4 Simple Ways to Relieve End-of-Year Stress [#165]

[00:00:00] All right, so thrilled to be here. The end of the school year can feel like a sprint to the finish line, but it doesn’t have to leave you feeling drained and overwhelmed. In this episode, I’m sharing four powerful ways to relieve that end of your stress by taking control of your thoughts, your emotions, your energy, and your time.

 

These simple yet effective steps will help you shift your mindset, regain your focus. Recharge your battery so you can finish the year feeling energized and ready for what’s next. Don’t just survive the end of the school year. Thrive through it. Welcome to Educate and Rejuvenate the podcast. I am teacher goals author Kelsey Sorenson with today’s episode four simple Ways to Relieve end of year stress.

 

Welcome to educate and rejuvenate the podcast to help you revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit and reignite your passion for life. I’m your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former [00:01:00] teacher, current homeschool mom, published author and certified life coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom homeschool from your kitchen table or Or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you not only survive as an educator, but thrive, get ready to uplevel your skills with incredible insights from guest experts and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself.

 

Are you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let’s go.

 

 

I am so thrilled to be here today on this live podcast. As you get here, I would love for you to hop into the chat and let me know where you’re tuning in from and how you’re feeling today, how things are going right now. I know there’s a lot of stress and fatigue we feel as the school year begins to wind down.

 

Of course, now as we’re recording in the studio, you may or may not have had your spring break yet. Ours is next. Week. I know some have already happened, but what we talk about today is relevant now through the end of the school year. And I wanted to [00:02:00] record it now ’cause it’ll go out on our podcast feed.

 

And if you want to revisit it again towards the end of the year, anytime between now and then, what we talk about today is going to be very relevant. Now one thing I want to share with everybody who is here live, we’ve got quite a few here among the different platforms. We are multi streaming to, um, the Educate and Rejuvenate Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, as well as the teacher goals X and um.

 

Facebook and a variety of platforms. We are multi streaming to both platforms. So if you haven’t heard of me before, I am Kelsey, the author of Educate and Rejuvenate. If you’re watching on the teacher goals platform, I wrote a book with teacher goals and that’s why I’m popping up in your feed now. Um, and if you know me from my platforms, then obviously that that is why I’m here today.

 

Um, but what I am so thrilled about is something we are doing right now. We are doing a giveaway for one of you to get a signed copy of my book for free. So if you would like a free copy of this book, I mean, [00:03:00] hey, it’s free, right? you’re gonna learn a little bit more of what is about here in a second, but, comment in the chat.

 

Um, I’m seeing a lot of you here, but I’m not seeing. Many of you commenting yet. So comment in the chat. That’s all you have to do to enter, to win a free copy of the book. Um, so we will pick one of you from the chat. It doesn’t matter what platform you’re on, streamy Yard, the platform we’re using, we’ll pull up comments from every platform.

 

So it doesn’t matter. We’ll see it. We will, um, post in the comments, so the end of this video, who the winner is and how you can reach out to get. Your copy. So super exciting that we are doing that. Also, any of you, whether or not you win a copy, can get a signed copy of the book. If you, um, for a limited time, if you order your copy on Amazon and forward your receipt to hello@educateandrejuvenate.com, we will send you a signed book plate to turn your copy into a signed copy.

 

So again, this book is, um, a three step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. So [00:04:00] that is really, I mean, in a nutshell, everything that I help you accomplish in this book. And I know it’s a big promise, but um, if you read the reviews on Amazon, you’ll see that it has delivered on that for so many teachers, and I’m thrilled about that.

 

Um, and today we’re gonna be talking about some of the things that I talk about in the book. So this will be a good way to see if you would like it. Okay. I’m seeing some entries come in Unes, we got you. You’re entered again. If you have not entered yet, the way you enter to win the free signed copy in the mail to you.

 

Nothing else you need to do, Sarah says. Very cool. Looking forward to learning more. Amazing. Um. And again, whatever platform you’re on, if you’re able to tag friends, that’s a great way that gets you extra entries as well, gets more of our community engaging here in the chat. Oh, because the one thing I love about doing a live podcast is I would love to bring in your insights, um, into examples as well.

 

Like if there’s something I’m talking about, like I have general examples, but I would love to talk about what’s actually going on for you. What are you stressed out, [00:05:00] out about right now? Or what are you feeling or are you feeling fatigued or what’s going on? Because we’re talking about how to relieve that end of your stress.

 

Right. And so it would, it would be nice to have something specific I can help somebody in the live audience with. Okay, so let’s dive into the, like I promised at the beginning of this recording, four simple ways to relieve end of year stress. That is what we’re talking about today. So step one, um, is to process your emotions.

 

And it, and it’s kind of funny, I actually mixed up the order a little bit versus the book for this podcast because I feel like at the end of the year, especially, a lot of times we’re feeling, I feel like at the end of the year, in the beginning of the year. Right. A lot of times we’re feeling our emotions extra strong, right?

 

And I see some more of you in the chat. Hello Jennifer. Hello Vanessa. And I see 395 of you among the platforms. Most of you’re on teacher goals [00:06:00] X. Hello. Let me know if you’re here. Would love to see you. Brittany says, looking forward to learning more. Um, Jennifer, I do see you if you’re testing. Love it. Um.

 

Okay, so if you’re joining me live another way, again commenting gets you an entry for the free signed copy of the book. I would love for you to drop into the comments, into the chat. What emotions are you feeling as we approach the end of the school year? And again, that includes right now, that includes like.

 

In a few months, if you’re listening to this, if you’re not live, if you’re here live, comment in the chat and tell me, ’cause we can talk about it. And if you’re not here live, if you are listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify after the fact, or in the Educate and Rejuvenate app, you’re watching this video, um, just think about it to yourself.

 

Take a moment to really think about it. What emotions are you feeling right now as we approach the end of the school year? What emotions are you feeling if you were to name it? ’cause so often we don’t even think about that, right? We don’t even think about what I’m feeling. We’re just going through the emotions.

 

[00:07:00] We might be stressed, but we, um, and we’re feeling it, but we’re not actually going in and being like. Acknowledging the experience. Right. Sarah says, state testing is looming. So many emotions about that. Yes. Sarah, what would, what would you call those emotions that you’re feeling? So many emotions, and again, sometimes it’s more than one emotion, right?

 

Sometimes we feel like, you know, it’s just overwhelmed. That’s just what it is. Other times you’re like, I feel some overwhelm with some excitement with some of this. And that’s really because we kind of have these different, um, parts of ourselves that it’s like, well, part of me is excited about this. Part of me is nervous about that, and that’s totally normal.

 

We all have that. Um, Jennifer says she’s feeling run down. Ooh. And that’s just a good description. And like, when you feel run down, what does that mean? Like if you were to kind of describe it, if you were to go in. And say like, what does that, what does it feel like to be run down in my body? Even just like starting at the top of your head and kind of checking in with yourself.

 

That’s not something we usually [00:08:00] do, right? We don’t usually check in with how we’re feeling. Holly says, hello. Holly’s feeling overwhelmed. Um. Says happiness. I love it. And see, we’re not all feeling the same way. Right. And we’re, we don’t even feel the same way all the time. Right. Um, Holly says, overwhelmed right now, but maybe in an hour from now, or maybe at the end of this podcast, you’re feeling a little bit of relief and connection.

 

Who knows? Um, right. So again, there’s nothing wrong with any of our emotions. What they are is a signal to what we need. Right. And that is why we wanna take the time to notice them, to acknowledge them, which, uh, by doing that, what you are doing is you are becoming an observer. Right? And this is the first step that I talk about in Educate and Rejuven.

 

I have a three step framework. Um, during this podcast today, we are mainly going to be in the first part because that is really the important place to start. We need to. Learn how to become an [00:09:00] observer of ourselves to actually see what is going on. Because so often we’re in the day to day, we’re in this fire, we’re in, um, I need to deal with this child right now, or this kid just like through a chair or, you know, whatever might be going on.

 

Right. Crazy stuff happens in the classroom. Um, but we so often don’t take that time to. Observe what’s going on for us. We observe what’s going on for all our students. We observe what our admin might think. We observe, um, what is going on among our colleagues with outside of that, there’s family drama, there’s taking care of aging parents, there’s dealing with your own children, whatever it might be for you neighbors, like there’s always other people, right?

 

There’s a ton going on. Um. And so we’re so focused outward on everybody else and everything else that we don’t always tune into what we need. And now I would love to hear in the chat like, does this feel true to any of you? For [00:10:00] those of you who are here live, do you feel like you spend most of that time checking it?

 

Do you feel like you spend time checking it internally or is that external stuff? So, um. Overbearing. That is really easy to only pay attention to that, right? So what we’re trying to do in the first step of the Educate and Rejuvenate coaching framework is to observe ourself. And the first thing we are doing, just by noticing our emotion, just by naming it as simple as that, we are becoming an observer, right?

 

Because we’re not just feeling the emotion, right? Like in it because we’re feeling it, because, because of variety of things. Because where our nervous system is at or because of thoughts we’re thinking doesn’t even matter. Whatever is happening at subconscious. Right? When we take that moment to check in and be like, I am feeling overwhelmed, or I am feeling some anxiety, frustration, hopeful, um, or I am feeling whatever.

 

We are pulling back and becoming that observer. We’re noticing from an outside perspective, we’re kind of going from that external focus. Like [00:11:00] Holly said, Holly admitted yes. Like, oh yeah, I have a lot of that external focus. Most of us do, right? So I. When we become the observer by checking in with what our emotion is, that’s that first step to zooming out and seeing what is going on for us, right?

 

We are naming it then once we name it. So let’s say whatever it is and don’t get too hung up. What I’ve noticed a lot of my clients will do, or just people who I talk to about these concepts, or even with myself, um, I’ve been doing this work the past five years, um, is that. We might get hung up on the word and making sure we get it exactly right because as teachers tell me if this relates to you too, may for some of you may not.

 

But for me as a teacher, I was also like a good student too, write, and I was like, I wanna get it right. I wanna get the right word. The word doesn’t matter so much. Like, is like, is it overwhelm or is it stress, or is it anxiety? Like just whatever feels true to you, whatever it is. Like I, I’m feeling stressed, I’m feeling anxiety, [00:12:00] whatever it is.

 

Go with that. Don’t need to get perfect with it. And then just ask yourself, what does this anxiety feel like in my body? We are so used to being in our head and not tuning in to how we feel internally. And so that is what we want to do. We want, this helps us process the emotion. And by doing this, it can be so simple.

 

It can be as simple as starting at the top of your head and scanning down through your body and checking in. Like where, where do you feel tight? Where do you feel loose? For me, it’s almost always tight in my jaw. And, and I always notice that I’m like, oh, so interesting. I’m tight in my jaw yet again. Um, and you might notice patterns as you start doing it yourself too.

 

Um, but. As you just start getting more in tune with yourself, so you name what you’re feeling, ask yourself where do you feel it, taking some deep breaths and imagine breathing into that feeling and letting it [00:13:00] move through you. Not like resisting it, not trying to fix the feeling, not trying to be like, we’re not doing this with a goal to, I can’t feel anxious anymore, or I can’t feel stressed anymore because then you’re just adding stress on top of stress, right?

 

So we’re just trying to get to know it. We’re just trying to notice it. We’re trying to understand where it’s coming from, what it’s trying to tell us. So you can even check in with that emotion and be like, what are you telling me that I need? Like this stress, this overwhelm. What is it? Are you needing?

 

Are you needing a little break? Are you needing some connection with somebody else? Are you needing, um. Are you needing to call in sick and take a day off and use your sub tub? Um, we’ve got a bunch of those if you need that. Right? Um, are you, are you feeling a little sick under the weather? My family’s been sick lately and it has just been going around where we are.

