Teacher's Ed with Edward DeShazer
In today's world, being a teacher and educator can be empowering, inspiring, and rewarding. Educating the next generation can also be exhausting, frustrating, and disheartening. Teacher's Ed was created to motivate, encourage, and uplift teachers and educators to inspire you for the week ahead.
Teachers Ed is where the best and brightest in education come to be inspired, to learn, to connect, and to grow.
Teacher's Ed with Edward DeShazer
Teachers Must Recharge
Recharge your teaching spirit and prevent burnout with our latest episode, where we explore the transformative power of intentional self-care routines for educators. Have you ever considered that your weekend rest might not be enough to sustain your energy for the week ahead? Join me as I uncover the vital role of recharging routines, and how even micro breaks during your day can have a profound impact on your well-being. Understanding what drains your energy—be it after-school meetings or additional responsibilities—is the first step towards managing them effectively. Let’s talk about how simple acts like journaling or enjoying some quiet time can make all the difference in showing up as your best self for your students and colleagues.
Empower yourself to take control of your self-care and prioritize your own needs with the same kindness you extend to others. This episode is all about being intentional with your actions, who you surround yourself with, and how you recharge your energy. You deserve this care and attention, so let's focus on recharging your battery and being purposeful in your life. Listen in and ensure you greet each new week with renewed energy and enthusiasm. I look forward to connecting with you and supporting your journey towards a more balanced and fulfilling teaching experience.
www.EdwardDeShazer.org
Welcome back to the Teachers Ed podcast. I'm your host, edward DeShazer. Teachers Ed podcast is a place where the best and brightest in education come to be inspired, to connect, to learn and to grow. So today's topic I've talked about it a little bit before, but we're going to go a little deeper into it, and that is the importance of having a recharge routine. What is a recharge routine, you ask? You know, we often hear the words R&R and we think rest and relaxation.
Speaker 1:But oftentimes many educators show back up to work on Monday exhausted because they did nothing. What do I mean by that? Because most people are like well, that's what we've been told Over the weekends. We just got to rest and do nothing. There are times where you got to rest and relax, but oftentimes we have to be intentional with what we are doing, with our time, to make sure that we're refilling ourselves, not just existing, if that's really the best way to say it.
Speaker 1:But as educators, you give so much of yourself daily to your students. You give yourself to your coworkers, you give yourself to your school, and then you also are giving a lot of yourself to your own families. But the reality is you've all heard it you cannot pour from an empty cup. If you're running on fumes, you are not showing up as your best self. That is why having a recharge routine is critical, and today I'm going to take a few minutes just to break down why that matters, what it can look like and how you can start building one today. But I need you to understand that if your cup is empty, if your cup is not overflowing, if you don't take time to recharge, you're not just running on empty. You are running yourself into the ground. I need you to prioritize your energy, because your students deserve the best version of you. So the first tip we're going to go into is identify what your energy drainers are.
Speaker 1:Before you can create an effective recharge routine, you have to really understand what is draining you on a day-to-day basis. Think about the things in your life that leave you exhausted. Maybe it's after school meetings, maybe it is watching the news these days, maybe it's skipping a meal because you're just too busy at work. Once you can identify what is taking the most from you, you can be intentional with how to restore that energy. If you don't know what's draining you and draining your life, you can't fix it. So today, what I want an educator to do is take five minutes, write down what's exhausting you the most. Is it a friend that's in your life? Is it a family member? Is it the meetings? Is it the extra duties that you've taken on? Is it the extra bit of things that you're you know? Maybe you decided to, you know, be your daughter's Girl Scout troop leader, you know, or something of that sort. Be your daughter's Girl Scout troop leader, or something of that sort? Is it another responsibility that you have taken on that you had no business saying yes to? And now you are exhausted? But take five minutes and identify what the things are that are exhausting you the most, because awareness is the first step to actually being able to create a change.
Speaker 1:One of the biggest misconceptions about recharging your battery is that it has to happen in these big chunks of time, and that's just not true. I've talked about this on other episodes where you're doing micro breaks. Micro breaks are just small moments throughout your day, but they can make a huge difference. You know, it could be two minutes in between classes where you just get up and stretch, or maybe you're you know what I'm going to walk from my classroom around the corridor and back. Or you know, if you're in a state that has decent weather, it's just like you know what I got 10 minutes before my lunch ends. Let me just get up and do a quick walk up the block and back to get some fresh air. Excuse me, but these small resets can help prevent burnout before it starts. Too often we are waiting until our cup is completely empty or our battery is completely depleted before we are intentional and try to put something back into it Again. You don't need an hour to recharge. Sometimes two minutes of deep breathing or stepping outside can reset your entire mindset. So I want to encourage educators to try that today and see the difference that taking a micro break can do for you.
