How to Not Burn Out from Teaching for the Second Time

I left teaching at the end of the school year in 2021, in the midst of the COVID pandemic. 

I had felt unsupported by the administration and a complete lack of interest from students. After putting every ounce of my being into education, I was completely drained. My motivation to do anything plummeted. I listened to a personal rule I had created: if you hate going into work every day, leave. 

This year feels different, but I can still feel the occasional tug of memory, warning of what happens when we go all in.

I’m not anywhere close to feeling the sensation of burnout yet. I have the flexibility to teach the curriculum I want, and the administration is not nearly as intrusive. Even a decent number of students are engaging with lessons. Overall, I shouldn’t be concerned.

I am aware of what burnout feels like. I don’t want to experience it again. So, to get ahead, I’m making some adjustments.

• Boundaries
• Designating An Office Day
• Self First: Prioritize health and wellness
• Remembering The Why

Boundaries

Many teachers spend countless additional hours outside of directly educating. Planning lesson plans (especially new ones) and grading require constant attention. In the past, I’ve worked weekends and many evenings to stay caught up.

No more! I’m not going to sacrifice my life. I imagine people reading this and thinking, Man! This guy doesn’t care about his students. 

That would be false. I care so much for these kids and future students that I’m working to maintain my passion for teaching. Teaching can overtake your life; it can become your life. Educators identify themselves as such. We also need to recognize the importance of other life activities, and we should make time to enjoy them. I want to practice identifying myself as something more than a teacher. That is a significant role in my life, but I’m so much more!

In order to remain a teacher, I need to set boundaries so I don’t live up to the vision of teachers simply plugging in after lessons. I really enjoy teaching. The best part is when a student catches on to a concept. Or even better, when you see a former student at the physical therapist’s office and have a conversation about their current college experience. Yeah, that happened today!

Speaking of offices…

Designating An Office Day

My second adjustment: one office day per week.

Despite my two-week trial run of not doing any work outside of school hours, there’s so much. Honestly, it will take a while before that might work. It wouldn’t be an issue to leave what you didn’t get done for the next day at work in other professions. As a teacher, it has nagged me, especially during the weekend, that my lesson plans aren’t done and I’m a week behind in grading. 

To balance my desire to live my own life and maintain sanity, I’ll commit to one office day per week. The office day means catching up on grading and planning. That way, I can spend my other off-time without having my mind occupied with searching for what I’m doing that week.

This will eat up some of my personal time, of course. That’s not ideal. Still, it means less brain power spent worrying and thinking about school. I’d like to enjoy my writing, hiking, and freedom more.

Self First

This section has a lot! I’ll get into physical, mental, and social aspects soon. But first: we have this one life; it must be lived voraciously and intentionally.  Teaching is a service industry; educators often put others first. We owe it to ourselves to be selfish with our time. Living voraciously means feeding the parts of ourselves that give us the most joy.

You’d think this is obvious, right? Sometimes I get really caught up in teaching (and all the background tasks) that I forget to take care of myself. And this means a lot of things, right? Physical, mental, and social health desperately fight for attention versus teaching. 

I’m more conscious of my physical health now, but working out is still something I need to better manage time for. I miss the routine I had at the gym a couple of years ago. The gym isn’t open up here at a time that fits an appropriate time for me. I have been exercising in my apartment or on the track, though.

The mental area is something to work on. Part of the improvement will come with setting those boundaries. Another growth will be continuing my other passions of writing, film (the moving image and analog photography), and physical activity. These hobbies and activities are reminders of who I am, besides being a teacher. 

One of these hobbies, a podcast: Buzzed and Blabbering

I’ve got a solid group of friends here in the Valley. This is one area I have little concern over. The bonds I have created keep me entertained and feeling loved. I miss all my friends elsewhere. Hi! 

Remembering the Why

This last one isn’t an adjustment; I’ve been after this for a while. Kids learn best when the material relates to their lives. 

While I teach history and English, my real objective is to instill skillsets like public speaking, critical thinking, creativity, and civility. Will kids need to know how to use a Chicago citation? Likely not past college, and that depends on the courses they take. The skillset, though, comes down to observation of details and understanding directions.

If nothing else, students should at least be better people by the time they leave. That’s the real purpose of teaching, at least for me. So, as long as I feel progress in that dimension, this career is sustainable.

Conclusion

Teaching is a wonderful career, but it will take everything you let it. I’m learning that caring deeply doesn’t mean giving endlessly. Living for myself first doesn’t make me a worse teacher; it makes me a sustainable one.

If you have any other anti-burnout methods, please share! 

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