 

Um, just checking in, right? What is it that you need? Because our emotions are signals of what we need. Um, Jennifer says, I clenched my teeth. Yes. See? So that’s some really good awareness here. Of, um, what is going [00:14:00] on. Jennifer also says internal is harder to check because the external sometimes takes over.

 

Right. And, and again, like as teachers, we have so much going on and there’s so much that is out of our control. We can’t control, like everything that goes on in the school, we can’t control what our students do as much as we wish we could. We can’t, we can’t control what our admin says, what our admin does.

 

We can’t control the number of students that are in our class, like so, so, so, so many factors that we can’t control. We can’t control what’s going on in the broader world in education. We can’t control what’s going on in our families. So much that we cannot control. And that is why it is normal for us to feel lots of feelings about all these things that are going on, right?

 

So we can just take that time to check in, process it, ask ourselves, ask yourself, what is this feeling telling me I need? [00:15:00] Okay. So that’s step number one. When you are, I mean, I could talk all day about this step, um, but again, this is just step one of four. Um, steps to relieve your end of your stress. And again, I’m not saying to the title of this episode, was not to knock that stress away so you never feel it again, right?

 

Because again, there’s nothing wrong with feeling that stress. In fact, I feel like sometimes we tell ourselves like, oh, I’m so stressed, I shouldn’t feel stressed. Then that’s just like, adds more stress to it, right? So again, it’s just what is that telling us we need, if we’re feeling it more than we, than we want to, then it’s just that checking in what is it that I need to take care of.

 

So I don’t feel this as often. And the goal is that one of the things I talk about a lot, um, it’s actually more towards the end of the Educate and Rejuvenate book. I believe it’s in chapter 11, which is the final chapter, is our comeback rate, right? It’s not about perfection. It’s not about us feeling great all the time or never feeling [00:16:00] stressed out.

 

It’s about how it’s about. Improving the comeback rate, which is how quickly you go from feeling stressed to be able to process that emotion, to be able to realize what you’re thinking, to be able to realize what you can change versus what you can’t, and get back to a place where you’re feeling a bit better about things where, where you’re taking care of yourself.

 

Okay. So step number two, because I wanna make sure that we get to all of them. Um, Linda finally got on here from Hot Arizona today, so happy to see you, Linda. And again, I want to see, um, we’ve got so many of you over on teacher Goals X tuning in. Um, feel free to pop into the chat again. Reminder, I’ve seen, um, a bunch of you come since I made the announcement that we are giving away a copy of Educate and Rejuvenate to somebody who is here live in the studio.

 

So, um, comment below, engage with any of the questions I’m asking or just share your thoughts. Um, share what you are feeling about the end of the school year. Um. And one of you’ll win a signed [00:17:00] copy of Educate and Rejuvenate. And if you’re on the replay and you’re like, wait, I missed the giveaway, don’t you worry.

 

We have more of these coming soon, more live podcasts, I would love for you to come on and join a future one. If you’re on the replay and you’re like, dang it, I missed it. You only missed one. There’s more to come. Okay, so step one was process your emotions. Step two is to manage. Your thoughts. So let’s talk about our thoughts for a minute, because our thoughts actually drive so much of our emotional experience.

 

Now, there’s a concept I talk about a lot now, some of you, sorry, my microphone keeps moving. I’m trying to get it in the right spot. Can you all hear me okay? Um. Patty’s here from Florida. Love it. Latrice says she’s overwhelmed. Again, it’s such a common feeling, right? And that’s why we’re talking about back to school stress today.

 

That’s why we’re talking about it. So at first we talked about perfect. You can hear me great. Perfect. Thank you. Um. We talked about processing our emotions for [00:18:00] step one. And if you missed that, because I actually see quite a few have tuned in just in the last little bit. Um, if you missed it, this replay will be live as soon as we’re done.

 

And it’s also going to go out on Apple and Spotify and into the Educate and Rejuvenate app. So replay will be available too. Um, step number two is to manage your thoughts because for those of you who have been around a while, you’re going to have heard of this. Some of you, this concept may be brand new, that our thoughts are actually.

 

A lot of what drives our feelings. Now here’s an example of that, right? Um, one example, well actually before we get into the example, what, what would love for those of you who are live in the studio to do, um, Noel’s here from New Mexico, welcome Noel. Um, what is a thought that has been running through your head lately?

 

Like again, it can be related to teaching in the classroom. It can be not related to that. Anything, just a thought that has been running in your mind lately. Something that’s been going on. Maybe it’s something like, I’m so behind, or I can’t [00:19:00] do it all, or This lesson was a disaster, or, I’m not doing enough.

 

Anybody ever have a thought like that? Any of you? Because I definitely have, I have thought things about this about myself many times and, but when you. Try on any of those thoughts when you think about them, or maybe one that you put in the chat. Um, why do we test so much? Ooh, I have to move all of this.

 

Yeah. Great examples. Patty, Noelle, um, Vanessa says, yes, she has totally had thoughts like that. Now, what I want you to do is notice with that thought. When you think it, notice how you feel after you bring that thought back to your mind, because our emotions actually. Only last research has shown like about, it’s about 30 to 90 seconds, but it’s when we repeatedly have the thoughts, right?

 

That. It keeps coming back. So we can actually, like when you think of that, like I’m so behind, like when that pops into your [00:20:00] mind again, suddenly you feel another jolt of like panic or overwhelm, right? Because our thoughts can drive our feelings. And these thoughts, they always feel so true, right? They feel so true.

 

Oh my, we only have 45 days. They’re not ready. Okay, so when you think that we only have 45 days, they’re not ready. Then what happens in your body? What are you thinking? You’re thinking like, or what are you feeling? Right? Because that’s what you’re thinking. You’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re feeling stressed, and then what do you do?

