Feeling overwhelmed as a teacher? Watch this video for practical steps to overcome teacher overwhelm, align with your values, and regain balance in your teaching career. Today, we're going to tackle this beast of overwhelm together with actionable steps to regain control. We'll start by getting clear on your values and identifying the root causes of your stress. Then, we'll conduct a time audit to understand where your precious hours are going and reflect on this audit to understand which systems need tweaking.
Feeling overwhelmed as a teacher? Watch this video for practical steps to overcome teacher overwhelm, align with your values, and regain balance in your teaching career. Today, we're going to tackle this beast of overwhelm together with actionable steps to regain control. We'll start by getting clear on your values and identifying the root causes of your stress. Then, we'll conduct a time audit to understand where your precious hours are going and reflect on this audit to understand which systems need tweaking.
So you've started off the school year and you're starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed. It feels like with each new day and each new meeting, more and more is being added to your plate. You have no time during the day to get everything done, so you're starting to bring work home and you're working late into every evening and, dare I say, even into the weekends. You secretly feel frustrated and guilty that you're spending so much time on your job that you're not spending time with your family or friends or pursuing those hobbies that you used to love. You finally reach that point where you're thinking enough is enough and you just can't take it anymore. So now you are researching and seeking out advice online, secretly hoping that this isn't how your first year of teaching has to go. If this is you, then you are exactly where you need to be, because today we are going to be talking about what steps you should take if you are ready to beat teacher overwhelm once and for all. So, with that being said, let's dive in. Hey, teacher Bestie. My name is Helena and I'm the creator of the Present Teacher podcast. I'm a first year teacher coach and in this podcast you are going to learn everything from simple, actual classroom management, social learning and teacher wellness strategies. You know that impact you want to make in the classroom, or we're going to make it happen here.
Speaker 1:So there are several different steps when it comes to beating teacher overwhelm, and the first one is to validate. By validating I mean that validating your feelings are valid, but also that it is possible for you to to have a year where you're not feeling overwhelmed constantly. You see, teachers often put pressure on themselves to be perfect all the time, but the truth is it's okay to feel overwhelmed. In fact, you're just like the rest of us. Your feelings are valid and you are so close to the painting that you can't see the frame, if you know what I mean. So what you may not realize is a lot of teachers are struggling with this too. Let me give you an example. A couple of years ago, I was talking to five first year teachers and all of them said that they were struggling with burnout, and what this looked like for most of them was they were working late, often times over the weekend, and they were secretly wondering if this was normal. But they didn't have a lot of first year teachers in their building to ask. They didn't know that there was another way and they thought this was the way that first year teaching, or your first couple years of teaching, had to be.
Speaker 1:And it, honestly, this story reminds me of my personal story. You see, six years ago, when I started teaching, I was so excited to get started. I wanted to be a teacher, since I was six years old and I graduated with my master's and end when I was 21 and I set out across the United States to settle down and start my first teaching career in a small town in New Mexico. You see, there was just one problem that October I realized that I was looking around. I still remember I was looking around my classroom and thinking to myself this wasn't what teaching was supposed to be. I had never thought that this was how it was supposed to be or that it was going to be this hard. I went through all this work to get my degree and little did I know that all the work I had to do once I actually got my degree was almost double the amount of work I had to do in college to get there in the first place. You see, I was the first car there and oftentimes I was the last car to leave and I finally had this dead moment at graduation.
Speaker 1:You've probably heard this story before if you've been around my channel a lot, but I was watching my little kindergartners graduate during their kindergarten graduation at the end of my first year of teaching, and I remember them walking across the gymnasium with their diplomas in a hand and I started to tear up. Now you might think I was tearing up because I was so happy and proud, but it was actually the opposite. In that moment I felt defeated. I felt like a failure. I felt like I had failed my kids and I had failed me, and that teaching was nothing like I had expected it to be. And if this is what teaching was supposed to be like, then I couldn't continue on anymore and I decided in that moment I was never going to go through this again. I was going to give it one more year and do my best to learn the systems to make teaching fun again and to enjoy it and be that teacher I knew I was capable of being, so that summer I got to work and I started learning the systems to being a successful teacher. That way I could be in the moment and actually teach my kids instead of doing that to-do list that I had to check on the back of my mind so I could build relationship and change lives. And I'm proud to say not only did I find a way on how to do that, I actually learned that other teachers were struggling with that too, and now I am so grateful that I get paid to help other teachers do the same. You see, I've helped thousands of teachers online learn the systems to confidently show up as the teacher they know that they are capable of being, and I'm here to tell you that if I can overcome teacher overwhelm, then you can too. I'm no one special, I'm just an average teacher, and if I can do it, and if hundreds and thousands of other teachers can do it, so can you too.
