How to Recharge After a Tough Year

If you’re anything like me, you need to recharge after a tough year. We teachers faced every curveball imaginable. Some of you may have ended the year without ever meeting your students in person. Others were in the classroom all year long, but had to navigate many restrictions in the classroom. No matter how you ended this past year, you are well-deserving of summer break!

Today, I am sharing three ways to rest after all of the chaos this school year threw our way. Use these tips to take better care of yourself this year!

Do Things That You Love

There are likely many things you haven’t had time to do this year that you miss. Reading for pleasure, doing puzzles, going on long walks, scheduling beauty appointments, etc. Make a point to make a list of things you want to do this summer to recharge. Then, take it a step further and put those things in your planner, on your phone calendar, etc. The same way you would write work tasks in your planner, I want you to write self care tasks down! Writing things down makes it more likely that you will do them. If you block off time in your day for doing things you love, you will thank yourself later.

Give Yourself Time to Heal

It can be tempting to rush into planning and preparing for the next school year, as soon as the last one is over. I want to urge you to give yourself space. For some, this past year was simply extra stressful. For others, it held true trauma. We were mourning the loss of so many things this year, while trying to help students navigate a ‘new normal’. The best thing for your mental health may be to take a good, long break from all school-related tasks. If you feel the guilt start to creep in that you ‘should’ be working on school work, give yourself permission to rest now, and work later!

Seek Support

When it comes time to get back into work, rely on the people in your building, or teachers online, for extra support. Some of you will be transitioning back to live teaching for the first time since early 2020. Others of you will be in tasked with re-inventing your room after a year of partitions and masks. The unique thing about this past school year, is that everyone faced it together. If the people in your building can’t help you think through a problem you’re facing, another teacher across the country likely has a great idea! The beauty of the online teaching space, is it’s so easy for us to connect and share. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, nervous, or all of the above, seek support from teachers facing similar challenges.

Use these tips to help you recharge after a tough year. We all know we need a break, but we also know we need to venture into next year with care. Prepare to find ways to protect your mental health throughout next school year, as well as this summer!

If you want to chat with me about easy ways to manage your time and students in the classroom, connect with me on Instagram! I love meeting teachers, and would love to find ways to support you this coming school year.