8 Simple Habits for Teacher Self Care + Free Printable

Read about some simple habits to practice teacher self cares in the classroom every day to support your wellbeing and prevent burnout.

8 Simple habits of self care for teachers

Are you a busy educator and feeling a bit neglected? Do you need some easy ideas for teacher self care and finally put yourself first?

Teacher Self-care is a key catchphrase used in many circles now, particularly in teaching.

But what is self-care really at its core?

If you’re asking yourself this question, you are in the right place.

Need quick ways to focus on YOU in your day? Get the FREE Self-care Calendar here:

What is self care for teachers?

If you’re not really sure what teacher self-care is, you firstly need to know that it’s MORE than just personal care and it’s certainly NOT just about getting an expensive manicure or having your hair done.

These are nice treats, but not necessarily teacher self-care.

Self care for teachers and anyone else, for that matter, encompasses many aspects of our wellbeing and is all about PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CARE – covering your PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL health.

I have been on my own personal journey over the years, like many of you, to discover the true meaning of self-care for me as an individual, as well as a busy teacher and I, think it is such an important topic for all.

Why do teachers need self care?

If you’re a teacher too you’ll know that many of us ‘GIVE SO MUCH OF OURSELVES’ – physically, emotionally and mentally, that we often miss out, for one reason or another.

You know the age-old story; a day in the classroom it’s GO, GO, GO.

You can’t get to the toilet when you need to and you forget about taking a break at lunchtime because you need to get that photocopying done, so you straddle the copier with a sandwich in one hand trying to remember number of copies and if they’ve got to be back-to-back and stapled.

Or you’re holding ‘it’ while doing the mandatory playground duty.

Sound familiar?

But with our demanding roles, this type of neglect can’t go on indefinitely.

The problem is that if your own care is lacking and you miss out for too long, you will eventually suffer, leading to burnout or worse: a chronic illness.

This is what happened to me.

I ended up being diagnosed with an autoimmune condition; seriously ill with my health and debilitating symptoms of chronic fatigue.

Since my diagnosis, I have done a great deal of reading and research on teacher self-care; also listening to self-care podcasts, and my further holistic life coach training, I truly believe teacher self care MUST be made a high priority for ALL teachers.

In an earlier article, I wrote called Practising Self-care to Prevent Teacher Burnout, I write about my journey to reconnect with myself to discover strategies of how to prioritize and nurture my needs with self-love to begin my healing and to stave off teacher burnout.

I think it really needs to come down to actioning simple daily habits of self-care if we are to truly prioritise ourselves.

But it all comes down to YOU and making the necessary time to implement some simple self-care habits on a DAILY basis.

Related article: 10 Habits for Healthy Teachers + Free Printable

Here are my eight simple teacher self-care habits that I believe can help you nurture yourself, even on a busy school day.

I have mentioned how important a self-care routine is to work smarter as a teacher, but I want to delve deeper into these important, yet simple acts of self-care, for teachers like you and me.

Don’t forget to get your FREE Self-Care Calendar here too!

How can teachers take care of themselves? 8 simple habits of teacher self care

Teacher self care habit 1. Drink plenty of water

Now I know I have mentioned the importance of hydration in other posts, but it’s got to be what I consider teacher self care habit No. 1.

Do you know why?

It’s because your body can’t function properly if you don’t drink enough water throughout the day.

Water is the body’s lubricant, providing assistance to all the functions of your organs, as well as for optimal elimination and skin elasticity.

WATER IS KEY if you don’t want to get dehydrated, if you want to stay healthy and if you want to keep you energy up.

But remember for best results, water needs to be sipped throughout the day. (Don’t worry, after about a week of doing this your bladder will settle and you won’t feel like going to the loo all the time!)

Tips to easily include water into your day:

Take 2 water bottles to school. Put one in the fridge and one on your desk. This will make it easier to access and put bottle to mouth.
Use a large cup with a straw. The straw will make it simpler to take small sips of water throughout the day
Pour chilled water or soda water (plain mineral water) into a glass and enjoy with fresh lemon or lime. It’s very refreshing and enjoyable, particularly on hot days.
Make herbal teas instead of coffee (or other caffeinated beverages). Herbal teas can add to your water count for the day, plus they feel a bit more special than plain water. Some of my favourite herbal teas are peppermint, green and lemon balm.

As I said, don’t worry about all the loo breaks, if you sip your water throughout the day, you won’t need to head to the bathroom all the time. Your body will eventually get used to the regular supply of fluid.

Teacher self care habit 2. Take your lunch breaks!

This is important!

Take note. Guard your breaks and sit down when you eat.

Sitting down to eat allows you to rest and digest your food properly. It’s also better to focus solely on eating because your brain will acknowledge that you’ve eaten, and satisfy your hunger.

So many of us as teachers see this time to get ahead with marking or read out emails while eating. Don’t do it! For your own sanity and self-care, your body needs a mental break.