Speaker 1:This also reminds me of another coworker slash client I had, and you see she was an elementary teacher and she was always staying late to get things done and she felt overwhelmed and she felt obligated to stay late and she was only working out maybe one week at a time. She felt like she could barely keep her head above water or to-do list with piling up and she was just not showing up in the classroom the way that she knew she was capable of doing, so she missed time with her family and she wondered how others were able to get it done too. That's when we started working together, and now she's leaving on time every day. She doesn't have to stay late unless she wants to, and she has all the major stuff done, like lesson planning, collecting data, grading all those things before the upcoming week. Now she has the next week planned out in advance and she doesn't have to stay late. In fact, she's spending time with her family, going to concerts and just enjoying life outside of teaching, while still showing up and knowing she's making an impact every single day. And if she can do it, so can you.
Speaker 1:The point is, surround yourself with stories of people who have accomplished it. If they can do it, so can you. And whenever you feel yourself starting to feel overwhelmed, start looking for those stories of other teachers who have made it possible to enjoy this profession without feeling overwhelmed. Also, don't forget to validate your feelings that it's okay to feel upset, it's okay to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Take some space to honor and validate those feelings without judgment, and remember that your feelings are valid, and don't forget to honor them. The second thing you're gonna wanna do. Once you've taken some time to validate your feelings and surround yourself with other teachers who have overcame teacher overwhelm, overcome teacher overwhelm, the next thing you're gonna wanna do is you're gonna wanna get clear on your values. Now. Your values are like your North Star that guide you to becoming that teacher you secretly know you are capable of being.
Speaker 1:These values can be things that you do agree with other teachers and often times, the opposite of what you don't agree with with other teachers. So, in order to figure out your values, some things you can do is think of some stories or some teachers that you admire. What did you like about them? Often times, what we see in others are things that we want to see in ourselves. So if you like that about someone, often times it's something you want to have as a characteristic of yourself. So this could be teachers who are super engaging teachers, who are super authentic, stuff like that. But think of different teachers or mentors in your life that you really liked and respected and think of what values they might have.
Speaker 1:Another way to figure out your values is to think of stories or teachers who did things that you didn't necessarily agree with, whether that was yelling at their kids working crazy amount of hours, whatever it is. Think of what the opposite of that would be. So, for example, if I had a teacher who was constantly yelling at her kids, an opposite value I might have is to be calm and collected, and that is actually one of my values. Is you take stories from other teachers or things that you didn't necessarily agree with and you make them your own and make them some of your values. In general, I highly recommend creating anywhere from three to five values, because you don't want to forget these, and these are going to be something that you consistently strive for. So an example of some values could be being present or in the moment authentic, calm and engaging. Use these values to help guide you into becoming that teacher you know you are capable of being. Now you might be wondering why on earth is this important? Well, here's the hard truth. Sometimes, some things that you do aren't going to align with your values, and what you want to do is save time by working on those things that are going to get you closer to being that teacher you are capable of being. So ask yourself, as you do things in your classroom, as you are going throughout your day, ask yourself is does this align with my values or is this aligning with society's values? Does this get me closer to being the teacher I want to be, or do I feel obligated to do this because everyone else does, and cut those out immediately, because, at the end of the day, what's most important is being the teacher you know you are capable of being, instead of being the teacher that everyone else wants you to be.
Speaker 1:The third step, after you've come up with your values, to beating teacher overwhelm is to be aware and have a general awareness. So you don't know there's a problem until you are aware of it. That goes with this too. So, as you move throughout your day without judgment, go out, go throughout your day and take inventory of what is overwhelming you. For example, let's say you spend hours after school prepping that cute activity that's only going to take 15 minutes for your students to do. That's not aligned with your values, but everyone else is doing it. Ask yourself does this align with my values? Is this getting me closer to being the teacher I want to be, or is this getting me closer to the teacher that everyone else wants me to be? Is this something I can leave out or is it something I need to keep to get me closer to being that teacher I want to become in the future? So use this strategy to help you become closer and use your values to get closer to being that teacher you know you are striving to become the next step after you have an awareness of what's overwhelming you, and I recommend making a list in general of the things that are overwhelming you that you can cut out or keep.
Speaker 1:One thing that'll help you do that is this next step, number four, which is a time audit, and I recommend doing this for an entire week. So, in order to do this, take inventory of what tasks you are doing throughout the week and how long it is taking you. Things to audit that I highly recommend auditing are lesson planning, prepping, grading, community showing families, admin and coworkers, printing out resources, gathering resources. Take some time to go throughout your week and lock how many minutes you're using a week to get those tasks done. Figure out what you're spending most of your time on. If you want to done for you time audit that you can just plug in, play and go, I want to invite you to go download the free prep like a pro of first year teacher guide which walks you through step by step how to manage your time inside and out of your prep, and it also includes a time audit, like I mentioned, that you can just plug in and go. So you can go to the present teacher dot com slash time or you can go to the link below in the description to download it now. But essentially it takes some time to go through your time audit and audit your time how much time are you spending on things? And that you might quickly discover some patterns of why you're feeling overwhelmed. Maybe you're spending a lot of time on things that don't really matter or you're not really focusing on the right things. All of this leads up to step number five, which is a reflection.
