Achieving real teacher well-being [2-min read]

How can we achieve *real* wellbeing in teaching? 

When I chatted to the wonderful Emily Armstrong about *real* teacher well-being on The Kate Languages Podcast, she had so many amazing tips and ideas, I thought I’d share them again with you here:

1. Focus on workload management - Wherever possible, try to figure out what works for you - do you prefer to work early in the morning or later in the evening, for example? Do you want to work at school or take some work home?

2. Practise being assertive - Learn how to speak your truth in an assertive way. Ask your line manager for help with workload management (see point 1). Don’t be a people pleaser!

3. Overworking leads to burnout - Don’t feel guilty for not working all evening and/or weekends. You need to take time to rest and recharge. Equally, if you work best on Sunday afternoons, don’t feel guilty about working then if others aren’t working at weekends! Do what is right for you.

4. Embrace mistakes - Practise what you preach to your students - see “failure” as a point of growth. You can’t be perfect all the time - in fact, perfectionism is a killer of productivity. Don’t compare yourself to others (at work or on social media).

5. School leaders - trust your staff - Try not to micromanage your staff. Trust them to do their jobs - this decreases both your workload and theirs!

To hear Emily’s take on these tips and loads more, listen to the podcast episode here.