 

You might like. While you’re in that overwhelm or that stress? Um, the thing that we find a lot of times, and this is getting a little ahead of probably what we’re talking about today, but a lot of times we find that when we have some thoughts that actually lead us to feel feelings that actually don’t support us in what we’re wanting.

 

Long term In the book, we talk a lot about this. We use this tool called the Self-coaching Model that helps us to understand really how our thoughts are driving our feelings. Um, one of the examples I actually, [00:21:00] um, I’m going to go to chapter, let’s see, it’s chapter. Seven, which is where we really dive in to conscious thinking.

 

And we talk about how our brain wants to be right even more than it wants to be happy. So again, if we’re saying like they’re not ready, um, what your brain is going to start doing is all of a sudden you’re going to be looking ’cause your brain wants to be right, your brain is going to be looking for all the evidence of that your how your students are not ready, and then you’re going to feel even more overwhelmed and when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

 

And again, Patty, I’m not like targeting you specifically. I’m really talking about this in general. Um, if I were coaching you in a session, we’d talk a little bit about what’s more specifically going on with you. But I have seen similar situations where, um, like when we’re thinking they’re not ready, um, it might cause us to feel overwhelmed, which may cause us to then, um, kind of be buzzing around and maybe not being as prepared with our lessons.

 

Right. Um, which may lead us [00:22:00] to. Not getting the student says ready for that test. Right? That’s just one example. Um, here’s another one of the examples we actually talk about in at the beginning of Educate and Rejuvenate. Chapter seven is having sub, having being able to take a day off, right? Because a lot of this might be coming up now.

 

Like I mentioned, a lot of people are getting sick right now, right? It’s that time of year, like I swear, like we have it in the winter and then it, I swear it comes back around. In the spring, like I swear, every kid, like even all the kids around the neighborhood are coughing and at school and everything.

 

It doesn’t matter. Like they’re, they’re still there. They’re there coughing. Um. And we talk about how, for example, there’s a teacher named James in the book, and the circumstance of the self-coaching model is that there are 32 substitute substitute teachers available in the district, right? That’s just the thing that is out of our control, right?

 

So you can’t control how many that there are. [00:23:00] The thought that he has is I can’t take a day off because we don’t have subs. So he feels defeated, just like I can’t do it. The actions he takes, because he’s feeling defeated, because he’s thinking I can’t take a day off because we don’t have subs, is that he doesn’t prepare sub plans because he is just feeling defeated, right?

 

He doesn’t have anything ready to go. Um, he goes to school sick, he feels resentful that he doesn’t get to take a day off. He gets upset when coworkers take a day off and the result is that he doesn’t take a day off. Right? So that result really ties back into what he’s thinking. But then we look at, um, a colleague of James, same school, right?

 

32 substitute teachers available in our district. A. That teacher thinks I can use the sick days I’ve earned. They feel confident, she thinks I prepare. And what she does when she’s feeling confident in taking a day off is that she has prepared sub plans ahead of time. So she’s ready for sub, she makes a plan with her team on what, um, they will do for each other when there isn’t a sub.

 

I decide ahead of time to take a day off when [00:24:00] needed. She takes the day off and the result is she’s rested and using the personal day’s benefit of her job. So you can see that the circumstance is the same, but the way they think and believe about it leads them not only to feel a different way, but take different actions on whether they’re prepared or not for when that time comes.

 

And that happens in everything in our lives. The self-coaching model. Is active. Whether or not we are in are conscious of it, no matter what we’re thinking, it drives how we feel. It drives the actions we take and the results we create. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s just how, that’s just how it works.

 

It’s backed in cognitive behavioral therapy and um, and when we learn to understand it, which is why we really dive into it. In, um, the book Educate and Rejuvenate, and on this podcast and in the Educate and Rejuvenate Club and or educate and rejuvenate events, everything. Um, the reason we focus on it is so we can learn to use that knowledge to our advantage.

 

Because once we know it, once we understand it, [00:25:00] we can learn. We can learn more about our thinking patterns. We can look at our thoughts and not judge them. Not be like, oh, why am I doing this? Or like, it’s to really get to know them, to get to know ourselves, to understand, oh, that’s so interesting. Why am I thinking that?

 

We want to come at this with so much compassion, so much grace, so much curiosity. We’re really just curious and want to get to know why we’re thinking and feeling the way we are and we might even. Fully agree with why we’re thinking and feeling the way we do. There’s nothing we have to change. It might just give us some awareness that, oh, like I’m feeling stressed out because there is a lot going on right now because I care about these students and these things are going on, and I also have all these IEPs and it is stressful to get ’em all done, but I know it’s important to get them done and I feel good about it, and I just need to be able to move through this stress like.

 

Boom. You have awareness of it. You, you know what’s going on for yourself and that just helps you have some [00:26:00] more compassion with yourself that like, okay. Um. This is what’s happening. This is why it’s happening. Instead of like, you understand that internal experience because you became the observer of yourself, so you could actually look in and you weren’t just, you know, in the day to day not understanding what was going on for yourself.

 

So when we have a thought like, okay, I have to pack up my classroom. Seeing more examples here, charity says, um, feeling excited and nervous at the same time. I’m doing another long-term sub position in sped in another district for maternity leave starting about April 28th. Yeah, so, and here’s the interesting thing.

 

This is a complete tangent from this podcast. I just always love sharing when people share their thoughts, nervousness, and excited, it makes sense actually, those emotions go together. Really well, I want you to think about this charity. What, and everybody just think about what does it feel like to feel excited?

 

Kind of imagine that in your body when you feel excited, what does [00:27:00] that feel like? And then when you feel nervous, what does that feel like? And when you tune in and kind of feel those, you’ll notice that they actually have very similar sensations. So one thing that I learned from my mentor that I did my um, coaching certification with is that when you’re feeling nervous about something, you can, you can.

 

Almost be prepared with this. You can remind yourself, yeah, I’m feeling nervous about this, but I’m also feeling really excited about this, and kind of channel that nervousness more into the excitement. Yeah. Heart racing, right? You feel your heart racing when you’re nervous and when you’re excited, right?

