Sustaining Yourself: Self-Care Habits to Start This Fall

Fall is here. You’ve made it through the honeymoon phase, your classroom routines are running like clockwork, and you’re tackling more demanding units and projects..

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment here, but let’s think ahead. Actually, start by looking back: How were you feeling at the end of last year? Disengaged? Overwhelmed? Isolated?

You don’t need to end the year feeling depleted — pushing yourself to work in that state is a fast track to burnout. 

When you plan for your students, you start with the end in mind and consider what they’ll need before they get there. You can do the same thing for yourself by thinking about what you can do now to make things easier for you in the future. Let’s put some of that October energy into self-care.

Why Self-Care (Still) Matters

If the idea of self-care makes you want to roll your eyes, that’s understandable. The term has become a buzzword that more often than not points to indulging in luxuries that most people don’t have time for, especially not while working a demanding job.

But consider the roots and purpose of the concept. French philosopher Michel Foucault wrote in 1984 about the ancient Greeks’ emphasis on “the care of the self.” Just a few years later in 1988, Black feminist activist Audre Lorde published A Burst of Light and described the importance of self-care to community activism and resistance.

Self-care began as the idea that knowing yourself and meeting your needs is essential to your ability to help or care for others. As teachers, we create welcoming spaces for our students. We anticipate their needs and stock supplies to make tough times easier for them. We learn about their families and balance sharing their wins with offering feedback and plans for improvement. We support our colleagues, whether we’re working in teams, co-facilitating after-school activities, or mentoring new teachers. And we do all of this while navigating the impact of current events on our students, school communities, and selves. 

Self-care helps everyone you care for — and it’s linked to physical health improvements. That’s way bigger than a buzzword.

How to Build Self-Care into Your Teaching Life Now

Shifting your routine to include more self-care opportunities doesn’t have to take too much of your time. Here are three tips for incorporating care into your days.

1. Make a plan for everyday self-care

Start by taking a look at your current routine and identifying opportunities to do something for yourself. Your schedule might seem completely packed, but even small windows of time matter. 

Next, make a list of everyday actions that help you relieve stress. Aim for low- to no-cost activities that are easy to incorporate into your day. For example, shorter days in late fall meant getting to school and leaving in the dark, so I gave myself five extra minutes to enjoy my coffee outside and see the sun in the morning, and took a short walk at the start of my lunch period. I couldn’t fit these moments into every day, but planning made them possible, and they provided literal and necessary breaths of fresh air as winter set in.

Think about what could let a little more light into your day. Stopping by a colleague’s classroom, tending to class plants, reading a book for a few minutes, or getting a coffee from a neighborhood shop are bite-sized self-care opportunities that you may be able to add to your day.

2. Prepare for rainy days ahead

I work with writers as a coach and community facilitator, and we often talk about being ready for writer’s block or distractions instead of getting derailed. Distractions are inevitable, and if we accept that and plan our responses, we can take them in stride. 

Maybe you and a colleague can agree to support each other when you’re dealing with a lot. You might need an extra walk outside or an after-work snack and venting session. Or you can let your family know that on tough days, you’re going to take a few minutes to decompress on your own. Put the plans in place now so you have them when you need them.

3. Know yourself and set yourself up for success

The “self” is a fundamental part of “self-care”; what works for one person isn’t necessarily going to feel good to you. Plan for yourself. Think about what you like and what rejuvenates you so you actually feel cared for and refreshed by these activities.

Also, think about how you function. If you know you’re not a morning person, consider how you can start the day more peacefully. Don’t expect dramatic changes. Work with yourself instead. One writer I work with, for instance, has recently started a new novel, and she created a plan for when she hit a rough patch at the beginning of the project. Knowing herself as a writer, she prepared for when she was most likely to struggle.

I often help writers come up with a menu of options that can keep them moving forward in a project, like fun writing prompts, artistic activities, even creating playlists for their books or characters. These choices make it easier to stick to a routine and stay energized. You can adapt this for your self-care, too. Create a self-care menu instead of planning a strict schedule. You can even add some fun and mystery by writing down options on notecards or popsicle sticks and drawing them at random to surprise yourself. The less pressure you put on yourself, the more likely you are to include self-care in your day. 

Take Care of  Yourself Like You Care for Others

Your students aren’t the only people in your classroom who need support, options, and breaks during the day. Taking care of your whole self now will better prepare you for challenges ahead.