If you’re counting down the days until break more intensely than your students are, you’re probably standing at the edge of burnout. Before it gets too far, there are a few things you need to stop doing right now.

Let’s talk about the habits that silently push teachers deeper into burnout—and what to do instead so you can finish the semester with more energy, not less.

Identifying Burnout

Burnout doesn’t always show up as a dramatic collapse. Sometimes it creeps in quietly through patterns we don’t even notice. Here are three big ones:

1. Perfectionism

Feeling like every lesson has to be Pinterest-worthy? That your classroom has to look perfect? That every student interaction has to be handled flawlessly?
Perfectionism is a fast track to burnout because it sets an impossible standard you’ll never be able to meet.

2. Saying Yes to Everything

Field trips. Committees. After-school clubs. Covering classes.
When you’re already stretched thin, every additional “yes” costs you energy you don’t have.

3. Feeling Guilty for Resting

Burnout deepens when you believe rest must be earned.
If you can’t relax without feeling guilty, your body never gets the chance to actually recover.

These three habits keep teachers stuck in a cycle of exhaustion—but you can break it.

3 Things to Do Instead

Once you’ve identified the burnout behaviors, here’s how to shift out of them:

1. Prioritize Rest

Rest is not optional. It’s essential.
Your body doesn’t need permission to rest—it needs support.

When you give rest the same importance as planning and grading, you show up more grounded, patient, and effective.
Your students benefit when you’re well, not when you’re depleted.

2. Focus on Working Smarter, Not Harder

For a long time, I believed the more work I did, the bigger the impact I made.
But that wasn’t true.

When I shifted to working smarter, not harder, the deeper the impact I made.

That shift came from systems:

• How can I structure my classroom so students run it without me micromanaging?
  
  
• How can I plan and prep weeks in advance instead of scrambling each morning?
  
  
• How can I grade assignments and return them the same week without taking papers home?
  
  
• How can I organize my resources so planning time is cut in half?
  
  

These systems transformed my year. Suddenly, teaching became easy and fun.

Everything I learned, I poured into my book That New Teacher Next Door.
You can even read an excerpt from the planning chapter—proof that if it was possible for me, it’s possible for you too.

3. Meet Yourself Where You’re At

Repeat after me:
It’s okay to meet yourself where you are.

If your body is telling you it can only handle a small amount today—listen.
If you need an easier day, take it. It doesn’t mean students won’t learn anything.

In fact, some of the best learning happens on the simplest days, when you’re calm, present, and grounded.

Meeting yourself where you are is not lowering the bar—it’s honoring your capacity.

Wrap Up

Here’s what we covered today:

• How to recognize the burnout habits creeping in
  
  
• Three things to stop doing before break
  
  
• Three things to start doing instead—resting, working smarter, and honoring your capacity
  
  

Teacher burnout is not inevitable. You can shift this now, before break, with small but powerful changes.

Next Steps for Teachers

If you want support building the systems that make teaching easier, lighter, and more sustainable:

• Join the Book Waitlist & Free Training – Get early access + learn the systems that saved my career.

• Download the Prep Guide – Learn how to plan ahead without the overwhelm.

• Explore The Present Teacher Circle – My membership that helps teachers build sustainable systems all year long.

You are not meant to teach from burnout. You are meant to teach from overflow.