10 useful tips for avoiding teacher burnout

Teacher burnout series part 1: 

10 tips for avoiding teacher burnout 

Unfortunately the term ‘burnout’ commonly follows the term ‘teacher’ these days, and we don’t have to wonder why. The constant additions to our job roles, changing expectations, never-ending administration and parent demands have stripped us of the joy of just teaching. However, hope is not lost! There are things we can do to look after ourselves when avoiding teacher burnout.

Here are 10 tips for avoiding teacher burnout:Here Avoiding teacher burnout tips

1. Set clear boundaries

It is important to set boundaries for yourself and your workload when avoiding teacher burnout. A lot of teachers baulk at this thinking ‘I just can’t possibly work within school hours or I won’t get my job done’. I totally get this. I’m not suggesting you won’t only work until 3pm every day. I am saying you need to decide on a time of day to stop working that allows you to have down time and family time too. 

For me, I like to spend the afternoon with my family. So I don’t work between 4-7. However, after my girls are in bed I often do some work. This works for me and my family.

What to do when it looks like you wont finish by that time?

• Forgo exciting lessons. Plan an easy lesson or textbook based lesson.
• Buy a lesson. Buy a no prep or print and go resource. Sometimes it is worth spending $4 on a complete lesson to save your own mental health!
• Say no. If things are piling up and someone asks for you to do something extra or within a short time frame, say no. 
• If it’s admin – email your administration head and tell them you won’t meet the deadline this time. It isn’t ideal, but it happens. It is good to be upfront and honest about it.

2. Ask for help when you need it

Don’t wait! If you are struggling or need support from your head teacher or admin then don’t wait until you’re already snowed under. Ask them for help to get on top of it sooner.

This can be a hard thing to do, particularly if you don’t feel you have their support. Try to go into the meeting with a couple of solutions or ideas that may help make your workload more manageable (e.g. moving a deadline back a little). It can give your meeting with admin more direction and help it be solutions focussed.

3. Batch prep where you can

I am a big fan of batching my work processes wherever I can to save time and mental exhaustion. Batch your lesson prep, photocopying, report writing, and marking. This saves time in the long run and makes your processes more streamlined. 

4. Plan easy lessons when you start to feel overloaded

I mentioned this earlier when setting boundaries. It is ok if not all of your lessons are whizz bang exciting. To help yourself stay on top of your own workload and keep your sanity, only plan within your own limitations. If that means you only have the capacity to plan one “exciting” lesson a week, then that’s great! If you can do more, that’s also great. Limiting your own expectations allows you to do this without getting to a point where none of your lessons are exciting.

5. Take your sick days

When you are feeling overwhelmed and run down then you are a beacon for attracting all kinds of illness. Take your sick days when you are starting to feel run down – not after you have completely crashed. Get on top of it early. If your body is telling you to rest then you need to rest. If you don’t then you will end up having to take weeks off rather than just a day or two. And we all know that planning weeks of cover lessons is no fun for anyone. 

6. Save time everywhere you can 

Time is always going to be a factor when talking about avoiding teacher burnout. There isn’t enough of it and probably never will be. So what can we do? We can optimise the time we do have. From lesson planning to communication to administration, there are lots of small changes we can make that will save us hours of time in the long run.  Read my 49 time saving hacks for teachers. 

10 tips for avoiding teacher burnout 

7. Be organised and work ahead if you have the opportunity

I try to be organised enough that I am working a week ahead of my lessons. But there are definitely times where I end up barely a day ahead! Despite this, planning further ahead allows me to feel less stressed and when other things pop up I have the time to adjust. 

8. Get a hobby

Hobbies have immeasurable value for looking after your mental health, providing an escape from work and therefore, avoiding teacher burnout. Whether it be woodworking, knitting, painting or surfing, if it is something that distracts your mind from your long to do list for a while then it’s doing its job! 

9. Take your lunch breaks

Allowing yourself a little reprieve in the middle of the day to nourish your body and clear your head is important for longevity. I know a lot of our lunch breaks actually aren’t breaks with duties and student interruptions. If you can, use an ‘unavailable’ sign during lunch to try and limit unnecessary interruptions.

10. Try to fall back in love with teaching again 

If you are feeling burnt out then it’s likely you are also feeling as though you are falling out of love with the profession you once adored. Read my blog post here on how to love teaching again to re-ignite that teaching spark. 

tips for avoiding teacher burnout

Conclusion

It is important that you know you are not alone. This profession is hard and often relentless. These 10 tips for avoiding teacher burnout are designed to give you some ideas on how you can look after yourself as a teacher and find longevity in the profession. 

Avoiding teacher burnout