Teachers who do not understand how to effectively manage stress limit their ability to educate their students. