8 Easy-to-do Stress Relievers:

Eventually, all of us will feel some signs of stress on the job- headaches, irritability, tightness in our necks, and low spirits. While the causes are as varied as the teachers who experience them, there are dozens of things we can do to make things more bearable. Here are 8 stress busters that anyone can do.

1. Deep breathing - Breathe in very slowly through your nose. Hold for a few seconds and exhale through your mouth. Repeat for a few minutes. Be sure your breathe from your abdomen and not from your throat or chest.

2. Move around - Walk if you can. Take your students with you if you have to for a few laps around the playground. Put in a tape and dance with the kids - they’ll love you for it and you’ll feel much better.

3. Choose your friends carefully - The faculty room can be the trigger of many stressors. From past experience I know that we often vent our anger and frustrations in the lounge. But make an effort to lunch with positive, enthusiastic coworkers. If necessary, eat in your room or take your walk rather than get dragged down in negativity and gossip.

4. Prioritize - Few of us will ever completely catch up with all we have to do. If our paperwork is done, there is lesson planning to do. If the planning is done, there are parents to call. If the calls are made, there is committee work to do. Make a list of MUST DO ITEMS and don’t put them off. Do the task you dread the most first and the rest will seem easy. Don’t try to be a super hero. You will cheat your students and yourself and you will set yourself up for failure.

5. Change your routine - Because of regimented schedules, we teachers frequently fall into a rut. Plan a day where you don’t follow the routine. Take a different route to school. Come in later than usual. Leave earlier. Run out and get a sundae for lunch instead of brown bagging it in the teachers lounge. Just do something different and unexpected.

6. Perform acts of kindness - Do little things for teachers that make a difference in their day. Keep your colleague’s class out at lunch recess for an additional 15 minutes to extend your partner's lunch hour. Send a note of encouragement to a new teacher or a student teacher. Compliment a fellow worker who is feeling down. The rewards will come back to you in various ways-guaranteed.

7. Tell the kids you’re feeling blue - You wouldn’t want to do this on a regular basis of course, but once in awhile it can work to your benefit. Have them write about ways that they could make your day better. Their suggestions always cheer me up and I get caught up on some paper grading while they’re writing.

8. Keep a journal - When you feel you can’t take it anymore, write it down. Write down everything you can about how you feel and why. What triggered the stress? Maybe you will find a pattern and learn to avoid the triggers or you can do the OPRAH thing. Write down all the things you are grateful for each day. This is a great eye opener.

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