Teacher self care habit 3. Meet with a supportive colleague regularly

Regular debriefing sessions are a constructive way that I believe helps us to handle the challenges and struggles as teachers that we face throughout the day.

If you meet up with a supportive colleague for lunch on a weekly basis, this will become a habit for self-care, by meeting your emotional needs.

It’s also a great tip to help with stress management and I hightly recommend it!

Teacher self care habit 4. Bring healthy food to school each day

self care tips for teachers - healthy food

Another way to meet your physical needs is to supply your body with healthy food.

This is common sense. It will also support your wellness and vitality and give your body the appropriate nutrients it needs to run efficiently – necessary for self-care as a busy teacher.

Don’t forget to bring enough food for lunch, as well as healthy snacks for the whole day. Read my post for some quick and healthy snacks for teachers on the run.

In the past, I have had times when I’ve not brought enough food to school to eat. You know, busy morning… nothing in the fridge or cupboard and you grab something quick, but not really sustainable.

I remember doing this one day. When I got home I was ravenous and ate anything and everything in sight, whether it was healthy or not. It was biscuits and cheese and whatever I could find. A bit like the Very Hungry Catapillar.

Never again!

I’m sure this has happened to you too, so I’ve learnt from this lesson and take plenty of healthy food with me to school.

Get a FREE Self-Care Calendar to make Self-Care a habit in your day:

Teacher self care habit 5. Make your workplace an enjoyable place to be

As one way of enacting self-care and meeting your spiritual needs, I think it’s important to make your surroundings a pleasant place to work. So for us as teachers, this is our classrooms.

I know many of you do this, I didn’t for a long time. I was on contracts and moving classrooms every year, so didn’t really feel I had ownership of my space. Let alone all the classroom pack up each year!

It made work a bit dreary, so I now like to make sure my space is more enjoyable now.

Ways to brighten your surroundings:

bring flowers to school and display in a vase on your desk
use natural fragrances or essential oils to uplift the atmosphere in a diffuser
display pot plants around the room to lift the air quality as well as lift the visual aspect of the room. (Read my post about 5 easy care potted plants that are great for the classroom)
have a comfortable teacher armchair with throw cushions
use lamps for mood lighting

These strategies will help lift your spirits, as well as your student’s and make your classroom a positive and enjoyable place to work.

Teacher self care habit 6. Practice mindfulness and deep breathing

Slowing down and practising mindfulness, with deep breathing can be a clever way to enact self-care.

It will help meet our mental needs as well. So what is mindfulness?

What is mindfulness?

The dictionary states that mindfulness is the “mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”

If you can truly slow down enough to be conscious and actually present at each moment of the day, it could be used as a helpful practice for self-care, as well as to reduce stress.

I’ve heard of this strategy before but it’s pretty new to me – I’m open to giving this a try.

My tip is to use deep slow breathing to bring you back into each moment and slow down, where you can. I know that this is a tough one for us all as teachers!

I’ve been using some mindfulness strategies in my classroom recently, which I working great. Read more about the easy Mindfulness activities I’ve been using with my students in my article and you can also download the free mindfulness poster.

Teacher self care habit No. 7. Choose healthy ways to de-stress

self-care for teachers - choose healthy ways to de-stress

Often teachers have their own personal ways to de-stress and there can be many different activities to choose from.

Possible suggestions that my teaching friends use:

running
walking
swimming
going to the gym
cooking
getting out into nature
gardening

There are many possible activities to help deal with stress, but my suggestion is to make sure you are doing at least something regularly.

Related Articles:

I personally use some of the very simple and innovative de-stressing activities recommended from the Chiropractor, Dr Wayne Todd, in his book: SD Protocol:

controlling light input by wearing red lens glasses
dampening sound input by wearing earplugs at night while I’m trying to sleep
supporting my body by taking the right supplements
correcting my posture – using a posture correction device
releasing upper back windup by seeing an SD Protocol certified chiropractor
calming the busy brain – by using relaxation techniques

See my post called Wellness Books I’m Reading Lately, where I review this very interesting book called SD Protocol by Dr Wayne Todd.

I also have a great article about strategies to relieve teacher stress. Read it here!

Teacher self care habit No. 8. Know your limits

Lastly, I think it’s a very important habit for self-care to know your own personal limits.

If you are starting to feel rundown – stop and take care of yourself. Maybe take a mental health day to revitalise and refresh.

Related Articles:

The important thing is to make sure that you can identify when you need to prioritise YOU and then do something about it!

Also, don’t forget if you need to say NO to something or someone, do it!

Your self-care is up to you!

Believe me, I found out the hard way what happens when you put yourself last. Don be like me!

Start practising these simple habits of self-care and it will pay off with good health and well-being. Good luck!

Don’t forget to get your FREE printable Self-care calendar!

Print out and have some fun colouring as you go!

If you are interested in more information about Self-care and Wellbeing, please read the following articles:

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These tips are simple ways to create habits of self-care, if followed regularly helps improve teacher's well-being and health.

Self-care for teachers - 8 Simple habits to follow

Remember you are worth it!

Michelle x