Speaker 1:After you've done your time audit, the next step is to figure out what's working and what's not. A common saying I love, which is do more of what works, do less of what doesn't. Ask yourself what are you spending the most time on? Which items am I spending the least amount of time on? What system should I focus on to being more efficient? Now, one thing as a coach for first year teachers that I have found is in general, there are about six systems that every teacher has in their career, that I created an actual framework called the thriving teacher framework around, and here are some different systems, those six systems that generally most teachers have, and that includes classroom management, communication, classroom organization, data planning and teacher wellness.
Speaker 1:Now, these six systems are things that you might notice in your time audit that you need to either spend more time on or less time on, or maybe you just need to make them more efficient. But ask yourself, which of these systems are you spending the most time on that you want to make more efficient, meaning quicker to get done in less amount of time. With that being said, a little disclaimer. You might fall into the trap of trying to fix everything at once. That's a big mistake a lot of teachers make. Instead, focus on one of these systems at a time and make it better and stronger.
Speaker 1:Once you build out one system, you can then move on to the next. So, for example, in my time audit, if I notice that I'm spending anywhere from six to eight hours a week lesson planning for the upcoming week, I'm going to really focus on the next month on getting faster and more efficient on lesson planning and creating that system, so then I can build off of it and maybe even get two to three weeks out on my lesson learning in the same amount of time, because the more you practice and work on something, the better you will become at it. If you want to learn more about how to create these systems, so they are on autopilot and you don't have to think about them and you can have an easier time in the classroom without feeling overwhelmed, I want to invite you, with your permission, to come join us inside the Ready Set Prep, a three-day challenge for new teachers, and inside this challenge I walk you through how to maximize your work prep confidently to get more done in a shorter amount of time. And from there, with your permission, if you feel like this is a yes, I want to continue working with you. You'll get invited to join the Leaving Work on Time program, where I've helped clients that I mentioned earlier consistently get their work done weeks out in advance without giving up their family time or their weekends to do it in a short amount of time. So that wraps up the five things you should be doing if you are feeling teacher overwhelmed and how to beat it.
Speaker 1:So let's go ahead and review what those five steps were. The first one was to validate. Validate not only your feelings that it's okay to feel overwhelmed, but also surround yourself with other teachers who are experiencing similar things and have overcome that, because if they can do it, so can you. The second thing is to get clear on your values. When you're clear on your values, you are cutting out half the amount of things you are doing most of the time, because then you are doing stuff that's getting you closer to being the teacher that you want to be, instead of doing all the extra fluff that many of us do when we first start teaching, because everyone, because we think it's cool or it's what the rest of the world is doing. The third step is to have build that awareness, awareness of what the problem is. Make a list of things that are overwhelming at you and take some time to cut out those things, especially if they're not necessary and they don't align with your values. The fourth thing is to do a time audit. Get clear on how much time you're spending throughout your week getting stuff done and pick one system to work on and perfect that until it becomes a natural habit and you can move on to another one. The next thing is reflection, reflect on that time audit, figure out which system you want to work on, work on it for a couple months, a month or two, and then move on to the next thing.
Speaker 1:With all of that being said, I have a quick call to action for you.
Speaker 1:If you want to continue this conversation with me, I would link to invite you, with your permission, to go download Prep Like a Pro, a first year teacher's guide, and this is a step by step process on how to maximize your prep.
Speaker 1:But if you want more support and you want more live 101 support from me you can join the Ready Set Prep three day challenge for new teachers where I walk you through everything you need to know to confidently cut back the overwhelm in just three days. I'll make sure to link both in the show notes below, and they're both free. With all that being said, I want to leave you on this note, which is teaching can feel overwhelming, and if you are feeling this way, your feelings are valid. You're not alone. In fact, I can almost guarantee that every single teacher has felt that way too, and I'm not saying that to diminish your feelings, but to validate them that if we are able to overcome the teacher overwhelm and enjoy our weekends without continuously working ourselves to the ground. Use that as inspiration and reassurance that you will get there. And this does get easier and you do learn the systems over time, and my goal here, as your first year teacher coach, is to show you a quicker path to get there. And, just like it was possible for me and the clients and the other teachers I've helped, it's also possible for you to. You can be that teacher you always dreamed of and balance having a personal life outside of teaching. With that being said, you are doing an amazing job and if no one has told you lately, I am so incredibly proud of you.
Speaker 1:I'm going to take a second to just thank you for being here. Thank you for showing love on this channel. I would really appreciate it if you could like and subscribe and, please, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review. Let me know which episodes you love, which ones you would like to hear more of. That way, I know what content to create in the future. And, as always, remember that we are stronger together and I will see you in the next one.
Speaker 1:Teacher bestie Bye. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode. I hope that you were able to take away some value that will help you thrive inside and out of the classroom. It would mean the world to me if you could take five seconds right now and leave a review on this podcast. And if you found this podcast especially helpful, make sure to take a screenshot of this episode right now and tag me on your socials to let me know you're listening. As always. Remember that we are stronger together with all the love in the world. Helena, aka the president. Teacher. See you next time. Teacher bestie.