 

You feel it either way. So you can kind of remind yourself, like if you’re feeling super nervous about something, you can remind yourself what are the things I’m feeling excited about with that too? Um. Okay. Linda says, will the Title one program I am under still be available next year? Yeah. And you’re, and you just wonder about that and you like, [00:28:00] what, what does that make you feel in your body?

 

And just kind of try to get awareness of that. What is that driving for you? Um, starting your estate testing next week? So getting everything and everyone ready. Yeah. Again, these are things that probably as as I read these comments, there are probably like 20 other people who are like, oh my gosh, yes, me too.

 

Right? Which is helpful in of, in and of itself, because community is such an important thing when we realize, oh, I’m not the only one. That alone can be powerful. And we talk about that a lot in chapter 11 of Educate and Rejuvenate. Um. Jennifer says, what you are talking about makes me think about perspectives.

 

Like, is the glass half full or half empty? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We want to, um, just, we’re really just trying to look at ourselves from a different perspective, right? We’re trying to understand not just like what, like what is going on, but why is going on? Like what we’re feeling about it, what we’re thinking about it.[00:29:00]

 

Getting to know ourselves. And again, we may or may not want to change anything about what we’re thinking or feeling, but even just getting that awareness of it is deepening our relationship with ourselves, making sure that we know what we need so we can take care of ourselves because we’re in a profession that is very prone to burnout and leading the profession.

 

Right? So. If we want to have a sustainable long-term career as an educator, we need to be able to do these things. We need to be able to check in with ourselves and become an observer and see what we’re thinking, what we’re feeling, what’s going on in our nervous system. It is crucial to the longevity of being an educator because unfortunately, not all the circumstances are in our favor, and that’s not something that is always under our control.

 

Um, okay. Let’s see. So again, one thing I’ll share before we move on to step three, um, hey there, glad to be part of this. What’s the topic, please? We are talking about, um, four things to alleviate teacher stress. So I’ll recap really quick ’cause we have, we just keep [00:30:00] having more of you joining as we, as we go.

 

So step one was to process your emotions. We want to check in with how we’re feeling, um, naming it. What is the emotion? How is it feeling our body? So we can learn from it. What is it telling me? What is it telling me that I need, if I’m feeling this end of your stress or end of your overwhelm or end of your fatigue, whatever that might be.

 

Um. Step two is to manage your thoughts or to just become aware of your thoughts, right? To see what, what thoughts are, what patterns are happening right now at the end of the school year and how they might be. ’cause again, if you’re thinking about the feelings you’re feeling, so wait, okay, what am I thinking when I’m feeling this way?

 

Right? That’s another way to think about it. What am I thinking when I feel this way? And then when I feel this way, what does that lead me to do? Right? Um. Step three is to replenish your energy. So we wanna talk about that, right? So raise your hand or type in the chat or [00:31:00] just think to yourself, I know this is going on Apple and Spotify and everywhere, so you might be on a replay.

 

Just think to yourself, um, if you’ve ever thought this, I’m too tired to even think about self-care right now. Like, you might even be arguing back with me. You might have been listening to this whole podcast and be like, oh, Kelsey, that’s nice in theory. Um, but I don’t even have time to think about self-care.

 

And you don’t have to be shy. Like it’s okay if you feel that way, right? Um, yes. Four simple ways to relieve end of your stress. That is the topic. Patty says. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Some of, and it’s okay. It’s okay. Right? I think all of us have thought this some point or another. The end of year isn’t just emotionally.

 

Draining. It’s not just about stress and overwhelm. It’s physically draining too. Right? It can feel like you’re running on fumes. And even basic things like, um, taking a breath or taking, like, even if you’re like, oh, I wanna take a few minutes to meditate, that might sound like. Completely undoable. Like, you’re like, I’ve got students around.

 

Or even basic things like, um, [00:32:00] you know, running to the bathroom when you need to or grabbing a drink can feel almost impossible when you’re an educator. Um, Holly says Always, Sarah’s like hands in the air. Jennifer says Yes. Again. I see so many of you that aren’t in the comments. We’d love to see ’em in the comments.

 

You get entered to win a copy, a signed copy of Educate and Rejuvenate when you engage in the chat. In case you hadn’t heard that yet, because I know a lot of you have it. ’cause the, the number just keeps changing. We got more of you tuning in. Um, uh, more comments equals more entries. Yes. So each time you comment that my team just reminded you, each time you comment on this live is another entry to win the signed copy of the book.

 

Um, Linda says, this is why teachers need a mental health day after the state testing. Agreed. Right. Um. So I just wanna acknowledge that if you’re tired or if you’re, you even have that thought, like, I don’t even have time for self-care. That doesn’t mean you’re lazy or you’re doing something wrong, or that self-care should be another thing that you add to your to-do list.

 

Because I mean, that just [00:33:00] sounds ridiculous, right? We don’t wanna add more things to your to-do list. Um, we want to just. It means that you’re human, right, and that your energy tank is probably close to empty from everything you’ve been pouring into this year. It’s also potentially a symptom, right? That like if we’ve gone this whole school year, like this is one thing I like to talk about a lot during the summer.

 

Because a lot of times during the summer I hear edu I hear teachers say, or even homeschool parents. I work with homeschool parents too that, um, I just can’t even think about it during the summer because I’m so burned out from the school year. I need a whole summer to take a break. Um, but what I think of with that is like if you need a like three month break before we even think about it, that’s probably a symptom.

 

And feeling like I don’t have time for self-care is likely a symptom of not. Because you haven’t worked it in before, right? Because you haven’t taken that time to take care of yourself. It’s a symptom of something that at some point might give. [00:34:00] And I know that because as I share in my book, I have been there, I had a panic attack that led me to passing out in my classroom and had a panic attack that led me to being in tears on my classroom floor, which is what the book starts with.

