Teacher Burnout, Real Self-Care, and running 3,000 days in a row with Sarah Fillion
In this episode of The Underlayer, David Young sits down with Sarah Fillion, an educational consultant, coach, and keynote speaker with 20+ years in public education, to go beneath the surface of two crises hiding in plain sight:
What phones are actually doing to students, and what the system is doing to the people teaching them.
We explore a question worth sitting with:
What happens to a generation that never learned to be bored?
Sarah shares what she's seeing in schools right now as device bans spread across districts: fewer behavior issues, higher engagement, and lunch periods where students suddenly have to figure out how to talk to each other again. That discomfort, she argues, isn't a problem. It's the point.
Together, we talk about the life skills missing from most curriculums: writing a clear email, questioning information in an AI-driven world, understanding personal finance, and why schools that get culture right don't just retain students. They retain teachers.
Then we go straight at the burnout crisis. Sarah is direct about what educators are actually dealing with: rising demands, staffing shortages, and a job that never truly turns off. Real well-being isn't a pizza party. It's boundaries, recovery, and small non-negotiables that protect energy and purpose.
This episode closes with one of the most memorable resilience stories I've heard: Sarah's nearly decade-long streak of running every single day.
This episode is a reminder that sustainable performance doesn't come from pushing harder.
It comes from protecting what matters most.
Topics We Cover
- Why phone bans are spreading — and what makes them actually work
- The social skills students lose when screens fill every quiet moment
- Life skills that belong in every curriculum but aren't there yet
- What educator burnout really looks like beneath the surface
- Why real self-care is about boundaries, not perks
- Building resilience through small, repeated non-negotiables
Sarah's website: https://positiveschoolsolutions.com/
Sarah's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-fillion/
The Underlayer YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer
The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/
David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/
