How to use this guide
This is a working plan for a Burlington-area leader who suspects the job is taking more than it gives back. It moves from taking stock, through picking a coach, to building rest into your calendar. It is non-clinical. If you have health concerns, start with your own doctor.
Step 1: Map a normal week
For one week, jot down how your time goes. Note meetings, deep work, email, travel, and the hours you spend working after dinner. Mark the tasks only you can do and the ones someone else could take.
If you work at the University of Vermont or one of the many organizations tied to it, note where the academic calendar presses on your week. The university, chartered in 1791 and enrolling approximately 11,600 undergraduates in fall 2025 by its own count, sets a rhythm much of the city follows.
Step 2: Name what you want to change
Pick two or three goals. Examples: leave by six on three nights a week, stop checking email on Saturdays, delegate one recurring report. Keep them concrete enough that you'd know whether they happened.
Step 3: Decide what kind of coaching fits
Some coaches focus on leaders in larger institutions; others work mostly with founders or nonprofit directors. Some meet only by video; others are glad to walk and talk outdoors. Think about what format you would actually show up for in a Burlington February.
Step 4: Shortlist and call
Choose three coaches from this directory. On each call, ask:
1. Who do you mostly work with? 2. How often do we meet, and for how many months? 3. In person, video, or both? Where in the Burlington area do you meet? 4. How do you help clients turn plans into habits? 5. What is the fee, and is there an employer-paid option?
Take notes and compare them the same day while the calls are fresh.
Step 5: Set up the first month
Once you choose, put the sessions on your calendar for the whole first month. Block thirty minutes after each session to act on what you discussed. Tell one colleague you trust what you are working on, so someone notices if you slide back.
Step 6: Schedule a rest day you won't cancel
Rest needs a destination. Two state parks make good choices.
Mt. Philo State Park in Charlotte is about a half hour south of Burlington by car. Vermont State Parks says the park sits atop 968-foot Mt. Philo, covers 237 acres, and became Vermont's first state park in 1924. You can park at the bottom and climb, or drive up. Its season runs from the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend through the second Monday in October.
Sand Bar State Park in Milton, roughly a half hour north, is a day-use park on Lake Champlain known for its beach. The park lists swimming, a car-top boat launch and kayak and canoe rentals, with a season running through Labor Day Weekend.
Choose one, put it on the calendar as you would a board meeting, and leave your laptop at home. If you like, ask your coach to plan a session around the visit.
Drive times here are approximate and can run longer in traffic or bad weather.
Step 7: Review at the six-week mark
Go back to your goals from Step 2. Which ones happened? Which didn't, and why? Bring this review to your coach. Adjust the plan rather than abandoning it. If a goal turned out to be unrealistic, shrink it. If one worked easily, add a slightly harder version. Keep the weekly map from Step 1 handy so you can compare a current week with the week you started from.
Step 8: Plan for the busy season
Look ahead at your year. Mark the weeks you know will be heavy, such as fiscal year-end, semester start or a major launch. With your coach, decide in advance what you will drop or delegate during those weeks, and book a recovery day right after each one.
Step 9: Decide what comes next
After three months, decide whether to continue, taper to monthly sessions, or stop. Any of these is fine. The point is that you now have a way of working you chose on purpose, and a few places close to Burlington where you can go to rest.