 

I had a panic attack that led me into the emergency room. Um. After having my third baby, like I get it. I wasn’t taking care of myself and then I was forced to. So it’s really where it is not like I want to add another thing to your to-do list. Right? But we do need to replenish that energy, even if it’s just a little bit, even if it’s like, I’m gonna take some deep breaths when I notice I’m stressed out.

 

You’re always breathing, right? We always have to breathe, so maybe we can take some deep intentional breaths. Maybe just, maybe it might be helpful to bring the students in with that too, because maybe they’re also dysregulated. Maybe they’re also stressed out and they need that moment too. It can just be a tiny, tiny [00:35:00] baby steps that’ll help you replenish your energy, because if you don’t.

 

You might end up there too. You might end up really at that breaking point. And I really don’t want that for you. It was not a lot of fun like at all. Um, so I mean, there are just a few simple, quick things you could do. You could, I. A two minute breathing break between classes. You could put your phone away and just sit in silence for a few minutes before you leave, before you get home.

 

Um, one thing that when I was first working through all this that my life coach suggested was because I felt like I was going just from everything I needed to do at work, to everything I needed to do at home. And she’s like, what if you built in some transition time? Like, are they even going to know if you took like 10 minutes to read a book before you leave?

 

Like to pick up your kids or whatever. And I was like, no. Like if I just did like 10 minutes for myself. Um, and I found that really helpful. Um. Pay your, I love this. Dana. Dana. Or Dana, sorry, I’m not sure which one it is. So you can let me know in the chat if you want, but pay [00:36:00] yourself first. This includes self-care.

 

Absolutely. Um, I, I love bringing in your comments because it just really enriches what we’re talking about here. Patty says it’s hard not to feel guilty when you take time for self-care. You constantly think about what you should be doing. Right? Right. And this is not to add other shoulds to your list.

 

It’s not even make you feel bad about like, oh, I haven’t been taking care of myself. It’s really about what can you do that is. So simple. It’s really about that tiny 1% incremental improvements over time that if you focus on just one minute here, two minutes tomorrow, three minutes, the next day after a year, you’re going to really be able to build some habits that are going to make teaching more sustainable for you.

 

Where you’re going to feel like you’re not only educating, but you’re educating and rejuvenating, because that is the only way that you’re going to be able to create a career that’s sustainable, that doesn’t leave you burned out all the time. Um. I get a manicure and pedicure every month. Love it. Latrice.

 

Um, Holly says, love that [00:37:00] idea of everyone breathing together. Yeah. Because our students need it too, right? They need it just as much as we do. And it can make it even more productive for you and for your students. Um, I can’t leave my phone. I use it for content during my class. No worries. No, I just, and by leaving your phone it can just be like putting it down or whatever, but totally get that.

 

Um. Okay. So another, let’s see, what was the other thing I wanted to mention? Um, another thing, walking outside for five minutes after your after school. There are certain things that really help regulate, really help regulate us, really relieve stress. Being outdoors is one of them, so a five minute outdoor walk.

 

Um, getting outside can really help connection. I talk about a lot of these things, again, in the Educate and Rejuvenate book. It doesn’t have to be a huge. A huge thing, right? Even the fact that you’re here listening to this live, this podcast, wherever you’re listening to it, is something that you’re doing for yourself, right?

 

Um. [00:38:00] Sipping something warm and actually enjoying it without multitasking for a minute. Like just letting your brain, I, that’s another thing that I found actually helps me replenish my energy. Sometimes it’s, I wanna listen to something that helps me feel empowered. And other times I’ve realized like I, I did that so much for so long.

 

Like I would always have my AirPods in listening to an audiobook or listening to a podcast or, um. Always being productive. And now I realized sometimes I’m like, sometimes I just wanna drive home in silence and be under understimulated for a little bit. And other times I want to listen to that podcast and feel uplifted.

 

So that is where tuning in and, and observing yourself really comes in handy to see what is it that is going to help you reset your energy right now? Is it going to be turning on a Taylor Swift or Beyonce song? Is it going to be, or some eighties rock, whatever it might be for you. Um. So again, it can be so many different things, right?

 

Um, so, so much you can do to replenish and have a little mini energy reset it. It can [00:39:00] be like Latrice said, getting a mani-pedi. It can be, um, something fancy like that. Um. But it doesn’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be a spa day, it doesn’t have to be a vacation. It certainly can like, yeah, you deserve any of those things and I, I am for it if that’s what you want to do.

 

But if you’re at that spot where you’re like, self-care feels completely undoable, I. Yeah, maybe it’s a dance party. Maybe it is coloring. Like Vanessa said, I love this. Um, I love modeling that reset recentering moments for my students. Yes. And they learned so much from it, and I feel like that’s what a lot of us grownups didn’t get growing up.

 

Right. Social emotional learning was not the buzzword that it is now. And I’m so glad it is now, um, because I’m hoping that as these kids grow up and learn these skills, um. That it will just help society as a whole. But for a lot of us who didn’t get that, like I, I don’t feel like I got that growing up.

 

Um, it is, we, we need to learn it now. And by learning it and embodying it ourselves, now we’re better able to teach it to our [00:40:00] students too. It’s not just something to teach to the kids. Social emotional learning is not just something that we teach to children. It’s something we need to live and do ourselves.

 

Um. Sarah says, align that self-care with what you truly value. Sometimes that means connecting with someone. Other times it’s taking a moment to pray 100%. And that’s where we’re talking about checking in. What is it that it means to you? Okay. Now step four, um, is to, so we talked about the first three steps.

 

First is to notice and process those emotions. Second is to manage your mind. Look at your thoughts. Step three is to reset your energy. Step number four is to simplify your time. So another question that I want you to think about, if you’re on the replay, possibly pop in the chat if you’re here live in the studio.

 

Who else? And I say, who else? Because I’ve totally been here. Who else has a to-do list right now? And in fact I do because we’re planning our next Educate Rejuven event that feels like it could double as a scroll in, like. A [00:41:00] medieval movie where it’s just like, it’s not just like one piece of paper, but it’s like that scroll that just keeps going and keeps going and keeps going and keeps going.

