Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed this school year? Making time for self-care is the number one way to combat those feelings of anxiety. Here are some tips to help you make time for self-care.
Why is self-care important?
There is no doubt, teachers everywhere are struggling this year. Between the constant schedule changes and the overall teaching conditions, things are beyond stressful. It can be so easy to fall into the trap that is anxiety and stress. And who can blame us? That is why self-care is more important than ever. I know, I know. You are probably saying, When am I going to find the time? Well, it isn’t easy, and I am not here to tell you it will be a piece of cake to find a way to carve out time in your day for self-care. But it is necessary. Right now, think of self-care as your life preserver. The life preserver has been thrown out to you, and you decide whether to grab hold of it or not.
Since starting the school year this past August, I have found myself coming home from school either crying out of frustration or falling asleep out of pure exhaustion. Does that sound familiar? I have been working so hard this year to balance life and school, but no matter what I do, I feel I still can’t keep my head above water—something needs to change. I couldn’t keep living like that, or I would be burnt out and ready to quit. So, I grabbed hold of that life preserver.
Ready or not, I was going to make myself the priority over school. Now you may be wondering how to do this… I’ll be honest, self-care looks different for everyone. The time required varies for each individual. What I suggest is taking a look at your schedule and finding a little bit of time here and there throughout your day and dedicating that to “me time”. It can be as little as 5 or 10 minutes, as long as you are setting it aside.
How to make time for self-care
I had to take a serious look at my schedule and start documenting everything I was doing. I would write down all of my tasks as I did them throughout the day to see how I was really spending my time. Let me tell you, that was truly eye-opening. I found I was wasting so much time moving from task to task without actually completing anything. I went through my days like a chicken with its head cut off, just trying to make it through. If this sounds familiar, you truly are not alone.
Get Started
1. Sit down and really look at your schedule
Think about everything you do during the day and ask yourself if it is really important or what you can do to be more productive. Find the things that are not necessary and what may be taking away your time from what really matters… aka scrolling through social media.
Everyone does it, and it is always a major time suck. I find that setting social media limits on my phone and iPad is a huge help for me. When I have been on for too long, my phone will give me a pop-up message. Then I know that I have been spending too much time on my phone doing pointless things.
2. Make a schedule of your ideal day
Once you have taken a look at your schedule and found what you can eliminate, make sure to write out a detailed new schedule of your ideal day, hour by hour. Make sure you include some time for self-care and relaxation. When you write it out, it makes it more attainable and real.
3. Write it in your Planner
Once you have come up with your ideal schedule, write it down again in your planner. This should include your time for self-care and relaxation. Making an hour-by-hour schedule of the day will help you stay focused and on task.
Make sure to continually come back to your planner to ensure that you are completing everything that needs to get done. Check off each task that you do and make sure that you are sticking to your time frame for each task. Once you do this for a week or so, you will start to learn how much time is really needed for each task, and it will be easier to make your daily schedule.
Writing down when you will be taking time for self-care will help you remember to actually take the time for it. It can be so easy to just forget and skip it. But, as we know, it is essential to help us busy teachers keep a healthy mindset.
My go-to planning system is my Bullet Journal. All I need is a blank dot grid notebook and my favorite pen. The Bullet Journal Method was created by Ryder Carroll. Here is more information on how to get started with bullet journaling.
Ready… set… go!
Self-care is more essential than ever before. Teachers are being expected to do the impossible every day, but we somehow pull it off. We are true superheroes, and all of us deserve time for relaxation and self-care. We put our students first during the school day, but we have to remember to take time for ourselves when we get home. A teacher’s physical and emotional health is just as important as the students and it is crucial that we schedule our time to focus on taking care of ourselves.
Comment down below or tag @ateachershammock on Instagram to let me know how you are making time for self-care during this difficult school year!
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