The Teacher Burnout Podcast

Self Care for Educators Part #4: Cultivating a Healthy Mindset
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. [00:01:00] Today, we're going to be talking about self care for educators. It's part four of a four part series, and we're going to be talking about cultivating a healthy mindset. So a healthy mindset is your overall ability to think positively and be resilient to the things that happen in your life characteristics that people have who have a healthy mindset are the ability to be grateful.
A positive attitude, self compassion, flexibility, healthy boundaries. Optimism, self awareness, problem solving skills, and emotional regulation. Can you think of anyone who seems to have a healthy mindset? Someone who you've ever said they seem like they have it all together. They usually possess those kind of characteristics.
I know that people I think of that just seem like, you know, Things go smoothly for them, and things don't really bother them. They have a generally positive attitude, and they have healthy boundaries, and they're self aware, they're able to problem solve. [00:02:00] So these are attributes or characteristics of a healthy mindset.
And having a healthy mindset is super important because it lowers your risk of depression and anxiety. It gives you better coping skills during stressful times. So it builds up your resilience and it improves your ability to pay attention to focus and to solve problems faster. So if you want to know more about just positive thinking on its own, check out episode number seven, the power of positive thinking.
I talk a lot about why positive thinking is so important and negative thinking traps that we get stuck in. Also, I wanted to, I read this study from John Hopkins. So I wanted to bring this up because I thought it was so fascinating. And it said people with a family history of heart disease who also had a positive outlook were one third less likely to have a heart attack or other called cardiovascular event within five to 25 years than those with a more negative outlook.
And I just find that [00:03:00] fascinating because I think that sometimes we don't realize the power of. a positive mindset and working on our mindset. I mean, the fact that these people who have, you know, this family history of these diseases, they're less likely if they're more positive to get that. So, or at least they can postpone it.
So thinking about how much mindset impacts our physical and mental health is huge. And so this is an area I think that is important and we can spend more time talking about. So I want to start by talking about that. Strategies for cultivating a healthy mindset. So the first thing is to have gratitude.
And this is a huge one every day to show gratitude. So five things you are grateful for each morning and have five things you're grateful for each evening. And that's going to help you focus on the positive things in your life, because it's hard if you have a heart of gratitude to be negative. Because you're grateful for the things that you already have.
And if you have kids or a spouse, I would encourage you to do [00:04:00] gratitude with them as well and, and get everybody on board. What are things you're grateful for? It keeps you grounded in what you already have. Focus on that. instead of focusing on what you don't have. So that's the first tip. Second is journaling.
Journaling is such an important part of having a healthy mindset because it really helps you become self aware of your thoughts. You can write out, you know, what you're thinking. I know when I'm really upset, I like to journal and I can really see where my mind is going if I just let it go and I start writing.
Because journaling is when you're upset, it's just a way to get everything out. And then if you are worried about somebody reading your journal, you could always just write it down and then rip it up so that nobody finds it. But the biggest thing is just getting everything out on paper. And it's a great way to work through your emotions because you can see what you were thinking.
Maybe you can see where your emotions are coming from, what thoughts are causing those emotions. So journaling is really helpful for, for mindset. Also [00:05:00] setting boundaries with others. So having healthy boundaries is so important for a healthy mindset and being able to journal about areas in your life and maybe look at areas that you need to set boundaries because not having healthy boundaries is huge.
That's going to cause you stress. That's going to cause you overwhelmed. So make sure that, you know, looking at whatever stressing you out, that you're setting those healthy boundaries. Have self compassion. So practice self compassion and just remind yourself that you're human and everyone makes mistakes.
It's even another good journaling topic. So allow yourself not to be perfect and just know that you're going to make mistakes. And when you make a mistake, journal about it, reflect on it, talk through it with someone else. Give yourself some self compassion, learn from it, and move on. Meditation is a great practice for helping mindset.
So practice spending time where you allow yourself to not think about anything. And there are a lot of apps [00:06:00] for meditation. I've done Headspace, um, a few times. That's the one I use the most. However, if you practice taking a pause and being still, and then your thoughts come in your head, the biggest thing is that you notice those thoughts and you let them go.
And noticing, again, that you're human and thoughts are going to come in your head. You're going to think about what you need at the grocery store. You're going to think about what you need for dinner to get it ready. So notice those thoughts that come into your head and then let them go. So these all sound great, right, when we're in a good state of mind and it's easy to do.
It's definitely easier to do thought work and practice these strategies when you're in a good emotional state, when you're more positive. But what happens when the school year gets tough? So I wanted to talk about some strategies for when the school year gets tough because we all know that that happens.
And so, The number one thing that you always need to do is be aware of your emotions in any situation and what is bothering you. So being aware of your emotions and those thoughts that are [00:07:00] causing those emotions. So thinking about what's bothering you about the school year. Is it something in your control?
So that's the number one thought is, is it something that is in your classroom that you're able to control? Or is it something beyond your control? Is it something that you need to set a boundary around? You know, is it parents messaging you at times you don't want to get the messages? Do you need to set a boundary around that?
