How To REDUCE STRESS IN THE CLASSROOM (AND BEYOND)

You’ve been in school for a few months now, and the work is beginning to pile up. Between lesson plans, grading, report cards, parent-teacher conferences, and your personal life, it’s easy to lose yourself in the never-ending “to do” list. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are some easy actions you can take to ease your stress and busy schedule:

1. Prioritize:

To do this well, you’ll need to be honest and realistic with yourself. Look at your commitments and daily schedule. Decide which activities, committees, and tasks are non-negotiable, and then take a hard look at everything else. Ask yourself questions such as: do you really have to grade every homework assignment? Or can you spot check occasionally and still have a pulse on where your students are? At home, can you cut out a TV show or two to give yourself extra free time (or simply to have time to sleep?).

Decide what’s important to you and be sure that these activities are part of your “non-negotiable” list. Even though certain items may seem unimportant because they don’t warrant emergency status, if there’s an activity that reinforces your core values, it would be beneficial to make time for this – as opposed to using time for things that are less important to you. You may be devoting precious time to commitments that have become more of a habit than something that you really need (or want) to do. Maybe you’ve over committed yourself and need to say no to activities or organizations until you get your schedule back under control.

2. Make time for yourself:

No matter how busy your life is, carve out time for yourself…and then guard it ferociously! Treat this time as you would any important appointment, and be sure to use that time to nourish yourself with activities that you like. You might decide to work out, take a nap, play an instrument, discover a new hobby, read, take a class… basically, anything that you enjoy will work!

Be sure to choose an amount of time and frequency that is realistic. For instance, you may feel that fifteen minutes a day works well with your
schedule, while someone else may decide to designate one hour every three days. What matters most is that you are being good to yourself, because then when you go into the classroom or spend time with friends and family, you’re a more pleasant (and interesting!) person to be around who has more to give.

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