Teaching demands your emotional energy, creativity, patience, and endless adaptability (also, here’s another initiative for you to squeeze into that workload). In the rush to support our students, we often neglect the one person who needs our attention most: ourselves.
I recently heard an educator assert the common misconception: self-care makes you think about massages. The main issue and the persistence of this myth is the difference between wellbeing and mental health. No to diss wellbeing, it’s an important factor in sustaining positive mental health outcomes. The problem is that wellbeing is often hijacked by influencers and marketing campaigns promoting yoga, weight loss, bright yellow shirts, peppy smiley humans and vitamin supplements.
To clarify, exercise and nutrition are valid and important strategies for maintaining good mental health. However, mental health is about acknowledging that things can get very difficult and very dark, and that’s ok. Mental health is about identifying when things get difficult and dark, and being willing to seek support.
Self-care for educators is the foundation of effective teaching. When you’re running on empty, you can’t have the same expectations for yourself. Sometimes, self-care can be as simple as putting on a clean shirt.
What is a self-care plan?
A self-care plan transforms vague intentions to take care of yourself into concrete actions you can use regularly and during times of peak stress. Think of it as your emergency toolkit. When you’re overwhelmed, exhausted, or frustrated, your plan gives you a clear path forward instead of leaving you scrambling for solutions in moments when you need them most. A real ‘here’s one I prepared earlier’ moment.
How do you build a self-care plan?
List activities that genuinely recharge you. Forget what influencers say you should do. What actually helps you relax? Maybe it’s a 20-minute walk during lunch, coffee with a friend, reorganising your Google Drive (don’t judge), or playing Candy Crush. Be honest about what works for you.
Decide on frequency. Some activities work best as daily habits (like chair yoga or turning off work emails on your phone on weekends), while others are saved for high-stress moments (like the 1000-step walk, or a call-in-sick day in bed watching movies).
Share it with someone you trust. When you’re drowning in grading or dealing with a difficult colleague interaction, you might forget your plan entirely. Tell a colleague, partner, or friend about your strategies so they can remind you, or even join you.
Adjust as you go. Your plan isn’t carved in stone. You may realise morning jogs don’t fit your schedule, but lunchtime walks do. Stay flexible and keep what works.
What’s on my self-care plan?
The daily workplace walk: I’m lucky enough to work on a beautiful campus filled with Australian natives, so I try to make sure I get out of the stale, tepid, fluorescent-lit atmosphere of the office every day.
Keeping on top of the home mess: If my home space is cluttered, my mind is frustrated and cluttered. I also have kids who love to drag out every possible combination of toys and play with everything at once. I have learned to find a balance between clutter and play, and I make sure that at the end of the day everything is in its place. It may not be ‘away’, but it’s in a space, and I don’t end up with critical injuries from floor Lego.
Write that fiery email: A lot of negative things can happen in the workplace. Sometimes you want ot fire off an email or two filled with expletives. Write it down. File it. Forget about it. Store it in a personal folder, not attached to your workplace. This helps me to process toxic people, stop ruminating, and move forward in a more meaningful and beneficial way.
Bringing self-care into your classroom
Once you’ve built your own plan, consider guiding students to create their own plans. Students face academic pressure, social challenges, family dynamics, and other stresses, and many lack the tools to manage this stress.
Dedicate a lesson to helping students identify what helps them feel calm and in control. Have them list activities they enjoy, discuss healthy versus unhealthy coping strategies, and create a simple self-care plan they can reference during exam season or personal difficulties. Encourage activities like taking walks, talking to friends, or listening to music. Remind them that self-care is essential. By modelling and teaching self-care, you’re giving students a skill that extends far beyond your classroom.
Protecting yourself
Remember the oxygen mask principle: you can’t help others if you can’t breathe. Self-care isn’t about massages, face masks and bubble baths (though those can be nice). It’s about consistently making choices that protect your mental and physical health so you can show up for yourself.