Creating a Vision to Beat Teacher Burnout
37 Creating a Vision to Beat Teacher Burnout
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[00:00:00] 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, welcome to the Teacher Burnout Podcast. As we wrap up this year and get ready to start a new one, Now is the perfect time to reflect on what your successes were and what challenges you had this year. So in this episode, we're going to be talking about that in relation to burnout. So how can you evaluate the past year and establish goals that are going to mitigate burnout for the remainder of the school year?
School year because we're halfway into the school year, and so we still have plenty of time to make it a great rest of the year. And it's important to recognize that burnout [00:01:00] comes from your thoughts because your thoughts shape your feelings and your feelings shape your actions. This is everything I coach on where we have control of our actions based on how we think and how we feel.
So today I wanna guide you in changing your thinking for the new year. and empower you to have a more positive mindset as an educator and be someone who chooses to avoid burnout. So I'm going to share reflective questions to get you thinking about your own habits and areas of your life that could be leading to burnout.
So looking forward, it's time to not only set resolutions and goals for the new year, but to craft a vision. Having a vision is so important for both your personal and professional life. There's a lot of books out there and a lot of research that talks about how actually, Having a vision is how you can make something happen.
So really thinking about the vision and thinking about what you want to accomplish can help you accomplish it. So if you don't have a [00:02:00] vision, it's really hard to accomplish the things that you would like to do. And so today I'm going to help you really reflect and think about what you want to create for yourself. I want you to think about your life in both professional and personal capacities, because remember that it's all intertwined, and when you change in one area of your life, it impacts the other.
So it can create positive changes in both. many people kick off the year and they have resolutions and they want to make it a great new year, but research indicates the challenge of sustaining New Year's. Resolutions. A 2022 YouGov poll found 37 percent of Americans had resolutions for 2023, with 87 percent intending to keep those resolutions.
However, a poll from Forbes Health magazine revealed that on average, resolutions last only 3. 74 months. So if you really want to create lasting change in your life, [00:03:00] it needs to be a vision that you have and you continue to revisit and you're thinking about that vision all the time and crafting that vision in your head of what that's going to look like.
So today I'm going to pose reflection questions for you to think about as you finish the year and get ready to enter the new year. I'm also going to share previous podcast episodes where I cover each topic in greater depth. So this way, if you have areas in your life that you identify that you need to work on and that's something you really want to focus on for the new year, you can go back and listen to those podcast episodes.
So we're going to reflect today on the areas of boundaries. Self care, your thoughts about your teaching and students, and overwhelm. And as we think about these areas, and as we create a vision for your life, I want you to dream big. Your vision and goals should instill a sense of fear. The scarier they are, the better, because Discomfort is your catalyst for growth, so resist your temptation to just settle for goals that [00:04:00] you know you can attain really easily and aim high.
We want this to be a transformative journey. I want to help you with this and help you make significant positive change in your life. So even if you're in a place where you think I could never think positively about my teaching or I could never be more confident, Today, I want you to think about that you get to decide to create the life you want, which is a really exciting thought. So if you take that to heart and focus on what you can control in your life, you can change your life. You can change your thoughts. You can become a happier person, a more positive person, whatever you're striving to become.
We're going to start by reflecting on boundaries. So I want you to think about your work routine. How consistently were you able to leave on time and arrive at work on time and not have to stay late or come super early?
So how many days a week would you say that is, that you do that? Also consider your involvement in committees and volunteer activities. How many [00:05:00] committees did you take on during this past school year? Or even just past month, if there's um, seasonal committees, but how involved are you? And it's good to be involved, but are you more involved than normal?
Do you take on too much? do you volunteer to be on every committee that you can be on? So consider what your involvement is. in committees and volunteer activities. Evaluate how often you're working from home after regular school hours. So how often do you find yourself engaged in work related tasks during your personal time, whether that is in the evenings or on the weekends.
Evaluate how many days a week would you say that you're doing that. So if you discover that your boundaries are not well defined, which leads you to staying late at school or arriving early multiple times a week, and you notice that you are on every committee and every activity and you find yourself working all the time at home, it's probably a sign that you need to revisit and reinforce boundaries.
Because if you're working all day and then [00:06:00] coming home and working till late at night, You do not have clear boundaries and that is not sustainable. You are going to burn out. So setting clear boundaries is crucial for preventing burnout. And you might not feel the effects of that immediately, but over time.
