Most of us as educators can relate to the self-care or trauma based professional development, we’ve received in the last few years to remind us to take care of ourselves and do a whole lot of self-care. While I appreciate self-care, I don’t think it is our lack of knowledge on self-care or trauma that causes us to be exhausted, burnt out and feel stressed. We all know what self-care and trauma are and we even in most cases can resight ways to help ourselves and strategies to use when we are feeling tired, burnt out, stressed and exhausted. What we don’t have is time, energy, or another ounce in our being to take care of self-care, we are just trying to survive. That’s okay, taking care of yourself doesn’t always mean spending a whole day at the spa or finding hours in your day to attend to a hobby that in all honesty you don’t have the time or energy to be participating in fully. It’s okay if you take things in bite size. There are ways we can attend to our care as educators without following an unachievable self-care routine.
Draw boundaries.
When are you leaving school each day?
What is the latest you are willing to leave school?
Are you bringing work home or are you leaving work at school?
Will you answer emails/messages at night or only during contracted hours?
Each person needs to set their own boundaries and what works for them. For some that will be arriving or leaving contracted hours while others will come and go right at contracted hours. Some may take work home, some may not. It is all about what works for you and what you need to keep yourself going. Choose what is best for you and your family. This is a major form of self-care.
Prioritize yourself.
What do you want to bring into your life?
What brings you joy? Is it an activity or specific people?
How can you make bits of time in your schedule to recharge?
Finding ways to care for yourself as an educator don’t have to be overwhelming or more stressful which I know for some of us trying to plan out self care can become more of a chore then a help. Start small, don’t worry about changing everything immediately. Do what you can and remember that doing better is more achievable then being perfect!
Some tips for starting a care routine.
Start small, pick one habit to change and focus on that before taking on other habits.
Spend 5 minutes a day doing something for you to start, even if that means sitting in silence or just listening to a special song while driving or sitting and relaxing.
Create a reminder, visual or written to help you remember to do your 5-minute care time a day to start, until it becomes a natural part of your day.
Expand time doing your activity as you feel ready and able to in your schedule and your day.
When you feel ready add more habits, time, or activities to your care routine. Remember slow and steady wins the race.
Find what works for you. Everyone is different and caring for yourself all comes in time. It is key that you do what works best for you.
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