More tips on avoiding burnout

This is the second post in a series on tips to avoid burnout.  See “Burning out or burning bright?” and continue to check back on Fridays for more tips on how to stay sane and effective at the same time.

•  Abandon perfectionism.
  I’ve found that teachers tend to have a perfectionist personality (raising my hand here).  Realize that there is no such thing as human perfection here on earth and while you should be doing your best, you do not even need to be the best.
• Let time and experience work their wonders.
  If someone tells me what their students are working on, I can walk in the class and teach a communicative hour-long class with about 5 minutes of planning. But boy, has that been a long time coming.  In my first 3 years I used to write my lesson plans 3 or 4 times before I taught them (yes, I was single and not a mom) – once on a spreadsheet, once on the form for school, once in my paper lesson plan book (I had to have one of those on my podium – made me feel prepared), and finally on my post-it notes that stayed on my textbook (yes, it was in those days).  I still favor those post-its that remind me of activities and their sequence but the process has become second nature to me.  It will for you too.

What other tips are useful for you to keep from burning out?  Share them here, take what I’ve shared and please, make communicative learning work for you as well as your students.

Foto credit: Gasón Gardini