How Jeff Bridges, a Hip Hop Lunch Group, and New Science About Burnout are all connected. Bear with me (pun intended). 🐻
Okay. Before we get into all of it, I need to tell you something about one of the hardest times in my professional life.
Just three years into working as a school psychologist, I was burned out. Not “I need a long weekend” burned out. Or “I’m just phoning it in because I don’t care” kind of thing. I mean the kind of burnout where you are running on fumes, waking up in the middle of the night panicked your forgot to do something important, and showing up because the work is so important to you, but not because you feel anything close to joy.
I cried in my car almost every day on the way home. The commute had become the place where I finally let myself feel how impossible the workload actually was, because I was holding it together for everyone else all day. (And it’s a bad look for the school psychologist to be ugly crying in her office alone.)
And yet. Every single day, without fail, I showed up because I loved my students. But I was also secretly googling “What else can I do with a school psych degree?” at night because I was a wreck and the joy was buried under the weight of the job.
Then one day, my principal had asked me to run a hip-hop dance club for middle school girls after school. I was so overwhelmed I almost said no. But I loved hip hop dance (Fun fact: I once danced on MTV with my hip hop dance troupe back in the day. Thankfully, no footage exists!)
So even though I didn’t think I could add one more thing to my overflowing plate, I said yes, and every Wednesday afternoon, I walked into that room with a group of twelve-year-olds who were dying to share a song on the latest CD they got for us to dance to (Dang it, I’ve aged myself…yes, it was way before Spotify and TikTok dance trends)
Found one terrible digital camera pic of my girls group (I think we can all agree that a) I look evil with red eyes b) bangs were a bad choice for me, but c) judging by the smile, deciding to do the group was a good choice 🙂
Y’all. That group was the thing that gave me life force for everything else.
I did not have a name for it at the time. I just knew that this one hour, this ridiculous, joyful, completely non-reimbursable hour of hip hop with middle schoolers, was the thing keeping me going. The thing that made the impossible workload feel survivable.
Now I have a name for it. It is called the Thrive Ratio. And this summer, I want to help you find yours…
🍃 MICROHABIT OF THE MONTH: Find Your Thrive Ratio
Here is a research finding that helps make sense of my early career experience: Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Tait Shanafelt found that when less than 20% of our work consists of activities we find most meaningful, the activities that use our strengths and bring us genuine joy, the risk of burnout significantly increases. And when we protect that 20%? Burnout rates drop by roughly half.
Twenty percent. That is all.
In a typical school day, that is approximately 90 minutes. Just ninety minutes of work that lights you up.
Here is what this means in practice: Many of us in education are spending good chunks of our day on tasks that are draining: paperwork, meetings, administrative tasks, and never-ending inboxes. We can get dragged down emotionally by the “have to do’s” and forget about the “get to do’s.” We are just not spending enough time doing the parts of our jobs that remind us why we chose them.
The microhabit this month is simple but not easy: audit your day.
Reflecting back on your school year, what lit you up and what drained you? Not that you can eliminate all the draining things, because those are part of the work too. But to ask honestly: am I getting my 90 minutes? Is the Thrive Ratio showing up anywhere in my day? And if not, what is one small thing I could protect, add, or reclaim?
For me it was a hip hop lunch group. For you it might be a read-aloud. A particular student you love working with. A creative project. A collaboration with a colleague who makes you laugh. A morning routine that is yours before the day takes over.
It does not have to be big.
Want to go deeper into finding your Thrive Ratio? We have a free quiz, the Thrive-o-gram, that helps you identify your unique Thrive Type and assess your personal Thrive Ratio. It takes about ten minutes and gives you a genuinely useful picture of where you are right now.
Take the Thriveogram here: thrivingstudents.com/thriveogram
And if you want to bring the Thrive Ratio framework to your whole school or district, that is exactly the work we do at Thriving Students Collective. We partner with districts across the country to build burnout prevention into the DNA of school culture, not as a one-time training but as an ongoing, sustainable practice that actually moves the needle for educators and students alike.
If you are a district leader, administrator, or school psych who wants to explore what that looks like for your team, we would love to connect.Learn more at thrivingstudents.com or book a conversation with us here!
BEARY BIG NEWS: Teddy Talks Season 2: Special Time with Jeff and Isabelle Bridges
Speaking of tiny moments that give you life force…
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube –
www.teddytalks.com
This Father’s Day, Teddy Talks® Season 2 launched with the most special premiere episode we could have imagined. Legendary actor Jeff Bridges and his daughter Isabelle Bridges Boesch joined us in the Teddy Talks studio to talk about something close to both of their hearts: making special time.
