How to Deal With Teacher Burnout in 2024

If you’ve searched for answers on how to deal with teacher burnout, then you may be struggling with teaching. And don’t worry – you’re not alone.

Teacher stress and burnout are on the rise, according to just about any article reporting on it these days. The New York Times recently reported that over half of the teachers surveyed for a test are thinking of quitting.

These numbers are pretty alarming. Teaching is a job that requires creativity, problem solving, and passion. When you’re stressed, it is hard for your brain to tap into these areas.

Losing the passion for teaching doesn’t mean that you will never get it back- but its not something you can ignore.

Just about any teacher would agree that it’s not an easy job to ‘fake’ if you deep down don’t want to be there.

Teacher burnout can be temporary, or it can be lifelong lasting. In my case, I decided to quit teaching for good. Now, I’m not saying that you need to quit your job at this point. But if you’re feeling burnt out, then you need to act before it begins to negatively affect you, your family and your students.

So, let’s jump in – how to deal with and prevent teacher burnout, and steps to take to make the best career decision for you.

What to do if You Feeling Burned Out as a Teacher

Here are the first few steps to take if you suspect that you’re starting to burn out.

1. Spend time with your coworkers

Not every school has a supportive staff, but hopefully, there are at least 1-2 other people you could talk to.

As a teacher, it always helped to spend some time with some teacher friends to talk about how I was feeling.

Being able to vent, and laugh with them lifted my spirts and reminded me that I wasn’t alone in the challenges of this profession.

Maybe you could connect with a few teacher colleagues that you’re close with, or you and a few other staff members could try some teacher morale boosting activities.

2. Take a day off (or two)

Teacher burn out can be prevented by listening to yourself and knowing when you need to hit the pause button.

Take a few days off so that you can step back from your work responsibilities. Taking this short breather may allow you to go back feeling refreshed.

Who knows, maybe you learn something about yourself through this process of taking a day off from teaching.

Maybe the easiest way for you to sustainably fulfill your role as a teacher is if you take one day off per month. And that’s ok. Knowing your limits and sticking to them may be what allows you to last as

3. Assess how you feel towards work

Your general outlook on your job is the best way to tell where you stand with work. How do you feel on a Sunday night, waiting for a week to start? What thoughts run through your head when your students are just filtering in?

To get an idea of where you stand in terms of your feelings and attitudes towards your job, take our teacher burnout quiz.

4. Consult with your healthcare provider

If after trying the above ideas, you still don’t feel better, then it might be time to get some help from a professional who can treat mental health issues, or assess whether you need some additional time off work.

I reached out to my doctor when I started feeling burnt out, as there was little that could be done to make me feel ‘ok’ returning to my position.

I would recommend booking an appointment with your family doctor, or therapist to discuss how you’re feeling and next steps.

How to Deal with Teacher Burnout

If the above options don’t make you feel more refreshed and wanting to be there, then you might to consider hitting the pause button

What to do NOW

If you already feel that you may be burned out as a teacher, then the best way to deal it is to take a (temporary) step back from work.

This might mean taking more than a day or two off. Depending on how burned out you are, you might need a bit more time to figure out if you want to continue teaching or not.

For now, this step back is only meant to be temporary. It’s to give you time to rest, recharge, reflect and gain some clarity on how you feel and where you stand with work.

The bottom line is – you shouldn’t make any career altering decisions when you’re feeling burnt out.

When (and If) to Return to Teaching

Decisions about whether or not you should quit teaching or look for other jobs can be better made after you’ve had a chance to refresh.

Seeking the advice and guidance of an expert on this is very important, so that you don’t continue to allow teacher burnout to negatively impact your life, and the lives of your students.

I hope that you feel better after taking some time away from the classroom. If you don’t, then it may be time to consider whether you still want to be a teacher longterm, or consider opportunities beyond the classroom.

If you do feel better after taking some time off, then here are some things to do to prevent teacher burnout in the future.

How to Avoid Burnout as a Teacher

If you’re not burned out as a teacher yet, you certainly don’t want to get there. I burned out as a teacher, and have seen many teachers

1. Draw firm boundaries

As a teacher, there is no end to the amount of things you could do to improve your practice, your techniques or to help the students more.

You could work 24 hours per day as a teacher if you wanted to. That’s what makes it a dangerous profession for those of us who take a lot of pride in our jobs and want to do well.

But it can be very detrimental to our long-term functioning as a teacher. You need to decide how many hours you want or are able to put in, and draw the line there.

Ensure that you are prioritizing work-life balance as a teacher; making time for things that benefit your mental and physical health, as well as your hobbies, family, friends, pets and other things that make you happy.

2. Know your limits and honour them

In my early days as a teacher, I felt guilty saying no, and often tried to go above and beyond what was expected. I never took sick days, and I put in 110% of my efforts even when I knew that I was starting to run on empty.

