New Teacher Self-Care: A Practical Plan You Can Start Tomorrow

Self-Care Requires Dedication and a Plan

As a new teacher, you can find yourself in a vicious cycle of “teach all day” followed by “work all evening”.  Instead of relaxing after dinner, you lesson plan, create lesson materials, and churn through grading that can be never-ending if you let it.  (To read more about streamlining your grading systems, take a look at our article on that topic.)  Educators are so busy that the concept of teacher self-care is almost a meme.  Or maybe it already is, I haven’t had time to check.   

If there is a secret, here it is: Teacher self-care requires dedication like nothing you may have experienced before.  

The Expectation of “Teacher Selflessness”  

Teaching comes with an unspoken expectation of selflessness that doesn’t necessarily promote teacher well-being.  Educators are explicitly and implicitly told every day to prioritize our students.  “The students come first” is the motto of many schools and has become the de facto expectation of parents and society at large toward teachers. 

From the perspective of an administrator, I’m looking for teachers who have a balanced approach to the job.  Yes, we expect that you will work hard for your students.  But I also want you to set boundaries and prioritize yourself.  It doesn’t benefit students when teachers work to exhaustion and burnout.  

I want the teachers in my building to be happy on a personal level.  That means they take time to pursue interests outside of school.  I believe this mindset makes teachers better in the classroom and I think happier people make better teachers. In fact, evidence supports the notion that happier people are typically healthier–which means fewer days trying to create emergency lesson plans and asking the office to scramble for a substitute. 

I see prioritizing teacher self-care in two parts.

1. Make a conscious choice to focus on self-care.  
2. Engage in activities outside of school that energize and refresh you.  

Doing both of these things on a daily and weekly basis will keep you healthy, rejuvenated, and able to best serve students. 

“I’m Too Busy for Self-Care”

I often hear educators remark on how busy they are.  I get that.  When I am stressed and overwhelmed with work it is frustrating to hear someone tell me to turn off my computer for the next two days in a “digital cleanse.”  At times, shutting the laptop translates to more stress as I visualize the work and emails piling up.

Some Moments Are Busy

The truth is there are times in the school year, and even years themselves throughout a career, that are busier than others. There are times when we are on our computers more, we are planning curriculum more, and we are on campus more.  

But that does not mean that we should completely ignore self-care or neglect time for ourselves–it just has to be done strategically.  Here is how you can do it guilt-free and feel better in the process.

Break your self-care into three micro chunks per day, something in the morning, on your prep, and after school. 

Self-Care Micro Chunks

Morning Self-Care

Teaching is an early profession.  Faculty are on campus by 7:30 a.m., which makes hour-long gym workouts, for example, pretty unrealistic for most of us in the morning.  However, I have found that the benefits of waking up just 10 minutes early are worth the few minutes I lose sleep.  For me, sleeping later means a hurried morning as I try to get out of the house. 

Rushing to get ready is not a calming way to start the morning.  Giving myself those few extra minutes each morning puts me in the right frame of mind to take on the day.  Most days for me that means using the time to stretch, sometimes to meditate, or other days to simply have a cup of tea or coffee in a proper cup rather than a to-go mug. 

Self-Care On Your Prep Period

Your prep period is the perfect mid-day opportunity to recharge.  Just like in the morning, grant yourself 10 minutes to recharge.  My favorite way to do this is by walking around the campus.  It gives me a chance to get outside and see other parts of the campus.  I often have a quick conversation with another adult.  If that does not work for you, use that time in another way that prioritizes you.  Be mindful of those minutes; honor them daily.  The point is to take that time for yourself and, in so doing, you will be more productive as you tackle the rest of your day.

Lunch Self-Care

Let’s leave lunch off of the self-care schedule.  For many teachers, lunch is filled with students coming in for help, meetings, or other events that take up your time.  If lunch is a good time for you, by all means, take the entire time for yourself.  Take that time to actually eat, rather than working through it.  

Ideally, you can eat with other adults.  It makes a huge difference to use some of your self-care time to engage with others.  This helps you settle more deeply into the community, which positively affects how you view your school and your place in it.

After School Self-Care

Choose one evening ritual that will continue your self-care.  As I mentioned above, I believe taking a walk is one of the greatest things you can do for yourself.  You are outside, you are active, and your brain is able to recharge.  

Whenever I am stuck on a problem, I take a walk.  Often an idea will appear.  At the very least, I feel more clarity around the matter.  Even on days when I have work waiting for me after dinner, I refresh myself with a walk before starting.  

For others, journaling, drawing, or doing some other creative pursuit may be the best way to engage in self-care.  Maybe your self-care involves other people: perhaps a daily beverage with your roommate or you and your partner prep a meal together.  

Your daily goal is to systematically take 10 to 60 minutes throughout the day to separate yourself from the job.  It takes dedication.  And it’s easy to fall victim to a busy schedule.  Paying attention to your needs gives you the space to be more positive and motivated for your job.

Weekend Self-Care

Once you have established self-care throughout your day in microdoses, begin setting aside a larger chunk of time each weekend for yourself.  Don’t allow entire weekends to be filled solely with lesson planning and grading.  

Again, be mindful about scheduling time for yourself.  At the end of each work week, take a few minutes (maybe the 10 minutes of self-care on your Friday prep period) and plan blocks of work-free time that weekend.  Engage in a hobby, binge-watch your favorite Netflix series, or spend time with friends.  Weekend activities are meant to recharge you for the coming week.  

As educators, we understand there will inevitably be work on weekends.  But be sure to schedule time for yourself that is “off-duty”.  This strategy will help you be guilt-free during your personal time as opposed to constantly thinking about the work. 

Self-Care is a Form of Preparation

I often think of teacher self-care as a form of preparation.  Any profession that involves someone being a public face requires a large degree of preparation and, often, practice.  Athletes, actors, lawyers, and politicians, all have to prepare before stepping onto whatever their chosen stage is.  That practice is not just professional but also personal or mental.  By practicing self-care throughout the day and prioritizing time for yourself throughout the week, you are helping yourself mentally prepare and become mentally stronger to take on the work that you do. 

Amanda Melsby has been a professional educator for 20 years.  She taught English before working as an assistant principal and later as a high school principal.  Amanda holds an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Leadership and is currently a dean of teaching and learning.