Parents and teachers have the most difficult job in the world. With that comes a lot of fulfillment. But having periods when you feel burnout is also natural.
You have probably felt like me at one point…
I can officially say that I am out of steam at the moment. I love my job and would never do anything else. Yet, certain parts of the school year get very overwhelming.
I feel that I need a week during which I don’t answering my phone, don’t have meetings, don’t deal with difficult situations. I simply need a break. The end of the year is difficult for teachers and this year I am really feeling the burn out. Every year I feel tired but I am able to quickly jump back. This year feels very different to me. I feel that if I don’t take good care of myself I may not be able to come back to teaching in the Fall. Contrary to my feelings, I just got volunteered to teach a camp next week. Something that I would normally love but I simply don’t have the energy for it at the moment. Hmm… I guess my thoughts of finding time for myself got a bit interrupted.
So how do you restore your energy to fight burnout…
In the past years I have come to realize that fighting burnout is something that takes a conscious effort. You need to look at your day and analyze the things that need a change. Having a busy schedule is also a constant dance between working hard and finding the balance to let go. Here are some tips I you may find helpful!
1. Make Over Your Mornings
Your morning sets up the tone for the whole day. How is your morning? Smooth and serene? Or hectic?
The your answer was the second one, I may have a good idea for you.
I have recently stumbled through a great course that helps moms improve their mornings. I took the course myself. I absolutely loved it.
The course has the price of about 4 morning lates. But it has the potentials to improve your mornings for a long time.
2. Change Up Your Routine
If you don’t have a possibility for an actual break, then change things up! Routines are great. But often getting out of our routine for awhile is what prevents burnout.
As ironic as it sounds, sometimes more work may help you prevent burnout if it is done in a way that changes up your routine. I have more than one story where what I thought would turn out to be more work ended up being incredibly refreshing. It changed my perspective of my schedule. I am sure you have had those aswell. Thinking back and trying to copy these little moments is one step away from burnout.
3. Find ONE Thing That Is Just Yours
I feel that every person has to have one thing that they love doing and it is something that they can do regardless of everyone else around them. That can be a hobby, certain ambition, etc. This is so important for preventing burnout.
For me at the moment this blog is the ONE thing that I do. I write about my own struggles and success with burnout prevention on this page. The topic of fighting burnout takes a big portion of the blog. But ironically as I am writing about it, it changes up my routine and it helps me.
Long walks and hiking is another thing for me personally. Walking in nature helps me clear my head. I try to sneak in short trips where I can indulge in it. If not, I simply do it around our house. When I have done it, I see a difference.
Finding something that restores your energy is so important to us all.
But now it is time for you…
What is your way of letting pressure release?
I can so relate. There are times when enough is enough!! Finding the balance and moving forward in a positive fashion is so difficult. When I am "done" I have to take a break go in my room, and relax for a few minutes. If I don't do this, I will just get more and more irritated!!
Poor thing. I push myself too far all the time and I end up breaking down. Take the moments you can and breathe for the ones you can't. I'm stopping by from the blog hop. I hope you have a great Monday!
I will:) Thank you both for sharing and for your feedback!
Oh yeah I do sometimes especially when I have a goal that wasn't achieved, I push myself to the limits. Other times I also slack. But it's true when you said that it's easy to forget ourselves when we're taking care of others. I'm not exactly sure what I really do to take the pressure off. I guess I just rest and eat a lot then it goes off.
I'm so sorry you are feeling burned out. Lately, I have been able to take a nap during the day and go right to sleep at night when I put my son down. Once upon a time, a nap during the day meant I would be up for a while at night. I guess my body is saying I need to rest….so I do. My schedule is surrounded around my family so I just try to sleep when they do. I know for you it might be a lot more complicated than that. I hope you get to get your beauty rest. I know it's so important! Thanks for sharing this with us at Countdown in Style!
I used to head straight to the gym every day after work and walk on the track for an hour. It really did help. I miss that! Now I walk on the treadmill each morning, but it is nice to have a place to go where nobody can find you to walk for a while. Some people run for that very reason.
I need help with a music teacher that I love and I have knowned for a long time but she’s been very stressed out lately and her teaching methods are not the same as they used to be. You post so many interesting articles about parenting and managing stress but how about when to know if the teacher is right for your child and what can we do to help them both. I just don’t want my child to stop loving music because of the situation.
Mia,
Thank you for your email.
Changing music teachers is tricky because your child forms a bond with that teacher. You mentioned that you’ve known this teachers for a long time. This is important both for your child and their learning.
I would give it some time, perhaps between now and Christmas and “track” your child progress. Don’t be focuses on the day-to-day lessons but rather what happens on the long run. Are they learning on the long run? Do you have a “stressed out” lesson here and there or are they all like that? Also, is this a difficult period your teacher is experiencing and might need support or is this something that has been going on for a long time and it is here to stay. Have you had conversations with your teacher, or is it just your concern at this point? At the same time you could check out otter options in your area without making any definite choices.
I will be writing a longer post about it, but if you’d like to contact me, I would be happy to help you figure things out after I know more details.