Is it that you're staying at school every night till six o'clock? So, be aware what is causing you to be upset, to be stressed? Think about what that is and be aware. Then I want you to reframe your thoughts. So focus on what you can control in the situation and change your thinking about it. So for me, a thought that I have during the school year that, you know, I know is when it becomes stressful is when there's a lot of behaviors, when I have a lot of things, planned that I need to do, like getting observations done, going to meetings, and then a lot of behaviors come to the office.
That can be really frustrating, [00:08:00] right? But that's part of my job as a principal is I'm dealing with those behaviors. And so where I've had to reframe my thinking is, you know, one, I've just had to take a deep breath and know that whatever I had scheduled is going to have to wait. Or if it's not a severe behavior, it can wait until after I do whatever I had scheduled.
But also thinking about what are the areas of this that I can control? So if a student at recess hits another student and they get sent to the office, I obviously can't control that One student hit another. But, you know, I can control how much supervision's out at recess. I can control, what expectations we've gone over with students.
You know, what expectations are put in place? How often are they stated? How often are we practicing and modeling them with students? So those are things I can control, but I can't get frustrated when it happens, and I can't actually control that situation. So, you know, looking at data, we've been able to Take our stressful situations and times of the year.
So for example, [00:09:00] October, we had a lot of behaviors coming in over the years. We've been able to be proactive knowing that October there's more behaviors. We've, like I said, more supervision, go over expectations more, maybe schedule more time that I can be outside. So there's just different things that we can do knowing.
Times of the school year that are more difficult, which is my next tip is being prepared for those difficult times of the school year. That way you can start planning ahead of time. So if you know that for you around conference times, it gets really stressful, then start planning those times early. You know, when it gets five weeks out from conferences, start preparing, even though that sounds super early.
That way, you know that you can do a little bit at a time. And this goes right along with my summer reset course that I have. And, I have the link to this in my bio on Instagram, but that's basically what we did in the summer reset courses. We reflected on the school year. What were the areas that stressed.
you know, educators out and then [00:10:00] create an action plan to be prepared for the following school year so that you're not getting burnt out. You're not getting stressed out about the same things. We know what's stressful, so let's change it. Let's make an action plan to make it better for next time. My next tip is to know and own it when you're being negative.
So think about when you're negative. Is it helping or hurting the situation? Are you just complaining about the problem? Or are you finding a solution? So I want you to think about that because sometimes I think we go to others and we think that we're venting, but all we're doing is complaining about the problem and then it's feeding into other people complaining about the problem instead of finding a solution.
So one strategy I want to give you For this is called using and statements and this comes from dr. Maria Surwa. This is actually on the body platform There's a mindset area and she talks about using and statements and after you have a negative statement You use and and say to neutral or positive statements after but it has to those [00:11:00] neutral or positive Statements has to be something you believe so an example of this would be I'm so overwhelmed right now I have so much to do and I can focus on doing my best and taking it one thing at a time.
So the negative thought there is you're overwhelmed right now. You have so much to do. But I reframe that by focusing on doing my best and taking it one thing at a time. Another example would be, my students test scores were terrible and I'm going to ask another teacher for help and I'm going to try new instructional strategies.
So if you're feeling like your test scores were really bad, here's two positive or neutral strategies that can help. So that's something that you want to try instead of thinking about the negative so much, reframing so that you can come up with a solution. Also, I want to remind you, don't be so hard on yourself.
And I know that's easier said than done, but I think often we are so hard on ourselves and we expect perfection. And I think that we need [00:12:00] to remember to have a healthy mindset that we're human. We're going to make mistakes. And the biggest thing is that we learn from those mistakes. So. Don't forget how important that is to just remember that you're going to make a mistake and just learn from that and move on.
And the last thing I just want to remind you, I, I touched on this briefly, but you want to seek support and, you know, help when things get tough during the school year. That's important. That's what teams are for. That's what colleagues are for. You know, that's what you have administration for. But just be careful about the type of support you're seeking.
Are you looking for someone to validate you and your negative mindset? Or are you looking to grow and get out of that mindset? So be willing, if you're asking somebody for help or you're wanting that support, To ask for feedback and recognize the negativity and even address it. You know, I feel myself being negative.
Can you give me help or suggestions on how I can get out of my own mind on this? Because just complaining about something isn't going to [00:13:00] make it better and it's only going to make us feel worse. And that's going to not help us have that healthy mindset. So this is the last episode as part of our self care series for educators.
So if you didn't listen to the other three episodes, I encourage you to go back and listen. So we talked about the importance of exercising. We talked about prioritizing, eating healthy and sleep. And all three of these areas are so crucial to being the healthiest version of yourself, both mentally and physically.
So these are just such important components to, you know, being healthy Being able to be resilient and have the skills you need. So that when teaching and education gets really hard, you're going to be resilient and be able to fight back to that stress and that burnout in a more productive way than if you're not taking care of yourself.
So I hope today was helpful. I hope you found some takeaways that you can use to have a healthier mindset. And if you're interested in being part of one of my exercise [00:14:00] accountability groups, Or if you'd like help creating a self care plan, send me a message on my Instagram at beating educator burnout.
I would love to help you in any way with that. I also have a free group starting on July 31st. We're going to be focusing on self care in relation to nutrition, just good nutrition habits and things we can do to eat healthier as we get ready to start the school year. So thank you for listening to this episode.
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.
[00:15:00] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.