So making sure that even if you're like, I'm not burnt out right now, even though I'm working all this time, or even though I'm staying after so many days, we're talking about sustaining this over a long period of time. And you can't work 60 hours a week. as a teacher and think that you're going to sustain that and not burn out eventually.
So I want you to really reflect on how much work you're doing outside of school, how long you're staying, how many extra activities you're doing so that you can really decide, are you doing too much? Are there areas you need to cut back on? Are there timeframes you need to put on your work so that you have better boundaries?
And if you go back to episode number five, I talked about setting boundaries. So if you struggle in this area, that's a great podcast [00:07:00] episode to check out. Also another area to reflect on is self care. So reflecting on your physical well being, how many days per week Do you dedicate to engaging in a workout or some sort of physical activity?
And it could just be walking with a friend. It could be, um, an actual workout that you're doing, or it could just be getting more physical movement. How often are you doing that? Look at your dietary habits. How many daily meals are you having that include healthy choices, that have vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, those things that we know we should be eating?
How often are you actually doing that? Do your meals consist of that? Do you meal prep so that you're eating healthier and you can make healthier choices easier when you're busy working? You know, what does your meals look like? Are you getting fast food all the time? So reflect on that and what do you want that to look like?
Also think about your daily routines. Do you have established morning or afternoon routines [00:08:00] specifically tailored for your self care needs? So, for example, with working out, having a routine where you work out is how you get workouts in every day. You have to schedule them to get them done. So do you have some sort of morning routine where you get up and stretch, do yoga, do a workout, or like I said, go for a walk after school with a friend, whatever that is, what daily routines do you have?
And then also reflect on your sleep pattern. So on average, how many hours of sleep are you getting each night? You know, we're supposed to, as adults, be getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Are you getting close to that? So really reflecting on how much sleep, because if you're going to bed each night at, Midnight, let's say, and getting up at five to do more work.
Your body is not getting enough sleep, and so over time, that's going to affect your health, so you really have to focus on making sure that you're getting enough sleep, and I talk about that. I have a four part self care series in episodes 18 through 21, [00:09:00] so go back and listen to that if you're interested in learning more about self care, but you have to acknowledge self care plays a crucial role in building your resilience so that when tough things happen, You are able to bounce back quicker, and self care is a huge topic in education because I think often we don't take care of ourselves enough, and then we work, work, work until we're burnt out, and at that point it's too late.
We have to acknowledge that self care plays a crucial role in building our resilience. Self care has been a huge topic with educators and it's because we don't spend enough time on our self care. Having resilience is going to allow you to bounce back more effectively from stressful situations.
So investing that time in self care is a valuable commitment. It is a good use of time. That pays off in the long run, contributing to your overall well being, because if you're not taking that time for self care, and I talk about this in those podcast episodes, it does affect your overall mental and [00:10:00] physical health, and so it's, you can either take the time to take care of yourself now, or eventually your body's going to tell you you have to, because you're going to be sick, or you're going to, you know, mentally just have, be burnt out and have a breakdown.
So, Taking the time now becoming more resilient is going to help you sustain your habits. It's going to help you just be able to be better functioning in your job and feel more positive. I also want to reflect on your thoughts about teaching and your students. So take time to reflect on your overall enthusiasm for work this year.
How many days per week did you genuinely look forward to getting up and going to teach? So, were you dreading every day? I know Mondays are hard for a lot of people, so, you know, we don't have to necessarily count Monday, but if every single day you're dreading going to work, and you get there, and you're still dreading it, how many days does that happen?
Really think about that. Reflect on that, and consider the positive moments you've had with your teaching this year. How [00:11:00] frequently did you take the time to celebrate achievements on positive events with your students? Students or within the classroom throughout the week. And if you don't do that, you need to start celebrating, celebrate micro wins, celebrate the small things that happen and really take the time now as the end of the year approaches of what great things have happened so far this school year.
You know, what are you really proud of? And think about those positive moments. What do you love about teaching? Because that's going to help you have positive thoughts about teaching and your students. Also reflect on your self perception as a teacher. Are you confident in your teaching abilities? Or do you find yourself that you're frequently having self doubt and you're questioning your own competency and you're questioning your own teaching abilities?
So thinking about that and your own confidence in your teaching. Because I find when talking with teachers a lot, teachers are burnt out because they're not confident in their abilities. They don't think they're a good teacher. And that's [00:12:00] exhausting. If you don't think you're a good teacher, you're always going to be trying to do more and more and more.