Speaker 1:And speaking of burnout, if you're an educator looking for ways to build self-care into your routine, if you're looking for a community of educators that understand what you're going for, if you're looking for live personal wellness events, the Be Well Teacher Academy is for you. Personal wellness events. The Be Well Teacher Academy is for you. Wwwbewellteachercom. It's a community built to help teachers like yourself. Help educators like yourself create sustainable habits With guidance. We have live events and exclusive resources. Join today and invest in your well-being. Head over to wwwbewellteachercom. The first seven days are free and after that it is $7.99 per month. But join us today.
Speaker 1:Wellness tip number two is creating a non-negotiable recharge routine. A recharge routine isn't something you do when you have time. It's something that you have to make time for, set aside specific time every single day to do something that restores you. Maybe it's journaling for five or 10 minutes, maybe it's exercising, maybe it's reading, or maybe it is just sitting in silence with your cup of coffee or your cup of tea before your kids get home or before your kids get awake, where it is just your quiet time. But the key to having a successful recharge routine is consistency. The more intentional you are about your routine, the more your body and mind will recognize that this is something that is essential.
Speaker 1:Self-care is not optional, is not a luxury. It is a necessity and we have to start treating it as such. You wouldn't ignore the gas light in your car. Your car is going to run out. You wouldn't ignore that oil change light even though someone's probably listening to this with the oil change light on. But I need you to set a reminder to block out time. We have to stop ignoring the warning signs of our body and we have to build a recharge routine into our daily routine. It is critical that you do this for us to have the best 2025 ever and that's our tagline we need to have the best 2025 ever. It's our best year, yet we have to stop ignoring when our body is telling us I need to recharge. We have to stop ignoring when our body is telling us I need to recharge.
Speaker 1:Build it into your routine today, this week, one of the action items I want to give you. Write down three things that help you recharge. Then schedule time for at least one of them every single day. Maybe it's not the same thing every day. Maybe it's Monday it's reading 15 minutes of your book. Maybe Tuesday you're getting up 10 minutes early to enjoy that cup of tea before you got to get your kids ready and do all the other stuff you have to do. But the goal is that we have to start small, even if it's just five minutes. Our goal is to make this routine a habit, not an afterthought. For us to do that, consistency is going to absolutely be important.
Speaker 1:I don't want you to just think about self-care. What I want you to do is schedule it. Schedule self-care, set a reminder in your phone, set a reminder in your calendar. Block it off 10 minutes prior. It's setting you an alert. You have to block all the time, you have to commit the time and you have to stop making excuses. We make all the time in the world for all of these other things, but we forget to make that time. That is absolutely critical to ourself. If it's not in your calendar, it's more than likely not happening. So what I need you to do today is put that recharge routine in your calendar, schedule it like you would anything else, and then don't miss it. Stay committed and stay consistent with it.
Speaker 1:Your energy is your most valuable resource. I need you to protect it, I need you to prioritize your energy and I need you to recharge it consistently, because when you take care of yourself, you are able to show up as the educator that your students deserve. But, most importantly, when you take care of yourself, you are able to show up as the person that you most deserve. You are able to show up as the mother your children deserve. You are able to show up as the mother your children deserve. You are able to show up as the wife your spouse deserves. You're able to show up as the husband your spouse deserves, as the friend your friends deserve. You are able to show up as the best version of you as much as possible.
Speaker 1:So it's critical that we go back and we put actions. It doesn't have to be some big, crazy elaborate, you know, spa with cucumbers over our eyes and a mud mask Like you. Just need to set five or 10 minutes every single day to make time for yourself. You deserve it. Self-care can't be optional anymore. It is a requirement, it is a prerequisite to avoiding burnout, and you, it is a prerequisite to avoiding burnout, and you don't deserve to burn out.
Speaker 1:If you found today's episode helpful, make sure to share it with another colleague, share it with another educator that needs to hear this. And if you have not, please make sure you subscribe. Please download these episodes to make sure you don't miss another one. New episodes are out every single Sunday and the purpose of them, as I've said, is I'm just trying to give you small, actionable things that you can do every single day, because when you make a percent increase every single day, you look back after a year and the changes that you have made have been monumental, but 2025 has to be the best year yet.
Speaker 1:No more excuses. No more excuses of why this didn't work, that didn't work. It is time that you take control of your life. Until next time, please take care of yourself. Please give yourself the same grace and mercy that you give your students. You deserve it. And please be intentional with what you are doing, who you are doing with and how you are recharging your students. You deserve it. And please be intentional with what you are doing, who you are doing with and how you are recharging your battery. Have a good rest of the weekend and I'll see you all next week. Bye.