How to Prioritize Self-Care for a Teacher
How often have you taken all the focus off yourself to make sure your students have all their needs met? Are you sheepishly raising your hand? Yep, same. We’ve all been there. Teachers are superheroes. Teachers work tirelessly to prepare curriculum, pivot in times of uncertainty (hello pandemic!) and ensure students feel seen and heard. Teachers go above and beyond for others and this is what I’ve concluded: we need to go above and beyond for ourselves, too.
In order to ensure you can fully show up to pour into your kids everyday, you must be taking care of yourself. Don’t forget that how you care for yourself and the time you create to make sure your needs are met are ultimately serving your kids in the classroom. It isn’t selfish to set boundaries or take breaks to care for yourself in the way you need it. These past two school years have been especially tough as teachers and educators, and if I can convince you of anything, I hope it’s this: self-care is important to being the best teacher you can be for your students.
You don’t have to tell me twice how difficult it can be to prioritize self-care as a teacher, but you’ll never regret caring for yourself. If you feel like you’re forever on the struggle bus and you aren’t sure how to find that time, here are a few of my tips for how to prioritize self-care as a teacher:
Be mindful of how you spend your “off” time
Your off-periods, lunches, mornings, nights, weekends...all of them matter. Who you spend your time with is essential! Self-care is paying attention to how you feel after hanging out with someone and taking note of your energy. Don’t overlook these little things because they all add up.
Share your joys and hardships
The wins and losses in the classroom can be a lot for one person - share them! A hardship is easier to handle when someone else can carry the weight with you and wins are more fun to celebrate when you have others with you. Life isn’t meant to be done alone and even if you’re the only teacher in the room to experience them, bring your people in with you to experience them outside of the room together!
Limit screen time
Yeesh. I find myself sucked in by my screens and never filled up after. But, I always get drawn in again and again. It takes discipline and asking for help from Wade to make sure I don’t spend too much free time on my phone because I know it doesn’t serve me well. Set a timer, ask your roommate or significant other for help or place it in another room and use that precious time doing another activity that really fuels you!
Set boundaries
I cannot say this enough: boundaries mean you care. We set boundaries because we love someone. How late are you working into the night? Are you letting worry over a student affect your relationships? Take a look at how you may need to create boundaries with your work in the classroom, whether that’s setting time for when you’re working or emotional boundaries for when you’re discussing school work or letting it affect your thoughts.
Schedule time for YOU
It’s hard to create time for you in the moment because things pile up, so what I’ve found works is scheduling things way in advance (sometimes embarrassingly early!). Our Get Your Teach On National Conference is coming up at the end of July and is perfect to not only be surrounded by community who just gets it, but also get fired up before heading back to the classroom in August. We’ve seen people plan weeklong trips around our conference with their friends and family and leave with a fresh, new perspective before starting the school year. You can grab tickets here before they sell out!
Creating time for self-care can be done, but it takes a mindset shift to tell ourselves we’re worthy of this! I’d love to hear more of your tips for how you prioritize self-care as a teacher over on Instagram!
