Personal Self Care is Professional Self Care: A Teacher’s Summer Survival Kit

By. Meredith Biesinger 

Self-care. We hear this term a lot these days, and decidedly so, it’s been a challenging year and a half. Self-care has been around for a long time, and those who take the time to do it reap the many positive mental, physical, and emotional benefits of it, in their lives. 

“I don’t have time for self-care.” The fact of the matter is that you need to take some time for yourself to be the best version of yourself and be an even better teacher! I know what you’re thinking. I don’t have much time for anything outside of my students, classroom, and personal or family life.” The verdict is in, and you do! 

Self-care doesn’t need to be time-consuming. Self-care is ANY action that you use to improve your health and overall well-being. Meaning, there are endless self-care options! 

Here are some simple ways to relax and invest back into yourself, both professionally and personally. 

Organize yourself. Organization is a form of self-care. By eliminating chaos in your classroom and your home, you’re eliminating unnecessary stress. Take the time to organize yourself. The Container Store offers a variety of options to manage everything from curriculum units to household items. 

As educators, we are on our feet all day long. Invest in a great pair of supportive and comfortable shoes. Check out Clarks, where there are styles and options for every type of foot and budget!

Sleep! Studies show that one of the best things we can do for our bodies is to get a good night’s sleep and enough of it! Purple wants to make sure teachers are getting the sleep they need. They invest the time and technology into your mattress so that you’re ready to conquer the classroom every day! They also offer fantastic teacher discounts. 

Take some time for self-reflection by going for a walk or journaling your thoughts. Remember that your students need self-care too! Try implementing journaling into your classroom to promote healthy self-care while practicing writing skills. 

Take some time for personal enrichment. Do you like to garden? Exercise? Play music? Read a non-school book? Whatever your hobbies and interests might be, remember that by investing in yourself, you are still investing in others that you care about, including your students. 

Whatever you decide to do, remember that self-care should also be on your daily to-do list along with grading papers!