How many skipped lunch breaks have you had because you needed to prep for a lesson observation? Or console one of your students from your form instead of taking your free lesson? Or stayed afterschool instead of going to the gym to help your students with extra revision sessions?

Over time however, as I’m sure lots of you already know, the negative side effects on your health from always putting the needs of your students and work start to appear:

• Weight gain
• Weigh loss
• Low energy levels
• Irregular sleep
• Sugar cravings
• Teariness
• Overwhelm

Which ultimately, if ignored leads to burn-out, illness and sick days – which typically happens when you’re on holiday!

For those of you who are nodding your head in agreement, you’re probably going to feel quite uncomfortable at the thought of putting yourself first.

Often when we start to feel ‘unhealthy’ we choose to eat a little healthier and start exercising again, lasting for 8-12 weeks and then fall back into old habits when workload and pressure at work increases. What we often forget is, no amount of burpee’s & broccoli will provide you with long-lasting vibrant health if you are not committed to looking after your wellbeing and putting yourself first.

The first step to preventing burnout is to create some non-negotiable self-care action into your life, like a weekly meeting you MUST attend.

Looking after your wellbeing is taking regular care of the 12 elements of lifestyle listed below:

1. Social life
2. Feeling of joy
3. Spirituality
4. Creativity
5. Finances
6. Career progression or direction
7. Learning
8. Health
9. Physical activity
10. Home cooking
11. Home environment
12. Relationships

We’re not aiming for perfection or even the dreaded ‘balance’ we all crave, it’s about putting your needs first by creating small positive shifts to our lifestyle that are manageable on a regular and consistent basis.

10 Ways to Prevent Teacher Burnout

1. Sitting down for 10 minutes with a cup of tea
2. 5 minute walk at lunch time
3. 4 deep breaths before turning on your laptop
4. Do not check emails during lessons
5. Take 5 minutes out to have a chat with a collegue who cares and listens
6. Get up 30 minutes earlier to prevent rushing to work
7. Go to bed earlier a couple of nights a week
8. Drink more water
9. Eat an energy fuelled breakfast – download my 3 energy boosting recipes here: http://www.heidi.unitedagencydevelopment.co.uk/recipes/count-nutrients-not-calories-gad-2017/
10. Avoid negative conversations, gossip and naysayers at all costs!
11. Learn to say no (you do not need to please everyone)
12. Find and commit to an activity outside of work you love that has nothing to do with teaching
13. Schedule in your self-care, for example; when you have a parents evening; schedule in to have a massage for afterwards to help you unwind.
14. Cook at home
15. Move your body in ways you enjoy

Creating even the smallest shifts in your lifestyle can make a huge positive impact to your wellbeing.

These shifts can even be taken in the busiest times of the school year, yes – even when it’s DSIB week. For example, during this week order in a delivery service so you can spend time creating starters and plenaries, then you can pick up where you left off once the observation week is over.

Start today by writing down positive shifts you can make to add more self-care into your day-to-day life.

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Heidi Jones Health Coaching 

Heidi organises regular social events with her health conscious community. To date she has taken them on hikes in the desert, participated in 5k, 10k, 21k trail and road races, explored the Sowka trails and arranged social breakfasts by the beach. This community is not only about leading a healthy lifestyle, it’s about creating healthy friendships with like-minded people while living in Dubai.

Heidi is also a brand ambassador for Lululemon Athletica and hosts monthly running experiences in Dubai and across the U.A.E.

Want to join the health conscious community?

You can become part of Heidi’s Health Conscious Collective by signing-up to her tribe at HeidiJonesCoaching.com.