Welcome to Day 1 of the Teacher Burnout Challenge!
Teacher burnout is a real thing! On a scale of 1-10, how tired are you? Are you reading this post while you swig a pumpkin spice latte after another sleepless night with your smartphone inches away from your head, glowing in the night and alerting you to every news update or comment on social media? Do you feel like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop and your life to come crashing down? Do you wake up to a to-do list overloaded with expectations and a family with more going on than the Kardashians?
How’s your teaching heart these days? Is the part of you that keeps careful track of your empathy and love for your students feeling tired from stress and worry? Are you nervous about your ability to truly care about teaching in the middle of a pandemic? Are you finding yourself less and less in-tune with your emotions, relating more and more to being a zombie than a functioning teacher?
I know I do. I relate to the overwhelm and the worry SO much these days that I can’t even turn on the news without feeling my blood pressure rising. Instantly. You can read more about my thoughts on teacher stress here.
It’s no wonder we are so exhausted. We live in a time where we have more worries and more to do than any previous generation. On top of this, we’re overloaded with stress, information overload, and constant life changes.
Not only are we living in a pandemic, we’re living in a pandemic in the age of technology; where the most up-to-date, scary news is in our pocket and no more than a click away. The things that were designed to make our lives more efficient and our quality of life superior to that of the past (television, cell phones, social media) are causing us to deteriorate mentally, physically, and socially. So much for the modern era of being able to do and have it all.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.
Anne Lamott
I know we need to spend some time together really understanding teacher burnout because we’re BOTH living it. I know that this year has been one of exhaustion and overwhelm and NOTHING being normal. This is the absolute perfect time to start the Teacher Burnout Challenge.
Why? Because now, more than EVER in the history of teaching, teachers are burning out not only from teaching, but from their inability to control most of their teaching environment. Teachers are scared. We’re worried about the future of education, we’re worried about keeping our health and the health of our students and colleagues. We’re worried about the long-term impacts the pandemic will have on our students. That’s a lot. 2020 has dealt us a crappy hand, my friends. How do we avoid losing ourselves in the midst of all of the chaos?
I’ll tell you how.
We are about to spend the next 30 days together looking at teacher burnout: what causes it, how to prevent it, and how to rejuvenate if (when) we have pushed ourselves entirely past our limits. Each day over the course of this month, you will receive a new opportunity to better understand what teacher burnout is, as well as the effects it has on our minds, bodies, our students, our colleagues, and our families.
Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect over the lessons:
Understanding the physical aspects of teacher burnout
How sleep, overwhelm, stress, and exercise all play an important part in causing, avoiding, or recovering from burnout in our lives. You’ll learn some of the culprits you may not realize are stealing your peace and your health. We’ll learn how to get rid of them, or at the very least, reduce their impact.
Learn to read the signs and symptoms of teacher burnout and fatigue
There are tell-tale signs all around us that point to our level of burnout and fatigue. We’ll better understand how our lifestyles may be contributing to our chronic fatigue and sense of burnout. Then, you can consider some suggestions to start making changes that will simplify your life and increase your resiliency against burnout.
Discovering alternative behaviors to improve health
Teacher burnout can be avoided, and you can recover from its effects. I will share some pro-tips from actual research and important ideas that will get you firing on all cylinders and feeling a little more back-to-normal.
Over the course of this series, you will start to feel rejuvenated and more in control of your environment, your teaching, and family life. It sure doesn’t feel possible now, but it is!
I can’t wait for you to start feeling better, sleeping better, and finding control and purpose in your day-to-day life. I’m so excited to get started sharing this information with you and helping you see the results in your life that you know are possible! As a teacher, you do EVERYTHING for others. It’s your turn to spend some time taking care of your teacher soul and I know you’re here for it!
Here’s to renewal and rediscovering joy. I can’t wait!
