Finding Balance as a Teacher: A Work in Progress
Finding balance is not an easy task for a teacher. The more we just say it’s important to have a good “work/life balance” or “practice self care,” the less impact they have.
The less we think about what it actually means to find balance in your life. It turns out, finding balance has been my saving grace this year. Finding balance as a teacher and a person might just help me continue on with teaching.
Reflecting on Balance
I have been reflecting on my relationship with the idea of balance. Comparing the first few years of my teaching career to the present day has been so interesting. Although I didn’t recognize it, I had very little balance in my life the first 5+ years of teaching. I loved my job and talked about it all the time; I just wasn’t thinking about the effect that had on my life.
I spent tons of time at work (after school and usually part of a weekend day) and work was always on my mind. Part of that extra time was simply because I was a new teacher and I was going through the process of learning so many new things.
However, I could have benefitted from implementing some boundaries and looking at the balance that was present (or not so present) in my life.
My Journey with Balance
My journey with balance improved a little bit here and there. Starting a family and having children meant I had to start finding ways to get work done more quickly. But it also meant I started bringing work home instead of finishing it before leaving school.
Progress is progress, though, and it felt good to switch from wearing the “teacher hat” to my “mama hat” everyday as I picked up my daughters from daycare.
Fast forward to our initial pandemic days and emergency virtual teaching threw away all the balance I had achieved over the years. All of a sudden I was trying to figure out how to teach online and provide feedback for 300+ students. Not. Enough. Hours. In. The. Day!
Forced to Find Balance
Ultimately, what we went through as teachers during the first years of the pandemic is what forced me to find a realistic balance in my life. When public perception of teachers went sour while the demands on our time and flexibility increased, it broke me. Almost every day it felt like I had nothing left to give.
Thankfully, I made it through and am solidly on the other side. Teachers have always operated under the premise of “we’ll figure it out” or “we’ll make it work.” At some point, this becomes impossible.
As I worked to rebuild and put myself back together, I found myself empowered to say “enough is enough” and “done is better than perfect.” No more working past contract hours (I don’t always meet this goal!), no more thinking about work all the time, no more feeling guilty for what didn’t get done today.
Is there another way?
I had no idea how freeing it could be to finally think about other things! Instead of thinking about what’s still left to do at work on the drive home, I started intentionally thinking about what I could do for myself that evening.
Was I excited to keep reading a particular book, did I want to get out for a walk or work on a knitting project? Thinking about and planning time for things I enjoy doing outside of work sure sounds like balance to me.
Life is less stressful now that I’ve found more balance. While my job is important to me, it doesn’t define who I am. Switching my focus from work to home has allowed those bad days to roll off my back. Students wouldn’t listen? Spent all day re-teaching behaviors? It simply doesn’t matter so much once I’m home and engaged with something else. Deciding to seek balance in my life has been so impactful.
So…how does one find balance in their life?
It definitely won’t magically appear. I have found that it has to be a choice I continually make for myself.
One place to start is accepting that you simply can’t do all the things.
Teachers are always coming up with creative and fun ideas but at some point there literally isn’t enough time to do it all. Additionally, teachers are kind and caring people. They generally want to help and say yes to the requests that are made of them. BUT, most often the time spent creating the new activity or attending another committee meeting is our own personal time.
When I started guarding my “yes-es” I realized that having unplanned time is so good for me! This unplanned time happens at school and at home. If I decide to not recreate the wheel or make a brand new review game, I might end up having time to plan ahead or finish grading something on Seesaw.
The same goes for at home. When I decided to step back from attending every PTO meeting, I gained an extra weeknight home with my family every month. It didn’t seem like such a huge commitment but those little things add up. And they can expand to additional responsibilities / projects.
I truly view the sense of balance in my life as an ongoing work in progress. My goal is to have balance more often than not. Some days I can leave work right away but other days I just can’t and that’s okay. Sometimes I find myself saying yes to a project I’m really excited about. (Scholastic Book Fair, anyone? I LOVE the book fair!) But, the important thing is understanding the time commitment and being prepared for a period of less balance.
One final thought about balance. We always talk about work/life balance…but what about balance at home? There’s nothing worse than working all day long only to get home and work all night long on household jobs. Finding a realistic balance between rest and household jobs is important as well.
Wherever you are in your relationship with balance, I encourage you to take some time to reflect. Make a list of things you enjoy doing, things that make you feel like your best self. If you haven’t done one of them in a long time, get to it!