 

Anybody, anybody feel like they have a to-do list like that? Vanessa says yes. Um, and. It makes sense, right? Because as educators, we really do have so much we are with the kids for, you know, hours in a day, but there’s also all the prep that goes into that. There are the meetings, there’s the data collection, and then there’s the fact that we’re not only teachers.

 

We’ve got things and responsibilities outside of that too. Um. And Linda says, mine is not that long yet, but gimme time. Holly says, it’s never ending. Carrie says yes. Latrice says yes. Jennifer says she has a to-do list for her to-do list. I feel ya. Um. Yeah. So create the space to make it a habit for yourself and your students.

 

Easy to say, but I’m always needing to remind myself to do this. I love putting up posters in my room for this. Love that. Um, [00:42:00] Patty says, not today, tomorrow, maybe. Yes. So as again, like maybe some days don’t feel like that, but others days do. Charity says all the time. Now, what we want to do is realize that the end of the year is a different season, right?

 

The end of the school year. Like the beginning of the school year, like the middle of the school year, things ebb and flow, right? It’s not the end of the year all the time. It’s not testing all the time. Now that’s where we need to kind of check in again, I. Whenever there’s a new season of life and that involves the school year, that involves like maybe at this time in your life you’re taking care of a parent, or maybe you have a struggle going on with one of your children, or maybe a relationship with a sibling or something that’s going on that takes up some of your mental, like, is there anything else Taking on additional mental emotional capacity.

 

Then just the natural ebb and flow of the school year, such as testing, right? That adds new demands, new things. So things that might have been on your to-do list during a, you know, just [00:43:00] more normal time of year. Not that anything’s ever completely normal, but you get what I mean. Um, is there anything now in this season where there are more demands being put on your plate?

 

You can be like, maybe this doesn’t matter right now, like maybe having my bulletin board perfect, for example, doesn’t matter right now. Maybe having it up to date doesn’t matter right now. Maybe there’s some old things up there. That’s okay. That’s not the ideal. But for now, that’s okay. And that’s where we really need to check in because a lot of times our brain tells us things we have to do.

 

That we don’t actually have to do, and this is where we wanted to work on, where can we simplify our time? Where can we streamline things? Where can you grab a resource on TPT or from the Educate and Rejuvenate Club or whatever that can help you simplify some of your time. Where can you, maybe right now you need to get your groceries delivered or maybe right now like you treat yourself.

 

And again, this is only if it works. For you. You treat yourself to a house cleaner or for a babysitter for a night out, or whatever it might be for you. There might be additional [00:44:00] support that you need to give yourself or additional things that you would normally do that you need to be like, it’s okay if I don’t do this right now to get through that season, to simplify your time to give you some more time.

 

So one thing that I talk about in depth in chapter, there’s actually a full chapter that we’re not going to be able to get into today. There’s a full chapter in Educate Rejuvenate. About intentional scheduling, and this is really going to help you with your time, right? So the first thing we really talk about is the Eisenhower Matrix.

 

So we want to look at everything our brain is telling us we have to do and questioning it. We want to ask ourselves, do I actually need to do that? And if so, does it need to be done by me? And if so, does it need to be done right now? Right? So if something is both urgent and important, then we can do it like right away.

 

If it’s important but not urgent, we can decide we’re going to do it later. And that’s something that sometimes you be like, oh yeah, that’s important, but you know what? That that doesn’t have to be done with this week. Maybe it could be next week or maybe it could be after testing, right? Because [00:45:00] sometimes we think about like everything we need to do between now and the end of the year when really there’s some things that if you can just remind your brain, Hey, we don’t have to worry about that yet.

 

We can worry about that after testing, and like, I’ve got it in my calendar. I’ve got it in my planner. We can worry about that then. That alone can help alleviate so much of the mental drama that goes on because you are telling yourself, this is, these are the things I’m actually going to worry about right now.

 

And these are the things that, um, I. I’m not ignoring, I’m consciously deciding that we’re going to do that later, or we’re gonna come back to that at a later date. Or maybe that actually doesn’t matter. Maybe that’s something my brain was telling me you had to do and I actually don’t have to do it. Um, so that is where we want to look at this.

 

We wanna actually thoroughly analyze each thing we have on that scroll of a to-do list and ask, is it urgent? Urgent means it needs to be done right away. And then is it important? That’s the other thing that comes up because sometimes we feel like everything is urgent, but then we’d be like, is it actually important?

 

Does this actually like matter? Like is it going to matter like three months from now? And if it’s [00:46:00] not important but it’s urgent, like you know, just needs to be done, but it’s not going to matter later, that’s when we figure out how can we maybe delegate it or simplify it. Right. Um, again, we kind of go through this whole matrix and what to do with each thing.

 

Um, we can also just look at how we can chunk things down, right? Um, if clean the classroom feels huge, um, just break it into, right now the only thing I’m going to focus on is organizing this one cabinet. I’m not gonna focus on the whole thing or moving my whole classroom. Like if we saw that here, like how, how soon does that all need to be done?

 

Just chunk it down, right? Um. Jennifer says, I love this idea. Yes, Linda says, that is one of the things I’m trying to work on more simplifying time. Vanessa loves grocery pickup. I’m a huge fan of grocery pickup and grocery delivery. It is the best and could be a lifesaver, especially during those busier seasons.

 

Right. Um. So one thing I would challenge you as you’re, uh, all of you [00:47:00] listening today is think of, um, what is one thing you can either del delete, delay, or delegate? Tell us in the chat if you can think of one thing that you might do that with. Or just think of it yourself in your head or continue to think on it.

 

Um, and we can celebrate those little wins, those little steps that we’re taking to simplify our time. And remember, doing less does not make you less of a teacher. It actually helps you to focus on what matters more. Oh, I love these comments. Um, we need to modify and accommodate for ourselves to meet our own needs.

