Tips to Take Care of Yourself to Avoid Burnout

Alexis Blum, OFLA Professional Development Committee Chair
Spanish Teacher, Wapakoneta High School

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession, but it does come with many responsibilities and challenges. The mental, emotional, and often physical work that comes from our profession can be exhausting! This year, I have tried to prioritize my workload to save energy for myself and my family. Here are some tips to save yourself from burnout in the classroom. 

First, the very best thing I have done for myself is to plan my planning period. This has been crucial to reducing the workload that I take home and has nearly eliminated the work that I feel I must complete at home. Every day, I make a list of the things I need to do during my planning period. I try to be realistic with my time, just as I am when I write my lesson plans for each class. It is nice to compile a list of “must do” and “can do” as well. Not only does this save me time in the evenings, it also helps me know what I need to finish before going home for the day. By planning my planning period, I am able to reduce the stress of my “mental” to-do list by seeing what actually must be done. 

The next thing I’ve done to take care of myself is to find joy in every day. While this may seem trivial, it has been crucial to my mental health to find things that make me happy each day. As a teacher and a mom, it is difficult to find time to partake in hobbies that bring me joy. However, it is not difficult to find joy in everyday activities. I love to laugh with my students. I love to play with my daughter. Finding that joy and making time for joy has been paramount to my mental health. Maybe my joy is the commute home with my audiobook, or perhaps it’s finding a new inside joke with my students. By finding joy in my work day, I am also practicing gratitude. This has helped so much with my mood and approach to my workday. I am happier and look forward to my workday. 

Finally, the last thing I have done to take care of myself is take a quick walk around the building during my lunch period. By giving myself 5-8 minutes to just take a quick walk around the building, I’ve gotten out of my classroom and gotten my blood moving just enough to re-energize for the rest of the day. This time also gets me out and saying hello to students who happen to be in the hallway, seeing other teachers, and just walking away from the stress of my desk and classroom. I can’t say this happens everyday, but by making it a priority I’m able to give myself just a few minutes to regroup. 

How do you take care of yourself? How can you prioritize yourself this school year?