Looking after your mental health as a teacher

Plan in time for the things that help you

Think about what helps lift your mood and gets you through stress, and plan extra time to do that. Whether it’s exercise, safe face-to-face or virtual time with friends, or protected time with family, try not to let these things go or sacrifice them. 

Keep up with the basics

Try and keep the basics going as much as you can – eating as well as you can, getting enough sleep and watching your caffeine and alcohol intake. Give yourself small rewards. 

Share how you're feeling with people you trust

Identify a group of people you can be honest and open with about your feelings. Partners, friends, or close colleagues will want to help, and mixing the group up means you can ask different people for different things. 

Share how you're feeling with your manager

If you can have a conversation with your manager or senior team about your worries, it might help them to understand and be part of your support team. If you can encourage the staff team to adopt the same messages or nurturing and reconnection, you’ll be doing with students, it can really help.

Keep things in perspective

Remember, this is a period of adjustment for everyone. You aren’t a superhero; you are one single professional in an unprecedented period of change. The rules will change, and the school community will learn and adapt, but only you can control the circumstances in your classroom today. 

Find small moments for yourself 

Try to keep in touch with how you feel and what, if anything, is a particular issue for you. Try and find a distraction technique to get you through difficult times. It might be headphones on the way in, a podcast in the car, or just five minutes of peace at lunch or break to do a meditation track or have a moment of fresh air. 

Approach others with kindness and an open mind

Don't judge others’ reactions too harshly – people have their own reasons, motivations and fears to contend with that we’re not aware of.

Note things you're grateful for

Keep a note of things you’re grateful for and things you’ve learned each day. You do this job for a reason – and why teaching and working with young people is so appealing may be even more important now, even though the challenges are tough.