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Switching from Teaching High School to Elementary
Finding balance is not an easy task for a teacher. The more we just say it’s important to have a good “work/life balance” or “practice self care,” the less impact they have.
The less we think about what it actually means to find balance in your life. It turns out, finding balance has been my saving grace this year. Finding balance as a teacher and a person might just help me continue on with teaching.
Reflecting on Balance
I have been reflecting on my relationship with the idea of balance. Comparing the first few years of my teaching career to the present day has been so interesting. Although I didn’t recognize it, I had very little balance in my life the first 5+ years of teaching. I loved my job and talked about it all the time; I just wasn’t thinking about the effect that had on my life.
I spent tons of time at work (after school and usually part of a weekend day) and work was always on my mind. Part of that extra time was simply because I was a new teacher and I was going through the process of learning so many new things.
However, I could have benefitted from implementing some boundaries and looking at the balance that was present (or not so present) in my life.
My Journey with Balance
My journey with balance improved a little bit here and there. Starting a family and having children meant I had to start finding ways to get work done more quickly. But it also meant I started bringing work home instead of finishing it before leaving school.
Progress is progress, though, and it felt good to switch from wearing the “teacher hat” to my “mama hat” everyday as I picked up my daughters from daycare.
Fast forward to our initial pandemic days and emergency virtual teaching threw away all the balance I had achieved over the years. All of a sudden I was trying to figure out how to teach online and provide feedback for 300+ students. Not. Enough. Hours. In. The. Day!
Forced to Find Balance
Ultimately, what we went through as teachers during the first years of the pandemic is what forced me to find a realistic balance in my life. When public perception of teachers went sour while the demands on our time and flexibility increased, it broke me. Almost every day it felt like I had nothing left to give.
Thankfully, I made it through and am solidly on the other side. Teachers have always operated under the premise of “we’ll figure it out” or “we’ll make it work.” At some point, this becomes impossible.
As I worked to rebuild and put myself back together, I found myself empowered to say “enough is enough” and “done is better than perfect.” No more working past contract hours (I don’t always meet this goal!), no more thinking about work all the time, no more feeling guilty for what didn’t get done today.
Is there another way?
I had no idea how freeing it could be to finally think about other things! Instead of thinking about what’s still left to do at work on the drive home, I started intentionally thinking about what I could do for myself that evening.
Was I excited to keep reading a particular book, did I want to get out for a walk or work on a knitting project? Thinking about and planning time for things I enjoy doing outside of work sure sounds like balance to me.
Life is less stressful now that I’ve found more balance. While my job is important to me, it doesn’t define who I am. Switching my focus from work to home has allowed those bad days to roll off my back. Students wouldn’t listen? Spent all day re-teaching behaviors? It simply doesn’t matter so much once I’m home and engaged with something else. Deciding to seek balance in my life has been so impactful.
So…how does one find balance in their life?
It definitely won’t magically appear. I have found that it has to be a choice I continually make for myself.
One place to start is accepting that you simply can’t do all the things.
Teachers are always coming up with creative and fun ideas but at some point there literally isn’t enough time to do it all. Additionally, teachers are kind and caring people. They generally want to help and say yes to the requests that are made of them. BUT, most often the time spent creating the new activity or attending another committee meeting is our own personal time.
When I started guarding my “yes-es” I realized that having unplanned time is so good for me! This unplanned time happens at school and at home. If I decide to not recreate the wheel or make a brand new review game, I might end up having time to plan ahead or finish grading something on Seesaw.
The same goes for at home. When I decided to step back from attending every PTO meeting, I gained an extra weeknight home with my family every month. It didn’t seem like such a huge commitment but those little things add up. And they can expand to additional responsibilities / projects.
I truly view the sense of balance in my life as an ongoing work in progress. My goal is to have balance more often than not. Some days I can leave work right away but other days I just can’t and that’s okay. Sometimes I find myself saying yes to a project I’m really excited about. (Scholastic Book Fair, anyone? I LOVE the book fair!) But, the important thing is understanding the time commitment and being prepared for a period of less balance.
One final thought about balance. We always talk about work/life balance…but what about balance at home? There’s nothing worse than working all day long only to get home and work all night long on household jobs. Finding a realistic balance between rest and household jobs is important as well.
Wherever you are in your relationship with balance, I encourage you to take some time to reflect. Make a list of things you enjoy doing, things that make you feel like your best self. If you haven’t done one of them in a long time, get to it!
