10 Ways Educators Can Practice Self-Care

In today’s world, there’s nothing more important for educators than self-care. The world we’re living in is a scary one. The pandemic is back with a vengeance, and we are working overtime to build a safe and productive learning environment for our students. This work is hard and can be exhausting, so prioritizing self-care is so vital to keep from burning out. Teacher burnout is at an all-time high, and more teachers than ever before are thinking about leaving this field of work. That’s why self-care for teachers is so important. Self-care is a wonderful way to cope with daily stress. It gives you a break, a chance to take a breath and show some love for yourself.

You need to learn to start scheduling time for self-care. Having a consistent schedule, a routine of taking care of yourself, you’re much more likely to prioritize it, but even that doesn’t always mean things will be easy. To help you get started, here are ten ways that you as an educator can start practicing self-care NOW:

1. Maintain Healthy Boundaries

The number one most important thing when you’re just starting with your self-care practice is learning to maintain healthy boundaries from the beginning so that you’re set up for success. Learn when to shut work off, put the red pen away, and spend some alone time or self-care time with yourself or loved ones. If you’re always working or always thinking about work, it’s hard for you to disconnect and focus on yourself, and you’re much more likely to burn out. When it’s time to practice self-care, setting healthy boundaries can make all the difference.

2. Ask for Help When Needed

We can’t do this life thing alone, and if you’re struggling with work or personal time, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it. If you are having a hard time and need someone to talk to, or even just need someone to help lighten your load, take the first step and ask for help. We’re all stronger when we work as a team!

3. Get Enough Sleep

When we’re starting to feel burned out, we stop prioritizing our sleep. We stay up late, watch too much tv, and get irregular sleeping hours. Sometimes we oversleep, sometimes we don’t sleep enough. Either way, a healthy amount of sleep is so essential to keeping our immune systems strong, our stress low, and our energy high, so be sure you’re getting your recommended hours of sleep every night!

4. Exercise

Exercise is perfect for reducing stress and helping you build energy. Try to aim for 30 minutes of exercise at least five days a week, or shoot for more if you can!

5. Eat Right

Whether this means changing your diet or trying a new one, try to avoid unhealthy foods and eat lots of fresh, healthy foods. Less soda, less junk food, more vegetables, and fruit – these are all a great start, but be sure to do your research based on your goals to see what food plan might be right for you.

6. Schedule a Trip (road trip, staycation, quick weekend getaway)

Taking time off is one of the best things you can do for self-care. Schedule a vacation and get away for a couple of days. You can do this for cheap! Take a road trip to see a friend, have a staycation at a nearby hotel, or just hop on a plane for a quick weekend getaway to get your mind right and your brain back to normal.

7. Get Organized

Take some time to organize your life. Put your appointments and projects in a planner, make lists of to-do lists of chores and things you put off, whatever you need to do. Getting organized looks different for everyone, so find ways that work and get started!

8. Start A New Hobby

Not only is starting a new hobby fun, but scientists also say that it’s healthy for our brains! By trying a new hobby, you’re opening up new neural pathways and incorporating “fun” and “play” back into your life. Find a hobby that you love and try it out for a couple of weeks. It’s okay to try lots of different things until you find something you love, so don’t put lots of pressure on yourself!

9. Make Time for Family and Friends

If work is consuming your life, you probably haven’t had lots of time for family or friends, so when you step away, schedule intentional time with your friends and family where you can catch up and/or relax together.

10. Have Reasonable Expectations for Yourself

Finally, you need to set reasonable expectations for yourself. Don’t expect to solve all the world’s problems the first week you try self-care. Take it slow, take it easy. Try new things and see what works for you. Start with a goal like “I’m going to find a hobby that helps me relieve stress.” Start small, and you’ll meet your expectations and exceed them!

Not only is self-care important for you as a teacher, but it’s also vital for the people around you. When you’re first starting with self-care, you’ll try and fail in a lot of different ways. Just take it easy on yourself, be sure to ask for help if you need it, but most importantly, prioritize caring for and loving yourself first and foremost. Self-care is important for us all, especially in today’s world. I believe in you, and if self-care can help relieve even a fraction of the stress in your life, I think it can be a life-changing practice for you. Give it a try!

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