Teaching without Losing Yourself - Teachers Rush Past the Good Stuff

Most teachers don’t FEEL rushed. They feel RESPONSIBLE.

But they move from one thing to the next without ever letting anything register.

In this episode, we talk about why you rush past the good stuff — the calm moments, the nothing-went-wrong parts of your day — and how that habit quietly adds to your exhaustion.

We’re not fixing you.
We’re increasing awareness so you can catch the rush and interrupt it.

Because teachers deserve better than living in constant forward motion.

We’re not here to fix.
We’re here to notice. 

If this helped, pass it to another teacher who might need it. 

Until next time… 

give yourself the same care you give everyone else.

 ~Kim 🌿 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, can I say something out loud that you may not have noticed about yourself, teachers? You rush past the good stuff, not the big wins, not all those really exciting days. You know, I'm talking about those normal, calm, nothing went wrong parts of your day. They happen. And then, guys, you are already on to the next thing. And then later you say, I don't even know why I'm tired. Nothing big happened today. That's why. You listen to teaching without losing yourself. This is After the Bell's Beyond the Box, a moment made just for teachers, even on the move. I'm Kim. I've been in education for 28 years, classroom, and leadership. And I've done this too. Teachers don't ignore good moments. Hey guys, we just don't allow ourselves to enjoy those good moments. And honestly, teachers deserve better than living like that all the time. This month's theme is melt into the moment. Just say that. You know, how your body stays ready, even when the day is technically over, your body's ready to go, teachers. This week is gonna kind of connect that, okay? Because even when your body slows down, you know, your mind just keeps moving. And if your mind keeps moving, you don't actually absorb anything. So first I want you to know that this doesn't feel like rushing. It's not gonna feel like rushing to you. Most of us don't feel like we are rushed. For you, for me, for us, it just feels responsible, right? You finish teaching, the class is calm, there's a quiet minute, and instead of sitting there, enjoying that moment, your mind keeps going. Your mind says, What's next? Your mind says, What do I need to do tomorrow? You know, we're already moving on. Your mind wants to know, did we answer that email? What did I forget? That's not you being anxious. That's you, I don't know, guys. I can only call it teaching. Um, teaching has trained us to anticipate, right? But here's the catch. When you're always anticipating, you're already on to the next thing before the moment even finishes. So before that moment, good or bad, finish, you're already on to the next thing. You move from one thing to the next thing without letting anything just sit, you know, without letting it really register with you what just happened. And God's teachers deserve better than constant mental motion. Another thing you need to know is that your mind doesn't clock out. You may walk out the building and clock out if you have one of those clock out systems or sign out, but your mind doesn't do that. You can be home and still mentally at school. Let me say that one more time to make sure you got it. You can be at home on your favorite couch with your favorite pillow and still mentally be at school. You can be sitting down and still solving tomorrow's problems. You can have a calm moment and not even realize that it was calm. That always being ready mindset is part of why you're good at your job. Know that we are trained to do that. We deal with important things, including little lives. So being ready, that mindset is why you're good at your job. It's what makes you good. Um, but it's also what makes it very difficult for you as a teacher and difficult for me to enjoy our lives. And I'm not saying teachers quit being ready. I'm saying it's important for you to notice when you don't need to be ready. That's the difference. Remember, we're focusing on just awareness, okay? Teachers deserve better than being on every second of the day. This is something I relate to guys. You know, there have been times, even over this last break that we just had, when I really could have slowed down. Like there are multiple days. Uh I could have slowed down and really just sat with my husband and watched a movie. Uh, I could have called my daughter down because her new thing is playing Monopoly. So, and played Monopoly with her. Yeah, the game that never ends. But she seems to love it. She's researched it. Um, but nothing was wrong. It was good. And my mind kept drifting back, drifting back to what I needed to handle when I got back. So instead of enjoying those moments, I let my mind just kind of drift back to all the different things I needed to do. Not only did that, then I just dug into those things. I thought about the things that were sitting on my desk. I thought about the calls that I didn't return yet, you know. I thought about all those loose ends waiting for me. I was there in this moment, but I wasn't really fully there. You also need to know that stress gets more attention than those calm moments. Stress gets more attention than those peaceful moments. Your mind remembers the stressful moments. When you get home, you remember the behavior issue. That stressful moment. Your mind's gonna remember that. You know, the awkward conversation. Yeah, that's stressful. So your mind's gonna remember that. The thing that just went wrong, you know, in the middle of the day, that was so stressful. So, you know, your mind remembers that. You know, hands up, total engagement, answers coming out, good answers coming out. What about that second period that cooperated with you and did what you asked them to do? Oh guys, what about that quiet drive home? We don't log those. Teachers don't log those in. We don't capture that because we rushed past them. We didn't sit in that moment. So by the end of the day, your mind tells you it was heavier than it actually was, and over time that adds up. I want you to remember that these moments are not about fixing. I really want to increase your awareness of things that are happening. Increase your awareness so you can catch that rush, you know, catch that time when you're rushing through something that you really should be settling into. You catch it in real time and then you stop it. You intentionally stop it. So for me, that would have been me catching myself rushing through sitting on the couch with my husband with a really good movie on. And I catch it in real time, and then because I'm aware, I stop it. I put the computer down. Every time my mind goes into work, intentionally I switch it. This is the awareness you need to know that your mind rushes through the good moments, and then you can catch it in real time and stop it. Quick question for you Whether you went to school today or not, I know it's a break. But today, was there a part of your day or yesterday? Was there a part of your day that was actually pretty good? And you skipped right over it? Was there a part of your day today or yesterday or any that you can remember that was really going well? And you rush right through it. That's it. You don't need to fix it or analyze it. Guys, you but we do need to recognize that it's happening. And that's where this starts. This week, when something is calm, not amazing, it is calm. Stay there five seconds longer than you normally would. Don't make it complicated, you know. Don't make this hard. If you notice something, it is calm, sit in it five seconds longer. Just enjoy that moment. Don't analyze it, just stay there. That's how you start teaching your mind that all those good moments, they count too. Not just the stressful ones. Those calm moments, that counts too. And then you'll remember more of those later than the stressful ones. That's what I mean when I say teachers deserve better, not dramatic changes. They deserve better rhythms. And this is how you get them. You don't need more good moments, guys. You have them. You need to stop running past the ones you already have. Teachers are better than being rushed. Until next time, give yourself the same care you give everyone else. As always, we're doing this slowly, one layer at a time, together.