Instead of just focusing on what you're doing well, so I want you to really recognize the impact of your thoughts on how you enjoy teaching and your ability to avoid feelings of overwhelm or burnout and having confidence in your teaching abilities is a key factor in how you feel about your job. Think about that.
The more confident you are in anything that you do and your abilities, the more likely you enjoy that experience. You know, if you're confident in something, you, even if you look at a kid, they're confident, they're like, Oh, I love this. It feels so good to do this because they feel good at it. So same with teaching.
When you're confident in your teaching, it's going to be more exciting. It's going to feel better to do because teaching can really be a source of enjoyment and fulfillment when we believe in our skills and capabilities. But when we're constantly questioning Everything we're doing in our job, it's exhausting.
And so that could be an area you need to focus on is your confidence and your teaching [00:13:00] abilities. So in episode number 25, I talk about positive thoughts about teaching. And in episode number 31, I also talk about how to think differently about your hard to connect with students. So those are episodes to go revisit.
And another area I wanted to reflect on today was managing overwhelm. So, how frequently do you find yourself preoccupied with the variety of tasks you have to accomplish or new initiatives that you need to implement in your classroom? Are you focused on that all the time? If I need to do this, I need to implement this initiative, you know, how frequently are you doing that?
Also think about your collaboration with colleagues. Do you actively engage with them and feel comfortable asking for help when needed? You know, how do you handle overwhelm when it's happening? Do you employ stress management techniques, to navigate those challenging moments? Do you take a minute to breathe?
Do you make a list and really think about the things that you need to get done? You know, are [00:14:00] you focusing on your self care, all of these things? How are you actually managing that overwhelm? Because it happens to everybody, but it's all about our thoughts about overwhelm and how we manage it. How are you managing your time?
Are you effective in prioritizing tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed? So if you're not good with your time management skills, that could be an issue It's caught which is causing overwhelm because you feel like you're not productive and you're never getting ahead So I want you to also evaluate what routines you have in your life Do you have established routines that enhance both productivity at school and at home?
So I am a huge believer in having morning and evening routines because they are powerful tools that set the tone for success for your day. You know, the evening routine sets the tone for the next day. So does your morning routine. So having those routines in place, not only help in your personal life, but in your professional life.
And having routines at school can impact your productivity too. I had routines of [00:15:00] how I planned. I had routines of when I made copies. I had routines for everything I did and it just made the process of planning for the next week or doing assessments, gathering data, all that stuff so much easier because I made it routine where I did it, you know, on certain days at certain times and I just knew it was time to do it and I wouldn't forget about it.
So prioritizing routines can really help with feelings of overwhelm and have you cultivate a more structured and just productive daily experience. So in episodes number 8, I talk about time management. In episode 15, I talk about embracing imperfection because I think sometimes overwhelm comes with
having a perfection mentality and in episode number 28, I talk specifically about the topic of overwhelm. So go back and listen to those if you struggle with overwhelm. And if you are listening to this episode and you're driving or walking, doing other activities, I encourage you to go back and listen at a time when you can actually journal responses for each [00:16:00] area because my hope for you is that if you're struggling in any of these areas that I talked about that you make a choice to make 2020 for a better year.
Set goals that allow you to break free from overwhelm. You know, stop not setting boundaries. Start setting boundaries. Stop not taking care of yourself and start taking care of yourself. Get over the negative thoughts and start having positive thoughts. It's not easy. It takes work. It takes a lot of thought work.
But you can do it. You get to decide the type of teacher you want to be. You get to decide the type of person you want to be and how you want to feel. And the more you walk around with negative thinking about teaching, the more negative experience you're going to have. So just remember that you do have the choice to have a more positive teaching experience.
It's all about changing your thoughts. If you want more tips, go to my Instagram at Barb Flowers Coaching. [00:17:00] I also have a copy of my free teacher burnout assessment there. So if you click the link in my bio, you can get that free teacher burnout assessment. You can also click the link in the show notes.
I'll have it linked there as well.
If you want any help setting a vision and reaching your goals for the new year, please reach out to me for a free consultation. I would love the opportunity to help you achieve your goals and love teaching again. Because it's all about your thoughts and I'd love to help you create more positive thoughts.
So thanks for listening to this podcast. I hope you have a great week and a wonderful holiday break. Stay tuned for the next episode of the Teacher Burnout Podcast.
