This is the season of the year when teachers are prone to burnout and exhaustion. You may have already had spring break and are now on the marathon weeks until the end of the school year. Or maybe you’re anticipating spring break soon. Either way — this is a time of year when teachers are exhausted and stressed. If we have other stresses in our lives (family medical issues, other issues with family members, financial worries), it only compounds the sense of exhaustion. All of this can lead to anxiety or depression. Time for a reset! And it’s time to make self-care a priority.
Two of the biggest myths about self-care are these:
1 – I don’t have time
2 – it’s not that important given all the other things on my plate.
Neither of these myths is true. Here’s why.
1 – You DO have time. Self-care doesn’t mean going to a luxury spa or luxury vacation (although both of those would be nice right about now). For you, it might mean listening to music you love. For someone else, it might mean spending some time doing a favorite craft or participating in some other kind of hobby or sport. “Stacking” a self-care habit with other habits that you currently have is a quick and easy way to make self-care a natural part of your life.
2 – It IS important. You can not be effective for anyone else and you cannot do your best at anything else if you are not taking care of yourself. Period. The best analogy I have heard about this is the one about how you have to put your own oxygen mask on before helping someone else with theirs. You have to be healthy yourself (in mind, body and spirit) before you can meet anyone else’s needs.
The bottom line is: self-care is critically important to living your best happy, healthy life. It also helps you tol be the best happy, healthy teacher/wife/mom/partner/friend you can be for all of the important people in your life.
Tips for success in starting a self-care routine:
*Identify some easy self-care tasks that sound good to you
*Start small — no more than one to three tasks per day.
*Track your self-care (use a paper habit tracker or an app like this Productive – Habit Tracker.
*”Stack” your self-care tasks with other things that are already habits or routines for you.
*Schedule it. Write it down on your planner, just as you would write down a meeting or a doctor’s appointment. It’s just as important.
*Keep in mind that small changes lead to big results. Doing something small, simple and do-able every day leads to better habits and a better life.
*Remember that you are trying to take better care of yourself and be kind to yourself, NOT “fix” yourself. This isn’t some kind of overhaul.
See my post HERE about quick tips for starting a self-care routine. But if you’re interested in a FREE, simple five-day self-care challenge to help start your practice, sign up <HERE!>
You will receive a daily email with self-care suggestions, along with encouragement and support!