Why it’s Hard to “come down”

If you’ve ever found it difficult to “come down” from the busy-ness of the school year once break begins, this post is for you.

For many teachers (and especially overwhelmed teachers), we can get so used to the pace of GO, GO, GO that it becomes a lifestyle (trust me, I know what I’m talking about firsthand on this one. Another time I’ll tell you the story of how a lifestyle of overworking LITERALLY almost killed me at age 17. I’ve come a LONG way since then, but I still have to be intentional about pacing myself, too). 

What you DON’T want to do is spend the first 4 weeks of your summer break trying to “come down” get into vacation mode…only to start gearing up 3 weeks before school starts again. 

What you DO WANT to do is enjoy every minute of that well-earned summer off, rejuvenate and refresh yourself, recharge your batteries for the upcoming school year–because you’re going to need it.

Reason #1: Training

Being a good teacher requires your whole self–you’re never truly “off.” You’re always coming up with new ideas, picking up little additions to your classroom here or there, or seeing students and their families out and about in the community. Good teaching also requires forethought and good planning skills, so we are trained to always be thinking ahead. (Case in point: today, at my last PLC meeting of the year, I brought up an agenda item about something we might want to change for next year. I also, in the last 2 days, was working on some tweaks to my opening day syllabus slides for the Fall). Oftentimes, this propensity for planning serves us well. But other times, it can be burdensome and shackle us. 

Reason #2: Science

I think another part of the reason it sometimes feels hard to “turn off” the teacher brain could also be physiological–I’m not a scientist, but I do know that our repeated habits carve physical and chemical pathways into our brains, which is why habits can be very hard to break. So when we spend 10 months straight in teacher mode, it makes perfect sense why it can be a challenge to suddenly switch it off. The good news is, it can be done! Most often, I see newer teachers struggle with this. But if you put some boundaries in place upfront, you really will feel refreshed later on. More on this later!

How to Flip the Switch

#1: Leave Your Work Computer at Work

Do NOT take it home for the summer. If you’re not required to turn it in, then lock it up in a cabinet where it will be safe.

#2: Disconnect from Work Alerts and Notifications

If your phone or smart watch is connected to your work email or some other work-related app, DISCONNECT IT. You are not a 12 month employee. You are not an ER doctor. You do not need to be on call when you’re off work. There are not going to be any life-or-death situations happening in July related to your job as a teacher. It can wait! If anything really urgent were to happen, the higher-ups who need to contact you (department head, principal, HR) have your phone number and can call you. My school this year added to our check-out check list a “Summer Staff Contact Form” that asked for some basic information and included these simple questions:

I thought this was great! This is just more support for those boundaries. (Why not suggest it to your head secretary or admin? You can pitch it as an efficiency tool that will make less work for them–because it’s true!) In order to clearly communicate this boundary to others who might try to contact you, it’s not a bad idea to set an “away” message on your work email. Here’s a short & sweet template to save you some time; tweak with your own details as needed:

“Thank you for contacting me. I will not be available by email from 6/15-8/15/24, but I look forward to connecting with you after that date. Have a great summer!” 

Here’s one step further, for those of you on the journey (aren’t we all…?) to reclaiming your time and peace of mind: once summer is over…LEAVE THE NOTIFICATIONS OFF. I’ve been teaching almost 20 years, and I have NEVER…that’s right, never had my work email connected to my phone. I always access my work email from a computer (disclosure: back in the day, yes I did used to check my work email from home…before I knew better. But still it was on a computer–not always with me, like my phone). I would recommend setting a reminder for yourself (on your calendar, phone, etc.) to begin checking your work email about 2 weeks before the back-to-school teacher workdays start, as many admins start sending out important back-to-school info within that timeframe. Before that, let it go. You’re not on-call.

#3: Set a Benchmark Tradition

I began this one with my eldest daughters the year they completed kindergarten: on the last day of school, we pick them up from school, take them out for ice cream, and go on a fun adventure as a family! We have continued this tradition every year on the last day of school for the last 6 years. Although we began it as a celebration for the kids, I look forward to it just as much as they do! It’s so great to celebrate a year of hard work and a summer well-earned by jumping right in RIGHT AWAY!

#4: CANNONBALL!! Immediately Do Something Different

Shake up your normal teacher routine as soon as possible after work ends. Start with that benchmark tradition above on the SAME DAY school ends, and then plan something totally outside your norm for the next day, if possible!

If you are planning a summer trip, leave the next day instead of waiting a few week, if you have the option. Or, if you’re not planning to travel, at least shake up your routine. Go out for breakfast, visit like a tourist in the next town over, take a day trip somewhere, schedule a date with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time (I’m thinking of one friend in particular who I lived 10 minutes from for years…but we were both teachers, so literally the only time we ever saw each other was in the summer…)

The basic idea here is to cannonball into the deep end instead of wading in the shallows with your toes first. Plunge yourself into summer mode, and it will be more effective, enjoyable, and rejuvenating than trying to acclimate to it.

Balancing the Shift

So there you have a few quick ways to jump-start your summer and shift your mind out of teacher mode to mentally begin that summer break you’ve been looking forward to all year.

Meet me back here next week to make sure you don’t go to another extreme: overbooking your summer with too much of a good thing!