The Teacher Burnout Podcast

Self Care for Educators Part #3: Sleep
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Bonus Replay: Self Care for Educators Part #3: Prioritizing Sleep
Today I have a bonus episode for you. That's part of my self-care for educators series that I did a couple of summers ago. And I am sharing it with you again as a bonus, because I think it's so important as educators. To prioritize our self care in the summer. And these episodes are great tools to do that.
So this is a four-part series that I hope you find helpful. And I hope that you take away something to really focus on your self-care this year and focus on your own wellbeing.
Welcome to the Teacher Burnout Podcast, where we explore the challenges of burnout for teachers and share practical strategies to support teacher well being. I'm your host Barb Flowers. If you're a teacher looking for ways to prevent burnout or an educational leader searching for strategies to support your team, this podcast is for you.
Let's dive in.
Hey everyone. And welcome to the teacher burnout podcast today. We're on [00:01:00] part three of our self care series, and we're going to be talking about prioritizing sleep. If you haven't listened to part one and part two, part one was talking about the importance of exercise. And part two was talking about the importance of healthy eating and prioritizing that.
So I get lots of tips in those episodes about how to incorporate exercise and healthy eating and just the importance of them. So if you haven't listened to those podcasts episodes, I recommend that you go back and listen today. We're going to be talking about prioritizing sleep, and we're going to look at some research and the importance of sleep.
And then we're also, I'll give you some habits that you can incorporate to improve your sleep. So I'm going to start by sharing some research on the importance of sleep. So an article from Harvard said that short sleep duration in adults is defined as less than seven hours of sleep in 24 hours. So the recommended, , amount of sleep that adults should get each night is seven to nine hours.
And really they say within 24 hours, because if you nap, [00:02:00] that would count towards your seven to nine hours. The American Psychological Association, they did lab experiments on the effects of sleep deprivation. And it's shown that failing to get enough sleep dramatically impairs memory and concentration while increasing levels of stress hormones and disrupting the body's normal metabolism.
So sleep really will mess with the stress hormone of cortisol and it disrupts your body's metabolism and it actually makes you hungrier and want to eat more. , a research study by David Dinges learned that people who get fewer than eight hours of sleep per night show pronounced cognitive and physiological deficits, which includes memory impairment, a reduced ability to make decisions and dramatic lapses in attention.
, another article from Harvard said that sleep helps to process your thoughts from the day as well as store memories. So a lack of good quality sleep can lead to difficulty focusing and thinking clearly. So, When you're sleeping, it helps [00:03:00] process what you were thinking throughout the day and store those memories.
It also helps with repairing and recovering cells in your body. If you work out and you like, when you work out, you lift and you tear your muscles, it repairs all of that. So sleep is a type of repairing throughout the day. So that's another reason it's so important. And then two interesting facts from the International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, the tolerated minimum sleep time is approximately six hours, but for some individuals maintaining such sleep time over several days may result in a lower effectiveness of work performance.
So if you're getting less than six hours, you could start to lower the effectiveness that you have at work. And I think as educators, we know that education is already hard. So if you're Not at your best, you know, performance. That's going to be really hard for you. Also moderate fatigue, not severe fatigue, just moderate fatigue.
After 20 to 25 hours of sleeplessness, it impairs task performance to an extent [00:04:00] that's comparable to an alcohol intoxication level of 0. 10 blood alcohol concentration. So that is greater than the legal drinking limit of 0. 10. So just think about that. If you're not sleeping enough, then your performance level is comparable to being drunk.
So to summarize some of these research studies, I wanted to just reiterate what happens when we don't get enough sleep. So again, it's reduced cognitive function. So reduced attention. Concentration, problem solving, and decision making. And just think, we have so many decisions as educators to make a day.
So, having that reduced just makes it harder. , mood disturbances, so if you're not getting enough sleep, you're likely to have mood swings. You're likely to be more irritable and just more emotional reactivity. So when something happens, you're more emotional about it. If you've ever heard, like with your spouse, don't have serious conversations before bed because, you know, your emotions are heightened.
So if you have the same conversation [00:05:00] right before bed compared to in the morning, it's going to be totally different. Um, it also can cause a sleep deprivation can cause weight gain. It really does mess with the balance of your hunger regulating hormones, which makes you feel hungrier. Um, so I've listened to a lot of nutritionists talk about this and they talk about if you're getting up earlier to exercise and you're missing out on sleep, or let's say you didn't sleep well, and then you wake up to exercise.
You're better to get more sleep because your body, it's going to be so hard. You'll be so hungry all day and it's going to be harder to actually lose weight. So you want to make sure that sleep is the priority because
There's a higher risk of accidents, which includes driving. But if you have any job where you have to, you know, be really cognitive, like if you were handling machines, which we know we're not in education, but still you can make accidents you or you could have accidents. You could make mistakes just higher levels because there's [00:06:00] Our thinking is impaired when we're not sleeping as much and then impaired memory and learning because again, it hinders the brain's ability to process and retain new information effectively.
And just like that study had said, we need sleep to process what we did throughout the day in the previous day. So you may not remember things that happened if your brain didn't have time to process that. Also an increased risk of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. And as I read all of those things that can happen when we don't get enough sleep, as educators, I think, well, all of those sound really bad.
If you're a teacher or an administrator or any kind of education role, You want to make sure you're at your best and that, especially cognitively, we have so many decisions and, so much on our plates that we just want to be in the best mental state that we can be, the best physical state, and all of that requires sleep.
So how can we improve our sleep? Well, the first thing is we need to make sleep a priority. So we know that we need seven to nine hours a day. [00:07:00] So that means how are you going to get that seven to nine hours? How are you going to prioritize that? For me, that means I go to bed early. I like to wake up at 5 AM.
