Thriving Teacher Self-Care – Page 2 – Thrive Beyond Teaching

Teacher burnout is no joke. In a recent blog post, We Know Why Teachers Are Quitting. But What Happens Now?, I discussed the systemic reasons that so many good teachers are leaving the classroom (and possible solutions). However, none of these solutions are within our control. Our mental health is to some degree. While we naturally get frustrated with the bureaucracy of the education system sometimes, it's important to put some of that energy into caring for ourselves. Self-care is the greatest weapon teachers have in a system that doesn't always seem to care for us. It can seem impossible to carve out the time and put in the energy, but there are simple habits we can develop to protect our mental and physical health. Here are 5 inspirational self-care quotes that remind you to take a deep breath and remember that the most important thing is your self-care. I've also included some actionable steps you can take. I hope you'll use them to create a personalized self-care action plan. Then I hope you'll put yourself at the top of your to-do list sometimes. 💗 “Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” ~ Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture The best way to be an even better teacher is to stop sacrificing yourself. Teachers give and give and give. Until we have nothing left. Then we wonder why we are grouchy and burnt out. This helps nobody. The best teachers understand that self-care is not a selfish act. (Although nothing is wrong with being selfish sometimes.) True self-care benefits everyone around us. We can't help anyone if we are too busy just surviving. We are in the best position to help others when we ourselves are thriving! If this feels almost impossible to do, see if any of the baby steps below could be a small step in the right direction. Action Steps Set boundaries around work time. When this school year started, I was working nonstop. I was burnt out and miserable. Then I started getting sick. I started setting more and more boundaries around work time vs. personal time and this has changed everything. You'll hear a lot of advice around only working your contract hours. If this seems as impossible to you as it does to me, you don't have to start there. Start with a goal that seems manageable and work backwards from there. I started with leaving work by 4:30 and not working at home except on Sundays. Now I'm at a point where I leave before 4 on most days and rarely work on weekends at all. Baby steps, my fellow teacher friend. You are so worth it! Practice saying "I'll get back to you." Teachers are often yes people. We want to please everyone. If the thought of saying no is hard for you, at least try to reverse the tendency to automatically say yes. Practice asking for more time to make a decision so you can give a thoughtful no. Can I get back to you? I'll think about it and let you know. Let me sleep on it. Saying no to things frees up more time and energy for the things in your life that are a resounding YES! Get used to good enough. Is your perfectionism the best use of time? Tasks will often take as long as we allow them to. If you give yourself half an hour to send out the class newsletter, stick with it. You don't need to add more clipart or one more tidbit. Learn to be satisfied with good enough. The practices above are great ways to get back energy you've been wasting on teacher tasks (or any tasks) that do not serve you. You might be surprised to find that you actually do have enough time to read a good book or cook a healthy meal for yourself! Sometimes it's the simple things that bring us back to life. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to do' list. ~Michelle Obama "Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively." ~ Dalai Lama XIV Segregation was once legal. Let that sink in. If you've been teaching for any time, you've seen mandates come and go. They go in and out of season and come back around again like fashion. What's best for kids does not. Learn to take "rules" as suggestions. The amount of work placed on teachers is unrealistic at best and impossible at worst, even if you worked around the clock. (It's tempting, but please don't.) Worse yet, the hard work being asked of us is often a waste of time. You are the expert of your classroom. You know what's best for your students. You know what's manageable for you and worth the investment of your time. You are the only person who knows how your classroom needs to be run. The only thing that matters is that you can justify what you are doing to yourself. No one else. Everything else is just a suggestion. Action Steps Channel Lucille Ball. She once said, "I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can." We can't do it all. Everyone suffers when we try. Use the 80/20 Rule to your advantage. Loosely stated, the 80/20 Rule asserts that 80% of our results comes from about 20% of our actions. That seems like a huge waste of time and energy to me! Start noticing what is getting the results in your classroom and invest more time and effort into those things. Let everything else fall away as much as possible. Remind yourself of your why. You didn't become a