Using Physical Wellness Strategies to Battle Teacher Burnout
Taking On the Challenge of Consistency
I should warn you now that the underlying theme of this post is that teaching is tough, and while we all know this we have to keep encouraging each other to thwart off burnout and exhaustion. My goal is to always find ways and different approaches to making this fight easier year after year. It is interesting to me that I will research teacher books, listen to podcasts, study teacher websites, go to conferences, and then realize that sometimes the answer is where I’ve known it has been all along. It’s been with me. Self-care has always sounded corny to me. But, if you break self-care down into you must literally take care of your own self to flourish. Then, self-care does not seem unreasonable or indulgent. Self-care sounds like a buzzword, but it is a necessity in all aspects in order to keep teaching in classrooms year after year.
Teachers must build themselves physically, intellectually, emotionally, and mentally to continue to go back into their classrooms each day. Many of the reasons in this post have become my “whys” for when I step onto my yoga mat or push myself in a workout for 10 more minutes. I originally posted this almost two years ago in January 2018 when the opportune time to realize that we needed to make “resolutions” or changes was upon each of us again. I started rethinking exercise in the fall of this school year. While I started a draft of this post, and I have intentionally not wanted to revise and redraft because of the utter fear of holding myself accountable. Also, a certain aspect of imposter syndrome sets in. I feel like I have little expertise in trying to get “in shape” or follow any really fitness regimen. However, I have tons of experience in burnout and feeling like I can’t do another lesson plan. I have always been a teacher and a student of learning, but we all have things that we aren’t naturally good at-and being a student at those things is what matters. I want to remind myself that when it comes to moving my body, I will not allow myself to feel bad about a body I am actively trying to take care of in every way. Even if that means that at times I fail.
Consistency Matters
I titled this post “Taking On the Challenge of Consistency” because I am convinced that taking care of ourselves physically (and subsequently emotionally and mentally) means the daily work we put into ourselves each day. Also, I am utterly exhausted. The obstacles that are put in the path of a teacher wanting to take care of themselves in any capacity are tenfold. The demands of the job of teaching are endless and tiring, but the same aspects of the job that make teaching exhausting are the same factors we need to use to take care of ourselves. I want to get mentally and physically stronger so that I can continue to do the things I love to do outside of teaching, like blogging, writing, and spending time with family. I rather grade 100 rough drafts on a Saturday night without rubric codes than complete a workout at times. Not that I don't want to move my body, but the feeling of sweat, the time, the showers, and the allocation of energy just isn't there on any given day that I am teaching. Considering that the 21 days to form a habit idea is a myth, I am going to give it the 70 days needed to form a concrete habit. I cannot tell you the number of times I continue to recommit to mental and physical fitness over and over again. I feel like we all need to stop being so hard on ourselves when it comes to giving up on working out. The absolute power is the ability to keep recommitting to a goal. Whoever made us feel like goals were finite and only valid if they were achieved is utter nonsense.
Therefore, when you travel with me through this post, you will see a shift in mindset that focuses on consistency on the daily level. I am changing my bullet journal spreads to mark off workouts daily and weekly (rather than monthly), and I am trying to revisit my reasons for “why” on an every morning basis. Physical wellness, for teachers, in particular, needs to be more than something we visit ever so often. Our health is at emergency levels because burnout causes us to leave the classroom and the professional altogether.
Finding My Why
My husband is my inspiration for this post as he managed to live with me during strep throat and never get it. This may have been a stroke of luck, but he never gets sick. Ever. I am literally jealous of his immune system. I watch my body shut down in the wintertime from a cold, flu, or allergies, and he is able to bounce back right away. He also is an avid gym-goer that takes care of himself. He has created a work-life balance because it was a priority for him. While we have different types of jobs with different schedules, his work ethic in taking care of himself is the inspiration to focus on physical wellness to get a better immune system. I don't want to lose weight. I don't want to build muscle. I just want to be healthier to fight the good fight each and every day. I have someone in front of me each day that reminds me to choose self-care first. I need to pay attention to this inspiration.
If I get ripped arms that would be cool, too.
I created my “Workout Why” bullet journal spread to go back to over and over again in my journal. Like teaching, there is power in finding your why. Also, like teaching, my why for wellness has changed in the course of the ten years that I have been in the classroom. Self-care is more than time spent in the bubble bath and buying new undereye masks, it is a priority for survival. How many of us will leave teaching? According to a more recent post from the Michigan Education Association, only 25% of us educators are even recommending entering the profession in the first place. I keep teaching, but I won’t last long without proper self-care. I am also convinced that unless I do dramatic and radical changes to how I handle paper, how I conduct lesson planning, and the amount of work I take home on a regular basis, I won’t be able to stick around as long as I want.