So I try to go to bed by 9 30, which actually gets me to sleep by 10 o'clock. So I sleep from about 10 to five. You need to find a way to prioritize that. You can't say I don't have enough time. You need to make time, make sleep a priority. Also go to bed at the same time each night and have a sleep routine.
So having that routine, it helps your body know that it's almost time for bed. So having the same routine every night, you're setting yourself up that your body's getting into a rhythm of, okay, it's almost time for bed. And for me going to bed at nine 30. By nine o'clock, I'm really tired. I start to get crabby.
So I know it's time for me to go to bed. My body is ready for that. Avoid screens before bed. There's a lot of research on this. According to Shawn Stevenson, the blue light that screens give off, it triggers your body to produce cortisol and it disorients your body's natural [00:08:00] preparation for sleep. And other studies also looking at electronics, it causes mental stimulation, which makes it harder to shut down for the night.
So if you check, like, let's say you check your work email or you check your class dojo and you see a message that you don't want to see, you're going to be thinking about that message all night. So not only avoiding screens for the light, but also for the mental stimulation. Sean Stevenson, you know, he recommends having all electronics out of your bedroom, including TVs.
but putting your phones, you know, out of, in a different room and using an actual alarm clock because it just, it really disorients our body and it's not good for us. Another thing is to get sunlight throughout the day. So that helps our circadian rhythms, which a circadian rhythm is basically your body's 24 hour clock.
And so our bodies naturally look for the pattern of light and darkness in our rhythm of sleep. So knowing that it's light outside, so if you have, you know, your classroom has windows, like getting that light in, getting outside, going for a [00:09:00] walk, but getting sunlight throughout the day and then making sure at night you're sleeping in a dark room.
So not only because of the blue light screens give off, but like you shouldn't be watching tv because the light in your bedroom it messes with the circadian rhythms as well. So your body may not register that it's time to sleep. Also, you want to make sure to limit alcohol consumption before bed and alcohol it can help you fall asleep quickly.
So But what it does is it messes with your REM cycle when you're sleeping. So it gives you poor quality sleep. So you wake up feeling tired. So think of alcohol, kind of like caffeine, if you're going to have it. you know, have a drink after work where it's like four o'clock in the afternoon, so that your body has time to process it before you go to bed, because it is going to mess up with your quality of sleep.
Also, exercise, having consistent exercise can help with the quality of your sleep because You know, your muscles are getting tired. Your body is being utilized in a way that's going to make you tired and it's going to help you sleep. But they [00:10:00] recommend that the best way to exercise is just like coffee and alcohol.
You need enough time before bed. Everybody is a little bit different like this, but I exercise in the morning. It helps wake me up and get me moving for the day. But some people I know exercise after work. You just don't want to exercise at like eight o'clock at night. So make sure that you get that in earlier in the day.
So I just wanted to share as well that a good resource that I, referred to is by Sean Stevenson called Sleep Smarter. It's his book and he has, a 14 day action plan for sleeping better and 21 essential strategies to sleep your way to a better body, better health and bigger success it says. So that book, I've read it before and it's got a lot of research in it about, different ways to have better sleep and sleep hygiene.
And it's a really good read. So if you struggle with your sleep, I would recommend, getting that book on Amazon, because sleep is so important. And again, I think it's an area that we. And it's an area that's so important, not just for us as adults, but for kids. I see it with my own kids. If [00:11:00] they do not sleep enough, they are so cranky and like different people.
As soon as they get enough sleep, they are totally different. And so we can think about that in relation to our students as well. I hear it often from students that they're staying up all night playing video games, , they're, you know, on their phones or whatever. And so I think that we can. Not only be good role models, but share information with families about the importance of sleep.
I actually have a free resource that you can get on my Instagram. , if you can click the link in my bio and it is a guide for parents on helping their kids get more sleep. So, , go to my Instagram beating educator burnout to get that. That can be really helpful because like I said sleep's not only important for you, but for your students as well.
So again, I just want to go back to my series. If you didn't listen to the other two episodes go back and listen. We talked about the importance of exercise and eating healthy. And you'll start to think about if you hear all three episodes themes that you hear. about just being healthy [00:12:00] overall. You know, it really helps with your physical health and your mental health and just prioritizing time for yourself is so important.
I cannot stress that enough. So if you're not taking the time yet and you don't have a self care routine of some kind, I want you to take that time, especially while it's summer or before you start school, but take that time to prioritize, to find a way to take care of yourself because you cannot pour from an empty cup.
You cannot take care of others. If you're not taking care of yourself, so you want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself so that you have lower stress, that that'll help with burnout when the school year gets tough and not saying that if you're getting sleep and you're eating healthy and you're exercising, that you're never going to be stressed and you're not going to experience burnout.
However, it is going to help reduce it and it is going to make it much better if it happens, because. You will be able to be more resilient and have the ability to bounce back than if you're not taking care of yourself. So I hope [00:13:00] you found this episode helpful today. Make sure that you , tune into the podcast next week and thank you for listening.
If you are a teacher who wants to overcome stress, burnout, and overwhelm, join me in the resilient educator academy.
This is such a great place to get group coaching Monday, motivation access to all of my courses, which I add new courses throughout the year, and just a supportive community of like-minded educators. Thank you so much for joining us today for another episode of the teacher burnout podcast, make sure to follow me on Instagram at Barb flowers, coaching.com. If you like the show, share this episode with a friend.
Keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life. According to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week and I'll see you back here next time.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [00:14:00] Yeah.