teacher to read off scripted curriculums or test kids non-stop. Start getting okay with letting the balls drop if you know they are serving no one. I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. ~ Dr. Seuss Somehwere along the road to adulthood, most of us stop prioritizing fun. We think of it as an extra, but it's not. It's an act of survival. It's necessary for us to truly thrive. According to HelpGuide, incorporating play into your personal life has tons of benefits! Stress relief Improved brain function Increased energy And so much more! Action Steps Schedule it in. What's scheduled, get's done. Start prioritizing and scheduling fun like you do other tasks and events that are important to you. Keep it simple. You don't have to buy tickets to see a Trevor Noah show dowtown on a school night. (Although that does sound pretty amazing!) Just commit to spending a few minutes most days doing something just because it's pleasurable. Watch a few minutes of your favorite sitcom or take a minute to plant your toes in the grass. Play with your students. Kids are fun! Let your students remind you how to play and have fun sometimes. Having fun as an adult, especially as a tired teacher, will often have to be a deliberate choice. But it will be well worth a little time and effort! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuFYxlWuexQ I found this short video hilarious! “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.” ~ Maya Angelou Why aren't your test scores better? Why isn't this student improving? Why aren't your learning targets posted? As a teacher, you are constantly made to fell like you are not doing enough. Even when you are giving your all. This can lead to anxiety, low-self esteem, and a whole host of other mental health issues. We have to remind ourselves that we are enough and we are doing enough. We can't change other people's opinions or an unrealistic system, but we can work on our own beliefs. Action Steps Decide what your standards are. Then live by those. I don't care about test scores. I don't care if my current learning targets are posted. I care that my students feel happy and safe in my classroom and that they are learning and growing. That is all. Ask forgiveness not permission. The teaching professions can be relentless. Other people are only too willing to add more to the classroom teacher's plate. When possible, take work off your own plate without asking for permission. Don't jump through unnecessary hoops trying to prove yourself to administrators, colleagues, or parents. Practice positive affirmations. It's hard to go through life and almost never hear positive reinforcement. Give it to yourself! This might feel silly at first, but it does plant an important seed. Start by giving yourself a compliment you actually do believe. Every morning before I leave for work, I look in the mirror and tell myself: I love you. I'm proud of you. You look cute! Taking this tiny action every single day reminds my brain and heart that my well-being is important too! Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher. ~Oprah Winfrey We can only control who we're around to some degree. We have no choice but to interact with our coworkers on a daily basis. But we can control our responses. And people often respond to the way we behave consistently. We can set boundaries and limit interactions with those who drain us and make us feel even more hopeless and exhausted. Action Steps Steer clear of gossip. Schools can be rumor mills. The people who are gossiping with you are probably also gossiping about you. This is a negative energy cycle and does nothing positive for you or your teacher stress levels. Practice focusing on wins. Teachers have a lot of valid complaints. Venting can be a necessary act of self-care, but negative thoughts can also overtake us and become counterproductive if we allow them to. Practice consciously noticing the wins in your day too. This will train your brain to look for the positive as well. Be the change. Instead of just looking for positive people to surround ourselves with, we can also be that bit of encouragement for other teachers. Pop into someone's classroom to say good morning before school starts. Give out genuine compliments like candy. Share positives from your day and ask others to share theirs as well. I'm not suggesting we pretend tough times are peachy and bury our heads in the sand. But trying to keep a positive perspective and being around people who are doing the same can make a huge difference in difficult times. Closing Thoughts Teaching can wear you out to your very core. It can make you doubt yourself and wonder if you are the problem. You. Are. Not. I hope these words of comfort have inspired you and reminded you that you are a great teacher and you are doing a better job than you know. Self-care means something different to everyone. I hope you will use the action steps to create and follow your very own personalized self-care plan. Doing so will be best for your students and everyone around you. But just as importantly, it will be good for you. You do matter too. Did you like this blog post? Then you might also enjoy: 8 Practical Ways Teachers Can Start Practicing Self-Care Today