Self-care guidelines for teachers

2 out of 5 teachers in Spain claim to have experienced emotional distress such as exhaustion, or anxiety and depression in the last year and 1 out of 3 express a lack of enthusiasm for their work, according to the Educo Barometer study. Teaching in Spain 2023 by the SM Foundation .

In order to promote the emotional well-being and preventing the emergence of mental health problems among adolescent students , it is key to start earlier to improve the well-being of all education professionals who care for them. Therefore, if you are dedicated to teaching , it is important that you take measures to address and reduce this discomfort and prevent the emergence of health problems derived from the emotional wear and tear of your job. Taking care of aspects of your emotional and physical health , as well as your social relationships, will allow you to improve your emotional well-being .

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1. Do enjoyable activities : Spend time doing things you enjoy or that are meaningful or rewarding to you. Teaching is emotionally and cognitively demanding, and your work often doesn't end when you leave class. Take time for yourself during the week and on weekends.
2. Use strategies to regain calm when unpleasant emotions invade us : Breathing, positive self-instructions, stretching, reading, relaxing music, or any other activity that allows you to transition to another emotion.
3. Accept and ask for help : Teachers often suffer from stress or emotional exhaustion due to the intensity of their work. If you are having trouble keeping up with daily activities or coping with everyday challenges, try talking to someone you trust or seek support from your school administration or a health center.
   

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4. Socialize : Spend time interacting and talking regularly with your colleagues inside and outside of work, as well as with your friends or family. Make a list of people who give you positive feelings, support and confidence and try to have ongoing contact with them. Having a good support network can have a significant impact on your psychological well-being.
5. Set limits : There are certain situations where you need to set limits in order to protect yourself. If you think that the demands and demands made on you at work or at home are excessive, try to talk about it with the relevant people in order to negotiate some limits and conditions and reach an agreement that respects your rights and those of the other person. Try to be assertive in this conversation, never blaming the other person, but rather raising the discomfort that some demands, demands or situations generate for you, expressing your needs, and being open to negotiating. If the other person is not at all open to talking or negotiating, you will need to set a limit by "not" accepting or giving in to their requests in order to safeguard your well-being.
6. Celebrate your achievements : Celebrate your successes! Take the time to acknowledge your accomplishments, no matter how big or small they may seem. Maybe it's a moment of kindness, great progress with a student, a great day in class, or finishing grading exams.
7. Speak well to yourself : It is important to identify how you treat yourself, and to do this it is key to identify whether we speak to ourselves in a positive and constructive way or a negative and destructive way. It is especially important to pay attention to how we speak to ourselves when something stressful or upsetting happens. Some examples of negative self-talk are: "I am not valid", "I am incapable", "I am weak", "I am not enough", "it was all my fault".
   It is important to identify them to generate a change in dialogue with yourself that is more constructive in the face of the same situation, for example: "I can be wrong, it's okay", "I can face it", "I am capable of doing it", "I can try differently next time", "I have learned something from what happened", "it's okay, don't worry" etc. It is key to identify what we say to ourselves, in order to generate a more regulated, more constructive and more positive dialogue with ourselves.
8. Get physical activity : Do some physical activity to improve your emotional well-being and reduce stress, such as taking a walk, riding your bike to work, or doing some type of exercise that you enjoy. Anything that gets your body moving can help.
9. Maintain healthy eating habits : There are eating habits that are not healthy, such as: eating too quickly or when you are not hungry, skipping meals (or just breakfast), eating ultra-processed foods, not drinking enough water, etc.
10. Respect your sleep schedule : Sleep allows your body to revitalize, renew, and rest. It helps your immune system function better and keeps you mentally alert. Most adults need at least 7 hours of sleep each night. To improve your sleep quality, try the following: go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends, relax with a book or take a bath right before bed, remove electronic devices from your bedroom, and avoid eating large meals or consuming caffeine and alcohol before bed.