Teacher burnout toolkit

Awareness is key to identifying the early signs of teacher burnout. Make time to regularly check in with yourself. Use strategies such as journaling, meditation, or simply pausing to reflect.

When I reached a state of burnout, I didn’t know until after the experience, which was almost a year later. Having an awareness and understanding of stress, burnout and mental health is invaluable to understanding yourself. Since learning about burnout, the symptoms and consequences, I’ve become far more aware of what Is going on in my head and so can ensure I take a step back as and when I need to without the immense guilt I used to feel.

It’s important you take the time to learn about you and take time to ‘check in’ before you need it.

To combat teaching burnout, it's essential to protect your personal time and energy.

As educators, we must remember that we are only human. There is only so much we can do in the time we have. We need to balance both our work and our own lives, whilst also fitting in rest and relaxation. Every one of us will have a different version of what it means to have good wellbeing and a happy work-life balance.

Yet far too often, we put our students before ourselves, putting yourself before work is not wrong, as the old saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you are to look after and provide the best education for your students, you have to spend time refuelling and looking after your health and wellbeing too.

Take time doing the things you enjoy; spend time with family and friends, get outside and enjoy the world. Plan your holidays and weekends in advance so you’re not tempted to just work. Give yourself a break.

Generally speaking, teachers want to do the best for their students, they also want to be good at what they do. That means we sometimes take on more than we should.

Before my breakdown, I did everything I thought I had to do to succeed; yet too much of that work had little impact on student outcomes. Learning to question the purpose of tasks and other requests, has helped me to reduce my day-to-day workload.

If you’re asked to do something different or beyond the normal responsibilities of your role, question the request in relation to its purpose, impact on student outcomes and the time it will take to do. If the time vs impact is limited, consider alternatives and the necessity of the task, is it really required? Which leads me nicely onto tip 4…

It is okay to say you can’t do something, whether it’s due to limited time, an already huge to-do list or the limited impact it will have on student outcomes; Sometimes you just have to say “sorry, I can’t do that”.

Learning to say no to myself and to others, has been quite the learning curve, I’ve found it hard at times. However, learning to say no has been essential for my health, wellbeing and even sanity at times.

When you want the best for those around you, it can be hard to say no to things, but consider the impact, the time and your wellbeing.

If you feel like you might be reaching a point of burnout, perhaps you’re exhausted, emotional and easily agitated, take a day or two to recoup. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Whether it’s a school day that you take off sick, a weekend or school holiday; take the time to relax and recover when you need to.

It can be tempting to pack weekends with activities to keep yourself entertained so you don’t just work through them. It can be tempting to go to work even when you haven’t slept well and you can feel your eyes closing. It can be tempting to want to spend time entertaining family or friends but sometimes you need to take that break. Taking time to rest is a practical tool to avoid teacher burnout.

Burnt out teachers often feel isolated. Please make use of the support available to you. Sometimes it's hard to speak to people you are close to and even harder to speak to a stranger. They listen, support and can coach and guide to help you discover solutions that are best for you.  So remember the free and confidential helpline is here 24/7 throughout the UK on 08000 562561 for all education staff. Download this poster for your staffroom now!