps individuals and offices can take to combat the feeling of burnout and promote the sustainable well-being of the staff members within your organization.
Recognize the Red Flags Early
Before diving into recovery strategies, it’s important to tune into each individual’s sense of well-being. Common warning signs of burnout include:
- Feeling physically drained no matter how much sleep you get
- Dreading the start of the workday
- Becoming unusually short-tempered or disinterested in tasks
- Skipping meals or stress-eating
- Losing the joy or satisfaction you once found in helping students
Acknowledging these feelings is not weakness—it’s wisdom. It opens the door to recovery and allows you to admit an issue might be present that requires attention beyond skin-deep support or connection. Taking that first step, however, naturally opens the door to vulnerability, which might be as uncomfortable to some as it is empowering. For that reason, it is important to join and model the behavior as leaders, whenever conversations like these are prompted. Thus, when we name what we’re experiencing, we give ourselves and others permission to recognize those feelings as valid and shared, which opens up the door to heal and grow in community.
The journey back from burnout isn’t about overhauling your entire life overnight; it starts with small, intentional changes that help restore your energy and sense of purpose. Below are practical, evidence-based strategies that can help you begin that process—starting with the most foundational: reclaiming your boundaries.
7 Evidence-Based Strategies to Recharge and Reengage
- Create Clear Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life
In a profession that never really “closes,” it’s essential to draw certain boundaries. As such, encourage staff members to designate times to unplug from emails, avoid logging into work systems after hours, and ensure your team feels empowered to do the same by modeling the behavior yourself.
Tip: You can do this most easily by posting your working hours in your email signature or by updating a shared calendar with your team. This subtly reinforces boundaries for both students and colleagues as they engage with your desire to maintain balance across your work and personal life.
- Take Intentional Breaks Throughout the Day
Studies are very clear that small pauses throughout the day can be powerfully restorative, especially after experiencing a particularly emotionally-charged conversation. As such, get up, stretch, hydrate or walk outside between tasks. These short resets improve focus, reduce stress hormones and lower the risk of burnout in a sustainable way.
Bonus idea: Try the Pomodoro Technique—25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break—to maintain productivity without mental fatigue throughout the course of the work-day.
- Tap Into Wellness Resources You May Already Have
Find out what mental health services, meditation apps, fitness reimbursements or stress-reduction tools your employer provides as a part of your regular benefits package. If your institution offers Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), encourage team members to use them. Confidential counseling and wellness coaching can be game changers for people experiencing particular stressors within their personal life that might then impact how they are able to show up for work on a day-to-day basis.
- Incorporate Movement into Your Routine
On the whole, the financial aid profession can become a mainly sedentary form of work. As such, exercise can become a powerful stress reliever; even gentle movements throughout the day help. Whether it’s walking around campus, joining a fitness class, or stretching at your desk, consistent physical activity has been shown to substantially improve mood and mental clarity.
New idea: Consider organizing a weekly walking meeting or movement break with your team to build community while getting active. You can also invite and collaborate with members of the wellness center at your college or university to potentially lead a workshop on helpful stretches or available ways to stay active in your college environment.
- Pursue Creative or Joyful Outlets Outside of Work
Having a personal hobby—like journaling, gardening, painting, crafting or reading—can offer a healthy escape and restore emotional balance. Not everything has to be productive; sometimes, just enjoying something for its own sake is enough. Even listening to music or allowing folks to have flexible working arrangements such as working outside with a laptop when the weather is nice, might serve as a valuable way to reset and include an aesthetic connection within the day-to-day grind of work.
- Rebuild Connection and Support
On the whole, one of the most problematic symptoms of burnout is that it isolates people. As such, researchers suggest counteracting it by finding ways to reconnect with your team. You can do this sustainably by making sure there is always time during team meetings for staff members to share both their wins and struggles for the week. Start meetings with a short check-in or gratitude round. If that is too much trouble, consider sending an encouraging note to a colleague to make these connection points more personal and individualized. These small acts foster belonging and morale while ensuring that people feel seen and heard, especially during difficult cycles at work.
Pro tip: Consider implementing a “Wellness Wednesday” email with a short message, self-care reminder or tip for your office, and rotate the responsibility for this task across staff members within the office or members of your leadership team.
- Redesign Your Workload with Realistic Expectations
When possible, reassess priorities. What truly needs your attention? Are there tasks that can be delegated, postponed or simplified? Managers can play a key role in adjusting goals and setting manageable expectations during busy seasons.
Additional Ideas to Strengthen Well-being Across the Office
- Flexibility: Allow remote work or staggered hours during high-stress periods whenever possible.
- Training on Time Management or Stress Resilience: Professional development doesn’t have to be technical all the time—soft skill growth can help develop your staff’s social and emotional learning while providing tools to empower and center their mental health.
- Quiet Spaces: Designate a relaxation or decompression room where staff can take a moment to breathe.
- Celebrate Milestones: Remember to recognize big wins like successful audits, completed and processed aid files or even personal goals outside of work.
Final Thoughts: Recovery Is a Team Effort
Burnout thrives in silence. But resilience is built in community. By acknowledging the demands of financial aid work and actively supporting ourselves and each other, we can build healthier, more sustainable offices.
If you’re feeling stretched too thin, know that you’re not alone—and that change, even small change, is possible. Let’s normalize the conversation around stress, take proactive steps toward renewal, and remember that our mission to serve students begins with taking care of ourselves.
At HEAG, we believe healthy professionals lead to healthy institutions. We’re here to support you through compliance, training and strategic consulting—but we’re also here to advocate for your well-being. To learn more about our services, or ways our resources can lift some of the burdens experienced in your office, do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@heag.us