People love to talk about self-care for teachers. However, most of the recommended self-care practices are shallow without any real lasting benefit.
Self-care is vital for teachers. However, the needed practices must be practical and impactful. Fluff simply will not cut it.
Here are eight realistic and effective action items teachers can put into place to start taking better care of ourselves today.
Start Speaking Up
The system takes advantage of teachers every day. People who’ve never worked in education don’t believe the horror stories. This mistreatment becomes so normalized it can be hard even to recognize it anymore. It’s even harder to take a stand.
A few weeks ago, I was bristling inside because of my job requirements. My therapist suggested I speak to my administration about some of my concerns, but I was certain it would be a waste of my time. Then in a meeting one day, the assistant principal straight up us asked us what we needed. I took the opportunity to let her know we didn’t need more trainings during our planning times, but we needed more time to work independently. I was shocked to hear her say that the administration was totally on our side and had been advocating for this at the district level. That in itself made me feel supported and less resentful. And sure enough, changes have already started coming down the pipes.
Now that’s not to say all of our problems will be solved by speaking up, but it can build solidarity and you may find support in unexpected places. At the very least, you’ll be speaking your truth and living in your integrity.
Set and Keep Boundaries
Caregiving professions are draining.
Leigh, a teacher from Texas says,
There is always more that can be done for a student. I struggle to turn off the part of my brain running in the background considering how to improve what I’m doing for them.
But we’ve all heard the old adage about not being to give from an empty vessel. As cheesy as it may sound, it is beyond true. If you can’t yet muster up the self-love to set boundaries for your benefit, at least do it for your students and loved ones. I know when I fail to set boundaries, that is when I am the crankiest and most impatient. It stinks for everyone.
The boundaries that are crucial will look different for each teacher, but here are a few of mine that make a world of difference.
- Turning off my Classdojo notifications outside of school hours
- Only enabling and accessing work email from a computer (never on my phone)
- Checking my work emails only twice a workday and almost never on weekends- first thing in the morning and at the end of the day
What boundaries could you put into place that might help you start thriving beyond teaching?
Drop the Balls
A few months ago I listened to a life-changing podcast episode: Unlearning Self-Sacrifice for Women. It was a Financial Feminist episode with Tiffany Dufu, author of Drop the Ball. The host and guest spoke about how we’re programmed to believe that dropping the ball is a bad thing.
But says who?
The episode really lead me to parse out which actions I wanted to keep doing because they fit my definition of being a good teacher and which measures I was taking because of external pressure to look like a good teacher. More importantly, this perspective freed me to start dropping all those balls I was trying to keep up because of other people’s expectations.
What does being a good teacher look like to you?
Do those things. Then phase out rest as much as possible.
Stick to Your Schedule
A friend of mine once described our job perfectly.
Imagine if you had meetings all day long, but you were still expected to do all your other job requirements within that timeframe. That’s teaching.
We are in “meetings” with our students all day. Yet, we’re expected to fit in planning, grading, parent conferences, sending and replying to emails, etc. The list is neverending. It’s common knowledge that a teacher’s work day is not actually over at the end of the school day.
But that needs to change.
When this school year started, I would work until 4:30-5, drive home, make and eat dinner, work some more, and then go to bed. All work and no play made me extremely miserable. Then it made me sick.
I am still not able to say I only stick to my contract hours, but I aspire to as much as possible, and I am getting closer and closer. Here’s how I’ve been creeping up to this lofty goal bit by bit.
First, I gave myself a work schedule. I told myself I could work no later than 4:30 on weekdays. On weekends, I work no more than 2-4 hours on a Sunday. (It’s been glorious!) After that, I started sleeping in a bit and getting to work closer to the time I was actually required to be there. Recently, I’ve cut out working on most weekends at all.
Did these changes give me major anxiety at first? Absolutely! Did my classroom or the world fall apart? Not at all. In fact, I’ve been able to enjoy my life more, and that’s been good for everyone around me.
Prioritize Fun
Taking back my time left me with a lot of, well, … time. I started walking more, relaxing more, cooking more. I also started going to one or two events, even on school nights sometimes! Time to live outside of work left me feeling like a completely new person. Now when I make my schedule for the week, I pencil in any fun events I’d like to attend. If there’s nothing specific in mind, I still pencil in fun time, usually on Saturdays. Then I try to make it a point to do something I enjoy solely for the sake of doing it- like going to a coffee shop or taking a walk. (Yes, I like walking a lot. It will be a recurring theme here.)
Fun still doesn’t always happen, but adding it to my schedule along with all the the things I feel like I have to do helps keep it front of mind, and reminds me of its importance.
Foster Collaboration
Teaching can be lonely and isolating. Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to have the educators around me swoop me up in their wings at every school I’ve worked at. They pop in to say good morning and goodbye, they check in on me, and they make conversation in the hallways. These might seem like small gestures, but the little things are often the big things, am I right?
These tiny moments are especially important if you’re anything like me. If it weren’t for these other lovely people, I would spend my days locked in my classroom cave frantically trying to finish work that will never actually be complete.
These work angels have helped me to remember that people come first. They are what matter in my work. They are my fellow foot soldiers and we’re on the ground together day after day.
Remember to take a moment to check in on someone today. Stop and say good morning, share a laugh, see if you can help them out in some way. It might mean more to them than you know. I know it has to me.
Build Multiple Streams of Income
This might be the most practical tip of them all. We all know teachers are criminally undervalued. Nowhere is this more evident than in our abysmal compensation. Whether you plan on teaching forever or have one foot out the door, it can only benefit you to have multiple streams of income, especially flexible and increasingly passive ones.
This can seem daunting, but there are an infinite number of possibilities. You get to determine your path, and you get to change course any time.
Some mix and match options are:
- Maxing out your retirement accounts as much as possible
- Starting a Roth IRA and contributing the maximum (that you can) each year
- Getting a second job
- Starting your own business
- Investing in real estate, the stock market, or anything really
Choose a second income stream that feels the least daunting for you. Then keep experimenting and going from there. Most importantly, spend even a few minutes a week learning about finances. I wish that I had prioritized my financial literacy a long time ago, but it’s never too late to get started!
See What’s Out There
There have been times when I’ve thought of leaving the classroom. One of the main things that stopped me was the thought that I couldn’t.
What could I do?
Who would hire me?
My whole career has been in the education field. It was hard for me to believe that I could transition to another career without spending a ton of time and money going back to school or training in a new field. Now I am well aware there are many companies that love hiring teachers and are happy to provide on-the-job training.
Even though my current plan is to stay in education for the next year or so and build up my online income streams, I still like to see what’s out there and hear success stories of teachers who transitioned to completely different roles. Teacher Career Coach is a great account to follow for this purpose! (I am not affiliated and do not get paid for this recommendation.)
No matter what your long term plans are, I highly recommend finding some way to remind yourself that you do have options. You are a highly skilled professional with many transferable abilities. You are NOT stuck.
Self-care is essential for teachers. But not only because it’s what’s best for your students, or society, or even your family. It’s a must because we are just as important as all these loved ones in our lives. And if we don’t start treating ourselves that way, how can we expect others to?
Did you enjoy this post? Stay tuned for deep dives in each of these areas and so much more. You deserve to thrive beyond teaching. I’ve got you!