105. How to Give Yourself Permission to Take a Break during Hard Seasons in Teaching

[0:00] Hello, hello. It has been a while, but welcome back to the second season, episode 105 of the Resilient Teacher Podcast. It's been a while since I've been on, and so I want to talk about where I've been and connect it to maybe some of how you guys as teachers are feeling about summertime.

[0:16] I do want to say before I get started, I'm going to be mentioning death and grief in this episode. So if that's something that's difficult for you to hear at this time, then this might not be the best episode for you to listen to. However, there are 104 other ones that are great. And so make sure you go back and listen to those instead. As with a lot of the episodes that we do on this podcast.

[0:39] My goal is really just to learn and to grow together because just because I've beat burnout in the past, it doesn't mean that I don't have to be proactive every step of the way not to slip back. And it is very easy to slip back, might I say. Most importantly, I have a feeling that this episode is going to resonate with at least some of you in some capacity. I have found that when I am in a more challenging season of my life personally, I have a really, really hard time giving myself the permission to slow down or to put that new idea that I have on hold for now. And I have finally made some really great improvements in this this summer. I can still improve further, but I want to be able to share my experience with you guys in hopes that it might help you as well. I'll be talking about where I've been, where I'm going, and the five things that have helped me during this season and can probably help you too. Plus, this is a great Where Have You Been episode to bring in a brand new season. So let's not waste any time and let's get into it.

[1:49] So if I had to guess, I would say the majority of you who are listening are probably high achievers. And that could look really different. You could be a type A person, a type B person. You might do things six weeks in advance or the day something's due. Or you could fall into that category of you do either or, like me. But you might be different in that regard. But regardless, you're probably someone who is a high achiever. I think that a lot of us as teachers are, and also for some of you who have a family, a life outside of teaching, or at least you would like to, in addition to all of the things that you do, you really have to have a certain drive to keep all these things going. And having that aspiration to keep up with all of those things, that's amazing. And it's such a unique trait that I think we all have in us. But sometimes it comes at a cost, and that could be your mental health, your physical health, your relationships. I don't know if any of you feel this way, but I have a history of becoming a little bit obsessed about work. I've talked a little bit about this in some previous episodes, and on one hand, I think it's great because I really love what I do, and I think it's important to love what you do. too.

[3:05] That drive is the reason that I'm able to continue supporting teachers and the reason that my business is my business in the first place. But on the other hand, I struggle to pause or to stop when I need to. I check my email too much. I check my podcast downloads more than I'd like to admit. I check social media and scroll incessantly. I can't help myself sometimes from doing just one more thing before calling it quits at the end of the day. And so I have found that when I'm in a more challenging season of my life personally.

[3:45] I have a really hard time giving myself the permission to slow down or to put that new idea that I have on hold for now. Let me know if I'm the only person in the world who's like this. I have a feeling that I'm not. Many of you know, last year, I left the classroom full time so that I could support teachers through Teaching Mind, Body, and Soul and this podcast and move to instructional coaching part time. I wanted the freedom to do what I love to do, to support teachers, to educate, to speak exactly what I thought to help heal the system from the inside out. And truly, I just couldn't do that. Freely working inside of a school district in South Carolina. So...

[4:29] There's that. At the beginning of May, I was offered a position working closer in ed tech. And that's something that I had become really excited about, really interested in. I needed a change and I wanted to do something differently. So I really enjoyed diving into AI and education specifically. You guys know this if you've listened to the podcast at all. But at that exact same time, we learned that my 90-year-old grandmother's health was declining and she was placed in hospice. And at that point, I realized like this is one of those moments that I need to put my own oxygen mask on before helping other people. I was going to have to step back because I wasn't going to be worth anything to any of you here on the podcast or social media or specifically my family if I didn't take a step back. I am truly in a much better place than I was a couple of months ago. Letting go of some of the things for just two months just gave me the space to be with my family, to grieve the loss of my grandmother, to get back in the routine of moving my body and reading actual books and slowing down my mind and trying to learn how to live in the discomfort of not working 24-7, because it's truly just not easy to do that, right?