This. Is. Hard.
Finding balance is not an easy task for a teacher. The more we just say it’s important to have a good “work/life balance” or “practice self care,” the less impact they have.
The less we think about what it actually means to find balance in your life. It turns out, finding balance has been my saving grace this year. Finding balance as a teacher and a person might just help me continue on with teaching.
Reflecting on Balance
I have been reflecting on my relationship with the idea of balance. Comparing the first few years of my teaching career to the present day has been so interesting. Although I didn’t recognize it, I had very little balance in my life the first 5+ years of teaching. I loved my job and talked about it all the time; I just wasn’t thinking about the effect that had on my life.
I spent tons of time at work (after school and usually part of a weekend day) and work was always on my mind. Part of that extra time was simply because I was a new teacher and I was going through the process of learning so many new things.
However, I could have benefitted from implementing some boundaries and looking at the balance that was present (or not so present) in my life.
My Journey with Balance
My journey with balance improved a little bit here and there. Starting a family and having children meant I had to start finding ways to get work done more quickly. But it also meant I started bringing work home instead of finishing it before leaving school.
Progress is progress, though, and it felt good to switch from wearing the “teacher hat” to my “mama hat” everyday as I picked up my daughters from daycare.
Fast forward to our initial pandemic days and emergency virtual teaching threw away all the balance I had achieved over the years. All of a sudden I was trying to figure out how to teach online and provide feedback for 300+ students. Not. Enough. Hours. In. The. Day!
Forced to Find Balance
Ultimately, what we went through as teachers during the first years of the pandemic is what forced me to find a realistic balance in my life. When public perception of teachers went sour while the demands on our time and flexibility increased, it broke me. Almost every day it felt like I had nothing left to give.
Thankfully, I made it through and am solidly on the other side. Teachers have always operated under the premise of “we’ll figure it out” or “we’ll make it work.” At some point, this becomes impossible.
As I worked to rebuild and put myself back together, I found myself empowered to say “enough is enough” and “done is better than perfect.” No more working past contract hours (I don’t always meet this goal!), no more thinking about work all the time, no more feeling guilty for what didn’t get done today.
Is there another way?
I had no idea how freeing it could be to finally think about other things! Instead of thinking about what’s still left to do at work on the drive home, I started intentionally thinking about what I could do for myself that evening.
Was I excited to keep reading a particular book, did I want to get out for a walk or work on a knitting project? Thinking about and planning time for things I enjoy doing outside of work sure sounds like balance to me.
Life is less stressful now that I’ve found more balance. While my job is important to me, it doesn’t define who I am. Switching my focus from work to home has allowed those bad days to roll off my back. Students wouldn’t listen? Spent all day re-teaching behaviors? It simply doesn’t matter so much once I’m home and engaged with something else. Deciding to seek balance in my life has been so impactful.
So…how does one find balance in their life?
It definitely won’t magically appear. I have found that it has to be a choice I continually make for myself.
One place to start is accepting that you simply can’t do all the things.
Teachers are always coming up with creative and fun ideas but at some point there literally isn’t enough time to do it all. Additionally, teachers are kind and caring people. They generally want to help and say yes to the requests that are made of them. BUT, most often the time spent creating the new activity or attending another committee meeting is our own personal time.
When I started guarding my “yes-es” I realized that having unplanned time is so good for me! This unplanned time happens at school and at home. If I decide to not recreate the wheel or make a brand new review game, I might end up having time to plan ahead or finish grading something on Seesaw.
The same goes for at home. When I decided to step back from attending every PTO meeting, I gained an extra weeknight home with my family every month. It didn’t seem like such a huge commitment but those little things add up. And they can expand to additional responsibilities / projects.
I truly view the sense of balance in my life as an ongoing work in progress. My goal is to have balance more often than not. Some days I can leave work right away but other days I just can’t and that’s okay. Sometimes I find myself saying yes to a project I’m really excited about. (Scholastic Book Fair, anyone? I LOVE the book fair!) But, the important thing is understanding the time commitment and being prepared for a period of less balance.
One final thought about balance. We always talk about work/life balance…but what about balance at home? There’s nothing worse than working all day long only to get home and work all night long on household jobs. Finding a realistic balance between rest and household jobs is important as well.
Wherever you are in your relationship with balance, I encourage you to take some time to reflect. Make a list of things you enjoy doing, things that make you feel like your best self. If you haven’t done one of them in a long time, get to it!