4 Ways Teachers Can Take Back Their Mental Health

The world knows already that teaching is one of the most vital and generous professions. Parallel to that, the world also knows well that teaching remains one of the most stressful professions. Every year, a large number of educators quit their jobs or change their careers citing mental health issues. 

Teachers are increasingly changing their careers in the quest for professions that may turn out to be less stressful. It is unfortunate that a lot of teachers out there feel mentally drained and emotionally exhausted given the incessant stress. As a teacher, you deserve to be a lot more appreciated, joyful, and proud of what you do. 

However, when it comes to your mental health, there should certainly be no compromises. There is nothing more important than your wellness and your mental well-being is a very significant part of it. Besides, it is also true that no one else can look after your mental health like you can.

Having said that, this post emphasizes the need for setting some substantial boundaries in the best interest of your mental health. 

4 Boundaries That Are Essential For Your Mental Health 

1. Limit your availability for your students

As a teacher, you want to be available for your students around the clock. Needless to say, all teachers want to add immense value to the lives of their students in an amazingly selfless way. This is what makes teaching one of the noblest professions in the world. However, that does not mean you have to drain all your time and energy. 

If you do that, you will run out of fuel very soon and would not be able to add value to your student’s lives for the longest. To explain further, when you keep pushing yourself to the brink of burnout, you will lose your productivity and zeal much faster. Remember, looking after your mental health or anxiety is as significant as helping students overcome anxiety. 

Having said that, it is important that you set boundaries around yourself in the best interest of your mental health. Among these boundaries, the first one is to limit your availability. You need to clearly define a time of the day after which you are not willing to receive calls, emails, or texts from your students.

This is important so that you can distance yourself from the stress of being a teacher for a substantial part of the day. For instance, you should tell your students that you are not available to receive emails or calls from them after  4 PM unless it is something urgent. In this way, you can set a boundary and politely communicate the same to others. This will allow you to have more time for yourself. You can use this time for recreation or spend it with your family without any interruption. 

2. Unplug from work completely at the end of the day

We cannot deny the fact that virtual education is the way forward. The advent of virtual education may have been forced by the COVID-19 pandemic but it is here to stay forever. What is more important is that virtual learning arrangements have incredible benefits for both students and educators. 

However, it is also true that virtual learning arrangements make it complicated for teachers to unplug from work. Given the round the clock connectivity through technology, teachers struggle to unplug at the end of the day. Can you relate to this struggle? Most educators can, I am sure.

So, is there something you can do about it? Yes, you can set boundaries to deal with this issue and give yourself some personal space. You need to set boundaries in terms of not checking your official mailbox or official WhatsApp groups after a fixed time.

Let’s say you will not check your official mailbox after 4 PM and have that time to yourself.  In fact, you should log out from your official mailbox after 4 PM and put the official Whatsapp group on mute. 4 PM is just an example here, you can choose a time that suits you the best. 

Besides, it is equally important to convey the same to your colleagues and students. Tell them that they should rather call you if it is very urgent or you will attend to it the next day. The more effectively you can unplug after work the better it is for your mental health. Effective unplugging gives you that vital space to rejuvenate and start fresh the next day. That is exactly the key to self-improvement. Makes great sense, right?

3. Clearly defining the limits of your tolerance

As a teacher, you need to clearly establish the limits of tolerance whether it is about indiscipline from your students or your colleagues. Remind them that there are boundaries beyond which you will not take any misconduct from people.

Otherwise, if you do not set these boundaries, people will take you for granted and that will continue to have an impact on your mental health. It is a well-known fact that students’ indiscipline and nuisance can be one of the major stressors for teachers. In fact, that is one of the major reasons why teachers feel burned out and choose to walk out of the profession.

However, when you set boundaries, you define the norms very well. You need to give your students a clear impression that after a certain extent of indiscipline, you will not hold back from taking stringent action. The same goes for your colleagues guilty of bringing ethical issues into the workplace.

4. Limit your use of gadgets 

The last type of boundary you should think about is limiting the use of gadgets and devices. Binge-watching your favorite TV shows and series can definitely be a stress reliever, but too much is no good. You need to find more organic and wholesome ways of recreation that can actually replenish your mental health after a long work day. Exercise, taking a long walk, reading, spending time with family, and doing the things that you enjoy, can limit your time on devices and can help destress after a long day of teaching.

Your job is important, but your mental health is much more important. So, set these boundaries and take back your mental health starting today..

What boundaries do you set for your mental health? Share in the comments!

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6 Effective Stress Management Techniques for Teacher Well-Being

The Impact Of Stress & Anxiety On Educators

5 ways to Get Out of The Tired Teacher Rut

Stress Management for Teachers

About the Author: Jessica Robinson finds her peace in penning down intriguing and captivating blogs for her readers. So, she has been creating the finest pieces of content for over a decade while working at ‘The Speaking Polymath’.

Thanks for reading!