The episode was inspired by a young Teddy Talks® podcast listener named Kenzie, who is sad that her dad is “too busy to play.” With help from me, the Teddy Twins, and Jeff and Isabelle, Kenzie discovers not now doesn’t mean not loved…and that special time can be created in families in tiny everyday moments.
Listen to the story-telling episode made for kids on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
This episode is best for kids ages 4-104
And in the grown-up companion interview, Teddy Talks After Hours, Jeff shared something that has stayed with me. He wished he had made fewer movies…Not because he doesn’t love his work, but because the tiny moments of connection with his family were the things that mattered most. And you cannot get those back. Watch the heartfelt Teddy Talks® After Hours episode interview on YouTube.
Please note that Grizzle is wearing “The Dude Robe” from Big Lebowski. Who wore it best?
Here how this episode ties into the Thrive Ratio: The tiny moments of connection, special time as Jeff and Isabelle would call it, are not interruptions to the important work. They are the important work.
Follow @teddytalksshow on Instagram or Facebook for updates on our star-studded Season 2!
🐻🎙️Teddy Talks® is a BEARY special collaboration with GoKidGo and Generation Mindful. For more, visit www.teddytalks.com.
You + Me in 3D: The Field Trip
Though my organization Thriving Students Collective I have been providing burnout prevention support online for over a decade and I love every minute of it. This summer, we’re trying something new…our first in-person retreat! Because wouldn’t it be delightful to rest, restore, and figure out your Thrive Ratio for the year ahead in the redwoods (or, in an infinity pool) in community with other helpers and healers?
Work/life alliance workshops, signature wellness courses, and community…YES, PLEASE!
The Field Trip is a restorative retreat for helping professionals, July 31 through August 2 at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley, California. Tucked into the redwoods, with chef-crafted meals and 6 CEUs, this is not just a conference. It is a genuine pause: a place to breathe, reconnect with what you love about your work, and build a Career Satisfaction Plan using neuroscience-backed microhabits and yes, a plan to cultivate the Thrive Ratio.
There are only 24 spots and only a few remain! Learn more and register: thrivingstudents.com/fieldtrip
🎬 Cringe TikTok of the Month
This month’s TikTok is a Lion King-style reveal trailer for Teddy Talks Season 2 and I embarrassed myself in my local park to make it for you. YOU’RE WELCOME.
It is time…watch on TikTok, Insta or FB for full whimsy
Making weird videos brings me genuine joy. It is part of my Thrive Ratio, y’all. Watch it on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, and if it makes you laugh, follow us (and then share it with someone who needs a little joy in their feed today.)
Final Thoughts…
Here is what I want to leave you with this summer:
You did not get into this work because of the paperwork. You got into it because of the hip hop lunch groups. The read-alouds. The moment a student finally got it. The colleague who made you laugh in the hallway when everything felt impossible. The tiny, specific, irreplaceable things that make this work yours.
Summer is a rare gift for those who work in schools. It is one of the few times in the school year calendar where you actually have enough breathing room to reflect honestly on how things are going. Not just whether you survived the year, but whether you thrived. Whether your ratio was anywhere close to 20%. Whether the things that light you up got enough space, or whether they got squeezed out by everything else.
So this summer, before the back-to-school emails start and the August calendar fills up, take 10 minutes and find your Thrive Ratio. Figure out your Thrive-o-gram type and make one small plan for how you will protect your 90 minutes when the school year starts again.
It’s not self-centered to be centered in yourself and what brings you joy! And just it might be the thing that keeps you in this work, really in it, joyfully and sustainably in it, for years to come.
Take the free Thriveogram and find your ratio: thrivingstudents.com/thriveogram
With you in the hip hop and the hard stuff, 🧡
If you’re interested in being a part of the Thriving Students Collective community and would like more information about how to bring the Thriving Students Platform to your school or district, CLICK HERE to connect with us.
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Dr. Rebecca Branstetter is a school psychologist and founder of The Thriving Students Collective, which provides professional development, engaging online courses, and a supportive online communitythat prioritizes whole-school wellness and equips educators and parents with practical tools to empower every learner’s success. She also has a TikTok account all about burnout prevention in K12 that her teen daughter has endorsed as “Cringe, but good dancing.”
