You're feeling drained from teaching all day. How can you recharge and maintain a healthy work-life balance?

Spending a few minutes reflecting on what went well and what you might want to improve after a long day and Journaling can be a helpful way to process your thoughts and emotions; also setting aside time each day to disconnect from your phone, email, and social media. This can help reduce stress and prevent further burnout. Connecting with friends, family, or colleagues outside of work. Social interactions can be energizing and help shift your focus away from work.

Create a Daily Ritual: Establish a routine to unwind after each day of teaching. I do a 5-10 min deep breathing exercises or meditation to clear your mind. You will feel refreshed after instead of leaving the school with a feeling "I'm done at last." Set Boundaries: Make a clear distinction between work and home life by setting boundaries,Am not asking you to cut the students off like there's a test on Monday and they text you on a Sunday and you ignored as it's not your work day. Boundaries like no promise of same day reply on weekends, or replies after 9pm unless emergency.

I learnt the concept of creating a “transition time” between one's professional and personal time from a LinkedIn video I watched a few years ago and it has been a game-changer for me. This transition time helps me disconnect from work and gets me primed to focus on the other things that are important to me.

To recharge and maintain work-life balance, prioritize meaningful connections and activities outside of teaching. Any activity could involve volunteering for a cause you're passionate about, joining a social club or hobby group, or dedicating time to nurture your spiritual well-being. These fulfilling endeavors can provide a sense of purpose and rejuvenation, enriching your life beyond the classroom and positively impacting your overall well-being.

I think everyone knows the importance of having a balanced diet and stay hydrated but we can get really busy. Consider: 1. Nuts (brain food) in small packs thats handy on the go. Packet milk/ Oat milk comes in handy too. Remember, having food is better than no food. 2. Challenge yourself to healthier food choices, starting from maybe 2 meals a week and slowly increased it. You will feel yourself more energised. 3. Supplements like Vit C, multi-v to start your day/ or before bedtime 4. Use bigger water bottle with time. I personally find it useful. Save the hassle to get water, and good check whether I have drank enough as the day goes by.

As much as possible have a sleep routine, aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends. You will find yourself more refreshed when your body alarm does the magic. I know weekends are previous times , esp a late night movie on Fri/Sat , but the "owed" hours of sleep will need more than double the time to catch back, not worthy to be honest. Create a sleep friendly environment. Phone Away from your bed is important. NO gadgets before sleep helps you to sleep better and faster. Consider music. Trust me, it's worth spending some time to find THAT music.

Connect with Others (colleagues outside of work) : Make time to socialize with friends, family, to relax and recharge. through planned catch up. You will realise when you do it purposefully, you will create more meaning and better experience in the catch up that wont be a "waste of time". I have a "to-do list" and I regularly look for different group of people to fulfil it with me. Do consider Networking for self-development. Growth and Progress is important to keep yourself truly happy.