 

We do this for our students all the time. Why not think of doing this for ourselves at this time? 100%. Sarah says, prioritizing and setting boundaries. I like the combo of breaking down things and questioning things. Yes. Um, well, I love Jennifer’s suggestion here of helping make some the end of year.

 

Having the students help with some of those tedious end of year todos, right? They love to help. Yes. 100%. Um, [00:48:00] delete the idea that things have to be perfect. Yes. Okay. So let’s recap the four things that we went over. And again, this replay is available to any of you. Anytime you want to revisit. We also dive deeper into all of this.

 

In my book, educate and Rejuvenate a three step Guide to Revitalize Your Spirit. Wow. I should know the subtitle of my own book, right? Revitalize your Teaching, renew Your Spirit, and Reignite Your Passion for Life. Um. And one of you will, will be winning that copy here shortly, but anybody who purchases a copy and forwards their receipt to hello@educateandrejuvenate.com can get a signed book plate mailed to them for free.

 

Um, so the four ways that we talked about today are number one to. Process your emotions to check in with how you’re feeling. That alone helps you go from just focusing on the external, everything else that is going on into the internal experience. What is going on for me? What am I feeling? What is that telling me that I need?

 

Then we want to look at our [00:49:00] thoughts. We wanna manage those thoughts. Look at what we’re thinking, the thinking patterns we’re having. If we’re, if we’re feeling negative emotions more than we’d like to, again, there’s nothing wrong with feeling those, but if they are driving. Everything we want to check in and see what are my thinking patterns, what is going on for me right now?

 

Um, and. See what thoughts it is that are driving those feelings and question those thoughts. A lot of questioning, right? Question the thoughts that we’re having. Notice maybe where they’re not true, maybe where you can find another thought that might help. I have a lot of podcasts that’ll help with that too.

 

We weren’t able to dive super deep into all four of these, so again, you can check out. Book or educate and rejuvenate the podcast. We have 12 months. We’ll dive deeper into any of these four things that you can find and full chapters in the book. Um, step three is to replenish your energy again, that it can be so simple.

 

It doesn’t have to be like a huge self-care. It doesn’t have to be having a full spa day. It can be as simple as taking some deep breaths, [00:50:00] inviting your students to go with you, having a dance party going outside. Um, just something that is gonna help. Replenish that energy because we only have so much in our battery, right?

 

And we need to recharge that battery so that we don’t burn out. And number four is to simplify your time to figure out what is it that you can delete, that you can delegate, that you can simplify, that you can maybe, you know, not do it the way that would be the ideal. Perfect everything but. Done is better than perfect sometimes.

 

Sometimes we need to aim for B minus work. And as teachers, that can feel painful because a lot of times we were a students, we, that’s what our passion is, but sometimes we can’t give everything everywhere. Right. And. We want to be able to take care of ourselves. We want to be able to educate and rejuvenate.

 

So I would encourage you to implement these techniques to help you now through the end of the school year, to be able to, um, just get a sense of, you know, a little more of a sense of [00:51:00] control over what you can control, right? Because there are those things like state testing can’t control that. But what we can control what is in our power is whether we check in with ourselves, whether we pull away and get to know and understand.

 

Use it as an opportunity to realize what you need and how to take care of yourself, how to be strategic with your time, and kind of look at it as like a game and like, what can I do to simplify? What I try to remind myself sometimes is how can I make this fun? Right? Um. Again, I’ve had so much fun with all of you on the live podcast today.

 

Jennifer says, thank you for writing the book. I can’t wait to get a copy. I can’t wait for you either. Um, oh yes, Sarah says ai. Yes, 100%. I’m a huge fan of ai. We’re actually going to definitely have some podcasts about that soon. I. Um, can definitely help tasks be more efficient and B minus is so much better than F, right?

 

A lot of times we have this binary thinking. We talk about this in the book two, all or nothing thinking. We think it’s either an A plus or [00:52:00] it’s an F, and that’s not true, right? There’s so much in between.

 

And if you were here live or you’re on the replay when you grab your copy on Amazon, you can forward your receipt to hello@educateandrejuvenate.com and we will send you a signed book plate to turn your copy into a signed copy and.

 

I’m gonna tell you we have some more live podcasts coming soon. we’re going to be giving away a lot of Starbucks gift cards on those. we have some fun ones coming up as we announce our upcoming Educate and Rejuvenate conference, our fourth year of doing it. we’re gonna be doing some fun things with teacher goals for that, which is why we’re gonna be on their platforms too.

 

So much fun. I love being here with all of you here at Educate and Rejuvenate and Teacher goals. Teacher goals is amazing that they helped me publish this book and get it out there to all of you. So if anybody has any questions about the book, about anything that I shared, you can email anytime at hello@educateandrejuvenate.com and be sure to watch this space to get on our email list to [00:53:00] educate and rejuvenate.com if you haven’t yet, because I will be emailing out when we’re doing future, um, live podcast like this.

 

They’re going to be happening on a more frequent basis here soon. Have a wonderful night everybody, and we’ll talk soon.

 

Thank you for joining me on educate and rejuvenate the podcast today. If you love what you heard in this episode, be sure to hit subscribe. So you don’t miss the next one. And if you’re hungry for even more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote. It’s called educate and rejuvenate a three step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit.

 

And reignite your passion for life. It takes everything you learn here on the podcast and that I teach our members inside the educate and rejuvenate club into a guidebook. You can refer to again and again, one of our early readers said it was like clarity for her brain. Plus it’s not only a book with your purchase.

 

You’ll get a full. PDF guide with exercises and links to videos and more so that you can not only consume, but [00:54:00] apply everything that you learn. If you’re ready to make, educate and rejuvenate, not just a podcast you passively listen to, but a lifestyle that you put into action, it’s time to grab your copy on Amazon today or head to educate and rejuvenate.com/book to read the first chapter and the introduction today.