I would not recommend doing this, as it will bring you closer to burning out. Instead, listen to how you’re feeling. If you feel like you need a break, take one.

If you feel like there’s too much on your plate already, then don’t add any more; no matter how guilty you feel.

3. Find out what kind of teacher you are

When I first started teaching, I had trouble ‘finding my voice.’ I tried to mimic the style other teachers in the school to see if that kind of teacher persona would work with my class.

I tried to be the loud, army sergeant type even though it was so far from my nature.

Trying to be like other teachers instead of finding my own unique style only left me more exhausted, and even frustrated.

You’ll have a much easier time if you can be yourself to a degree.

4. Have organized systems

Nothing can make your life harder as a teacher than if you’re not organized.

If you have trouble keeping on top of work, keeping records or keeping things organized then you should definitely take some time to figure out how to keep organized.

Being organized will save you a lot of stress and grief later on.

Pro Tip: Being organized doesn’t just mean for your students and administrators. Be organized by caring for yourself and ensuring you have access to things you need. Read my post on things to include in a teacher survival kit at work.

5. Have an effective parent communication system

If you teach elementary school, then parents will especially be apart of the stress of your job.

The better system you have for keeping them informed, the less of a strain this extra responsibility will be on you.

Pro Tip: Part of dealing with parents is being organized. When they want to understand why their child got a certain mark, it’s less stressful if you can easily pull up that information because you’ve been organized.

6. Praise yourself for doing your doing your best

Hopefully, you have a good principal who occasionally lets you know that they appreciate your hard work. I often felt helpless when I couldn’t make the difference I wanted, or help my students as much as I wanted.

Rather than wallow in feelings of failure, it helped to show myself some self love and acceptance by reminding myself that I was trying very hard.

I truly cared about my teaching practice and the impact it was having on students, and deep down I know thats a big part of being a good teacher.

7. Don’t take criticism to heart

It’s almost impossible to go through teaching as a career without facing any kind of criticism, or harsh words at some point.

Whether they come from a student, a parent, or a coworker, or even members of the public – they will happen at some point.

Unless you have parents calling to complain daily, then don’t take it to heart. Unless other people are teaching your class, then they haven’t walked in your exact shoes. If you know that you’re doing your best at what you’re supposed to be doing, then that is what matters.

8. Meditate every day

Teaching is a busy job, that requires you to be ‘on’ all day. Short moments of silence can bring you a lot of peace and clarity.

Whether its just a minute or two in your car before you drive home, or a full on meditation session for 5-10 minutes in a quiet room at home – it can help wonders.

I have been using Insight Timer for years, and they have special morning meditations for teachers.

9. Assess how you feel about reading the above

I’ve given you some tips to support yourself as a teacher through burnout. How did you feel reading them?

If you felt like you wanted to give them a shot – then that’s a good sign.

If however, you feel like you have no interest in trying any of the above, then you may be burned out.

In which case – I would recommend reaching out to your family doctor or therapist to get some help with your feelings towards teaching, and what to do about them.

What Does Teacher Burnout feel like?

It’s important to look for signs of teacher burnout. Here’s what teacher burnout feels like as a teacher

According to medical experts, burnout feels like mental and physical exhaustion and a reduction in your interest and engagement in things you once found meaningful or enjoyable.

Click here to read a medical article on what symptoms of burnout.

My Experience with Teacher Burnout

I burned out as a teacher, and I could see a very big difference in my attitude towards my job at the beginning of my career versus at the end.

At the beginning of my career as a teacher, I was excited and enthusiastic to be in the classroom. I felt honoured to have been given this important job of being a teacher for these students.

This sunshine attitude towards my job only lasted about 2-3 years. After that amount of time, I started to really dread going into work.

By the end of my career, I felt that my job was a joke. It felt like nothing I could do would really make any big difference, and I completely lost the enthusiasm that I had starting out.

I knew I wanted to switch to something else, and I spent years dabbling with side hustles, hoping to turn one of them into a full time career. (Side note: I eventually did.)

I started with a sick leave at the advise of my doctor, followed by a leave of absence. Finally, I ended up pulling the plug mid-year, while I was on an unpaid leave, because I felt deep down that I would never want to go back.

Final Thoughts on Teacher Burnout

By now, you know some tips on how to deal with teacher burnout, and how to avoid it from ruining your career. I hope that some of the tips above have been helpful to you as a teacher.

It saddens me that there are so many other teachers out there going through what I did. In an ideal world, there would be adequate support, funding and attitudes to enable teachers to do their jobs.

As a parent, former school teacher and someone who was once a child who used love school, I think that a teacher is truly one of the most important jobs.

I hope that you are able to take the steps you need to heal from teacher burnout, and that you feel better! Let me know if this was helpful.