[5:47] And so if you're somebody who is going through a difficult season of your life right now, whether it's your marriage, whether it's some kind of loss you're experiencing or overwhelming feeling of burnout, I want you to know, it is truly OK to slow down. It is necessary to slow down. And you don't need that permission slip from me, but sometimes it just feels good to know that somebody's telling you it's OK to. There are areas in your life that you can put on pause, even if it doesn't feel like it. The things that I decided I needed to take off my plate was trying to be... Everything to everyone. I needed to take a step away from the podcast and from my own personal social media and reprioritize to try something new and fresh. Because sometimes the best ideas come from silence. And if I am completely honest, I was not allowing myself time for silence. I'd gone right back into the cycle of work, work, work, work, work, and no play, overdoing it and trying to be everything to everyone. And that is not sustainable. I know that. But it can creep up on you, right? Please let me know I'm not alone in this. I know that if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably a teacher who's done this exact same thing during the school year, right?

[7:11] I think we often get FOMO, or we worry that things won't be there when we come back. And that's just far from the truth. For you, it might be releasing yourself from working at the church all the time or some other hobby, or maybe picking up extra classes or tutoring. I truly believe that sometimes we need a break, even from the things that we love the most. I can say for me personally, it stopped being fun to record, even though I love it. I love supporting teachers. It is my passion. But it became stressful to come up with ideas and record and edit and produce. And just taking a break gave me such clarity and ideas and opportunity to see things from a different perspective. It's not always easy during the school year to say, Well, I'm just not going to do that, right? I'm just just not going to go to teach. Sometimes it's just, I'm not going to do that extra work. I'm not going to make things harder than they need to be. And when you're in summer, it can be used as a tool to get that clarity and perspective that you need.

[8:21] Second, the thing that I did that really helped me through the season, and that might help you if you're on the struggle bus too, is I didn't rush back in and I changed my routine. Now, if you're anything like me, change is scary. Being in a routine is comfy. You know what to expect. You can control it. But rushing right back in, you are likely to hop back on that same cycle. So for me, I changed up my mornings. I changed up my evenings. I played wiffle ball and soccer with my kids and my husband. I cooked dinner with my husband. I didn't work after 5 p.m. And that was hard because everything in my body said work so you don't think about the hurt of losing little Ma or work so you don't get behind. It can be hard for your body to take a break when it's been going for so long, but changing up your routine is magical. Maybe that's in your classroom. If you're listening to this when school has already started, maybe it's creating a new positive routine of a morning walk or a different set of routines for your students, something positive and different to get you out of your rut. The last thing that helped me through this time, was doing new things, like brand new things. I actually applied to cover ISTE, which is the International Society for Technology and Education Conference in Denver, Colorado.

[9:46] And I wanted to see what I could do, like if I could cover it as the Resilient Teacher Podcast. And so I wanted to see what technological changes were coming down the pipeline. I wanted to talk to teachers outside of my area in person. I wanted to network and to learn. And so I got to cover the event and do some interviews, which will be coming up. And it was such a breath of fresh air to leave the confinement of South Carolina, to experience the culture of a new place, and also to be in the room with so many inspiring educators. So I highly recommend, if you're in a tough season, get out of your comfort zone. You never know what doors it can open, what you'll learn. More on that to come. I will say, when I say try new things and get out of your comfort zone, I don't mean fill up that space that you freed up by taking a step back. Like, don't just fill up the hole. That's a coping mechanism. But just experience. Be present with the new things. I am really excited about this new content that I get to bring to you, not only with ISTE and technology and automation, the way that you can save time and energy, but also some really new stuff, some new friends.

[11:00] Taking this step away was truly just what I needed. And I'm not fixed. I'm a work in progress. So being proactive is important to not fall back into the trap. That's always the goal. But that's what we've got each other for, right? That's what we can talk about on this podcast. That's what we can share and learn together. Next week's episode is definitely one that you'll want to check out. So make sure you follow along on your favorite pod player so you never miss another episode. And remember, you are a resilient teacher. We're in this together. You got this.