Am I doing this right? Did I do my lesson plans?  I respond back to Michelle’s mom, right?

Teach they said.

You’re a natural they say.

So why do I feel so drained?

Sound familiar!? Well, you’re not alone. After all, teaching is the profession that teaches all other professions. You navigate young minds daily to think outside the box, feel safe, most importantly guide and educate the future. While tending to meetings, parent-teacher conferences, then there’s your own family and life outside the classroom. I hear you.

The single most important advice I could give you is.. don’t forget about yourself! You’re probably saying yeah, easier said than done yes, but just think about it. How can you give your best if you haven’t slept, you’re eating poorly, not drinking enough water but surely more than enough coffee, you’re bound to crash! You’re irritable and exhausted. But now go mold minds and Billy’s mom is here again to discuss why he has a low test score. When’s happy hour again?

Teaching is a passion and like many teachers, I have pushed myself to the point of self-destruction from the inside and out. My mind would race at night about absolutely everything! John is supposed to be student of the week this week don’t forget, I need to find something more visually stimulating for Mary to understand multiplication, the staff meeting is on what day again? You finally dose off and BAM.. the alarm clock goes off. Here we go, again. Well in order to stay sane, you have to make changes and form different/new habits. Yeah, I’ll just snap my fingers and get right on it (sigh). You didn’t accumulate every task in one day and this is the same for forming new routines.  A study concluded it takes on average 66 days for new behavior/habit to become automatic. Sounds like just adding more to your daily plate right?! But if it is to benefit YOU is it?

Let’s start with this simple and effective task. Wake up earlier than the time needed for your day and give some time for yourself. Yeah, you! You deserve time for you as you give your time to others. Allow the amount of time you have as fits and change when needed with schedules. If you only have 20 minutes in your schedule then that’s the time you have to utilize. Start off by making a list daily of everything you need to get done on that day from most important to the least. This will also help with having a better understanding of how your day will proceed and the most important organization. Self-discipline is the key to LIFE! Now highlight three things that you must do today on your list and do this every day. Example: Take the kids to dance class, email a client, and go to the store for dinner this evening. Perfect, three things are now off that list and implemented in your brain for today. Allow a week to adjust to this new form of habit. Then maybe the following week you see on your list is to work out, slowly add that in. Great! Now the next week try another thing on your list. Maybe to eat healthier, and so on and so forth. Do whatever makes you remember who you are as a person and makes you feel good!

When you take care of yourself, teachers, then you are able to take care and mold our future with clarity and joy! Let’s be the change not only for them but YOU!

By Amanda Paez

Miami, Florida