15 Teacher Self-Care Ideas for Teacherpreneurs

Introduction

Some of you may be in the classroom while moonlighting as a teachers pay teacher seller. Or, perhaps you are some other kind of teacher business owner. Whichever situation applies to you, you know how hard it is to manage work-life balance. On top of this, stress levels inside and outside the classroom have risen to unprecedented levels. Learning how stress impacts your mind and body, tools to address it, and how to easily integrate stress management strategies like self-care into your daily life is more important than ever.  

How Self-Care Is Important Stress Management for Entrepreneur Teachers

Effective stress management starts with self-care. Self-care isn't a luxury and can decide whether you succeed or fail at your goals and whether you live a fulfilled life. This is because stress profoundly impacts your daily functioning and health. Luckily, you have 100% control over your self-care practices, and the more you take responsibility for your stress by managing it, the better off you'll be. 

Managing stress is a skill you can learn and tailor to you. You can learn this skill once you value and prioritize your self-care and wellness.

Reactive vs. Proactive Stress Management

We're always dealing with and managing stress. Unless we're intentional, reactive stress management is what we do when we're in default mode. We're trying to put out fires as they occur, and life feels chaotic and stressful. Proactive stress management is preventative. We're taking action to prevent or minimize stress before it happens. Self-care is a proactive stress management technique and philosophy. 

15 Teacher Self-Care Ideas You Can Do Today

1. Understand the Impacts of Stress on Your Mind and Body

Words like "stress" and "burnout" are often so overused that they've lost meaning. Many teacher business owners I work with need to figure out what stress actually is. However, to effectively manage stress, we need to know what it is. 

"Stress" is a well-documented physiological response and process in your body. In my article, "the stress cycle," you can learn about this process. Educating yourself about this process is the start of learning how to address stress in your life. 

2. Learn to Recognize Signs of Burnout

"Burnout" happens when stress chemicals chronically overload our nervous systems and bodies. Burnout symptoms can be physical, mental, or emotional, but it always starts in the body. 

While there are common signs of burnout, we can manifest them differently. Learn the signs of burnout and hone in on which symptoms you experience, if any. These early warning signs signal that you need more self-care, not less. Early noticing also helps you learn to be more proactive when it comes to self-care.  

Learn more about burnout among entrepreneur teachers.

3. Create a Journal Ritual

Journalling is one of the most straightforward, accessible self-care tools, and it's proven to transform your emotional and physical well-being. You can do one-line journals that take only 30 seconds. Or you can integrate a quick journal ritual into your daily routine. Easy journaling ideas are timed braindumps, gratitude lists, or jotting down an inspiring quote or affirmation.  

My free stress relief toolkit has 8 journal prompts for teachers and teacherpreneurs that are available to print and use today.

4. Empower Yourself Using Affirmations 

Of course, you don't have to journal affirmations to use them. An affirmation can be used anytime, anywhere. You can create your own based on what you need to hear or remember. Or, you can Google affirmation lists and see what resonates with you.

5. Visual Art & Coloring

Coloring isn't just for kids anymore. Adult coloring has been found to reduce stress in the moment effectively. You can take a one-minute coloring break at lunch or at your desk. 

Try this coloring pages bundle.

6. Get into Nature

I recently wrote all about the stress reduction effects of getting into nature. This can be as easy as visiting the beach, a local park, or walking around your neighborhood. Get more ideas for how to use nature for stress reduction here.

7. Check-In with Your Body

A body check-in is a simple but powerful tool that helps you connect with and process your emotions and thoughts. It can be performed anywhere and at any time. Read about what a body check-in is and how to do one.  

8. Engage in Positive Movement 

Light stretching and walking are wholesome, easy ways to soothe an overwrought nervous system. Remember that stress is in the body, so anything that soothes your physical body and helps it re-regulate will dissipate stress. Plus, these are low-energy ways to incorporate movement into your busy lifestyle. 

9. Get Support and Resources

Managing stress and taking time for self-care is a long game that requires new skills and systems thinking. It's a true life transformation that doesn't happen overnight and works better when you have clear guidance, inspiration, support, and resources. 

You can get this ongoing support in my signature teacher life balance membership. 

10. Define What Work-Life Balance Looks Like To YOU

We all want work-life balance, but what does this look like? 

The truth is that it looks different for everyone. And the more specific you can be about how it looks for you, the more likely you are to achieve it. Visualize a day when you have a work-life balance. What do you spend your time doing? Who are you with? How long? What kinds of self-care activities are happening?

11. Reframe Time Management as Self-Care

Regarding "work-life balance," many of the teacherpreneurs I know need more time. Since time is a finite resource, they need to carve more time out of their schedules for goals and self-care. This is where time management as self-care comes in. It's all about living a productive life as you cultivate feelings of well-being and fulfillment. 

Check out these time management tools for teacher entrepreneurs. 

12. Schedule Time Off, Breaks, and Vacations 

The importance of rest for entrepreneur teachers can't be overstated. While you may feel guilt around slowing down or resting, your body needs to rest to recover from stress. If it doesn't get appropriate rest, the chronic effects and physiology of stress build up over time, snowballing into burnout and mental distress. Be proactive and pencil rest into your calendar.   

13. Build an Individualized Teacher Self-Care Kit 

Just like we don't manifest stress the same way, we also need individualized tools that we're motivated to use. One person's tool is not another's tool. Focus on building a toolkit that reflects your unique preferences and needs.

14. Make Time for Self-Care By Streamlining Your Teacher Business

You may not automatically connect self-care with business tips or education. However, effective business support and implementation can reduce sources of stress AND free up more time for self-care and stress management. 

15. Nurture Yourself

Nurturing yourself includes the things we may typically associate with self-care. Talking baths, diffusing essential oils, lighting candles, creating ambiance, and self-pampering activities fall into this category. 

Explore even more teacher self-care ideas. 

Conclusion

Self-care is an essential part of proactive stress management. This applies to teachers pay teachers sellers, and any other type of teacherpreneur. The more you learn about stress and how to manage it, the more skilled and fulfilled you'll become. Because at the end of the day, we want to be resilient entrepreneur teachers who thrive. Get self-care reference guides to help you thrive in the teacher life balance membership.