I was already working on this post when I struck by sudden inspiration. Ultimately, I deleted everything I had written previously and started anew. I was on my way to have lunch with my husband, listening to the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, specifically to Episode 15, in which the hosts were interviewing author Tom Rath, who had recently published a new book, Are You Fully Charged? The Three Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life.
Rath discussed three keys to feeling energized every day. And they are exactly what we need to avoid burnout.
Do meaningful work every day.
Obviously, this key sounds like it would be a bit easier for us as teachers. We do meaningful work every day, in theory. But some days this is really hard to see, which is where burnout starts to occur. The teacher avoiding burnout has to strive to do something meaningful every single day.
- Brainstorm how you could differentiate to help that one kid out who has been struggling
- Make a “gotcha being good” phone call–bonus points if it’s for a kid who doesn’t often get those
- Help another teacher in person or via social media
Make sure at least 80% of your interactions are positive.
I think this one is the hardest, since we don’t have control over every interaction we have. But this just means we have to be more intentional about who we interact with. Obviously, we can’t avoid interacting with certain people: our students, our co-teacher, our paraprofessionals, etc. And, yes, some of those interactions will be negative.
To reach that magic 80%, we need to (1) seek out positive interactions and (2) minimize negative interactions.
- Reach out to people you know will be positive, whether that’s people you work with or friends and family. I especially like to do this on my way home from work. I call my mom or my grandmother, who I know will provide me with some positivity.
- Avoid the people you know are negative or quietly leave negative situations. Most of the time, the people I eat lunch with are a positive group, but once in a while we get a negative nancy! In those instances, I just politely excuse myself and finish my lunch elsewhere. We always have things to do, so I use the excuse “Oh, I just have to finish this lesson plan/paperwork/etc.” and leave the negative conversation behind.
Eat well, sleep well, and move well.
Always a challenge for busy people! There are tons of strategies out there to help you lead a healthier life. For me, I just try to eat more healthy than not, prioritize sleep over Netflix binging, and try to hit my Fitbit goal every day. But I’ll also never pass up my colleague’s homemade carrot cake in the staff room.
- Meal plan on the weekend to avoid decision fatigue, which in turn will prevent decisions you may regret later.
- Stay hydrated. Sometimes, your body is thirsty, but we read it as hunger.
- Set a bed time for yourself–and set an alarm to remind you! I like that my Fitbit vibrates at 10 to remind me, but any phone alarm will work.
- Start shutting down electronics at least 20 minutes before bed time.
- If you can’t hit the gym or exercise at home consistently, sneak it in by taking the stairs, parking further away, multitask less so you’ll have to move around more.
- Take a short walk every hour, even for just a few minutes.
What are your tips for avoiding teacher burnout? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
Beyond the Test 