So, I keep reevaluating and changing the plan. My why is directly tied to being able to be a better teacher in the classroom, and a better form of myself outside of the classroom. I cannot do either of these things if I don’t attempt physical wellness.
My Goals
Because I have tried many different types of exercises and many different schedules, I know which ones I am more likely to do. I love yoga. I also love barre class, but it is hard to get to after I have already arrived home and I am not likely to head back out to a 6 pm class. I know that when I look at my schedule I need to be able to do a home workout that is between 20-30 minutes. I also need direction. I have tried to download lists of exercises, but I really benefit from another teacher in a coaching format.
Goal 1: Try to work in yoga or barre as much as possible.
I love Yoga with Adriene on YouTube and her content is free to use. I just have to show up each day on the mat. The goal is 20 minutes a day. Even if I feel like I am not getting results, I want to see what happens if I don’t give up. I am resetting myself with her Dedicate 30 Day Yoga Program (Free), and I want to start her new Yoga Program in January 2020. I want to focus on this type of daily consistency for 3 months and then evaluate.
Goal 2: Try to increase hydration
I want to try to drink water before and after working out because I know that going to the bathroom isn't always an option during the day at work. At night time, I need to be better about drinking plain water. I am quick to say that I can’t drink water at school because I cannot make it to the bathroom, but there is no excuse as to why I can’t be hydrated at night. Half of my body weight in ounces is my goal: This would be right about 70 oz of water a day. If I even start with filling up my 32 oz water bottle twice, I think this is making progress.
Goal 3: Get better sleep and track it.
Something happens each year in June when school gets out for the summer. I sleep. I also immediately feel better physically and emotionally. The direct link between sleep and stress management is undeniable. I want to stay up late to watch TV with my husband or to work on assignments for school, but this isn’t helping my overall wellness. I need to choose a time to go to sleep and then track the quality of that sleep. I really liked wearing a Fitbit for this because it would track this information for you; I just didn’t like having to maintain a wearable in addition to tracking my effort with working out. My goal is 7-8 hours minimum. I have added this tracker to my bullet journal spreads each month.
Goal 4: Use my resources. Get curious.
I have a set of weights in my house that can easily be used in any HIIT (high-intensity interval training) or bodyweight workout. I also have access to hundreds of free and affordable apps that can make my access to a kettlebell life-changing. Recently, at a doctor’s appointment, the PA reminded me to focus on adding some strength-building in my routine when I am able. The foundation is key. Whether this is working in a set or two on arms, or trying to push myself to go further on the treadmill. All of us have affordable resources when it comes to body movement, but most of us (like me) will be quick to fill in the excuses. When I have excuses, I am going to try to counteract them with journaling. Why am I making the excuse? Is a viable excuse or am I talking myself out of moving my body? I also want to get curious about other methods of working out I haven’t tried in order to find what I love.
Plan for Progress
The “October Wellness Tracker” bullet journal spread is the plan that I made back in October. Spoiler Alert: It didn’t work. This method of tracking was too macro. I needed smaller wins to build sustainability in the process of building short-term goals. Being a person that is familiar with self-sabotage means that I can predict what I will do. I moved to a daily bullet journal spread where I simply check-off or cross-off if something got done that day. I also am writing the actual names of the yoga videos and minutes of workout into my weekly spreads so I can plan ahead of time to attack my plan in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening.
I plan to journal about physical wellness at least 3-4 times a week. I am going to work in when I do my Morning Pages about how I feel, what I am noticing, and what I think is helping. I am asking others for what they see as well. Is skin clear? Am I calmer? Do my jeans fit? All of it is going into my journal so I can reinforce the vibes of daily consistency. I want to constantly come back to these points while filling out my journal. Feel free to save my journaling Pinterest graphic to come back to when you are sitting down to look at your own journal.
Further Reading
I am no expert here. Because the realm of exercise advice is vast and pretty much everyone has said it, I wanted to do a small round-up of great advice particular tailored to teachers and people in the field of education.
On Motivation
I recently published a blog post about motivation, “Make Your Classroom Better By Understanding the Four Types of Motivation.” I am a Questioner according to Gretchen Rubin’s survey and research. This means that I need to keep my “Why Bullet Journal” page close by each day so I can give reasons to why I need to continue on the path. I like to have justification as to why I am doing something.