First Year Visionary: The Pivot From ‘Quit’ to ‘Continue’
There comes a time in every new teacher's first year that they wonder if they have chosen the wrong career and start looking for the nearest exit. When you start to experience this, STOP! You did not waste your college years on the wrong major and you haven't made the biggest mistake of your life. You are simply heading toward teacher burnout. But don't worry, it is avoidable!
Truth Bite
Teacher Burnout is a real thing and is a result of chronic stress. If it continues, it results in physical and emotional exhaustion. You may be much quicker to lose patience with your students or find yourself emotionally detaching from your job. It can also take a huge toll on your health.
Visionary Check
The best thing you can do is to catch yourself before you hit complete burnout. Keep tabs on your stress. Pick a time each day to check how you feel. Before class, when they are gone for specials, or just after they leave for the day. Register your stress on a scale of 1-5. If you notice it is high for several days in a row, now is the time to act. You will need to concentrate on physical and emotional recovery, because chronic stress affects both.
Physical Recovery
Make sure you are eating right. If you are under chronic stress and anything like me, you aren't. Cut out the junk or at least make sure you fuel yourself first with some real food. Get some sleep and make sure you are moving. Whether it is a quiet walk to breathe deeply or shopping with a friend. Even a big group dinner is good. Laughter is a great form of cardio and a fantastic stress reliever. Schedule this in so you won't be tempted to grade papers or write lesson plans. Take the time! Your health is worth it and eventually you will be more productive again.
Emotional Recovery
Laughter again can help a lot of times. However, silence can be very restorative. No TV, no phone, no music. It will give your brain time to recover from being over stimulated and is vital to reset!
Another good way to recover emotionally is journaling. Now you may be saying WHEN? Between, data, lesson plans, grading and life you want me to write out my thoughts? It is actually very therapeutic and afterwards much easier to prioritize tasks and see if any need to be cut from your to do list. Journaling is a great proactive activity as well and can keep stress at bay on the regular.
If you do not have time or are overwhelmed trying to find the time to journal, try this: Either daily, weekly or a few times a week, list your wins. Did you finally get through to a student about behavior? Did you find an extra hour in your schedule? Did 5 pencils actually get returned by the end of the day? They can be big or small. But looking for and listing your wins can keep you positive when tired and let you know that even if only in little ways, you are reaching goals and making progress.
Affirmations. Write them on the board, even if under the idea they are for your students. Make a point to read them a few times a day. It is completely ok to encourage yourself!
Visionary Extra
All this said, if you are hitting burnout and finding it difficult to recover it is absolutely ok to take a mental health day. Prioritizing yourself is a good thing and we want to encourage you to do that. If you are still struggling, talk to someone! There is zero shame in getting some counseling. I'm have always been a firm believer that everyone can benefit from counseling. You learn more about yourself and how you respond to different situations in life. In turn, you learn how to handle them. This can benefit not only your career but all areas of your life.
Remember, stress in inevitable. It is part of living in this world and definitely part of the teaching field. However, with proper planning, burnout is avoidable.
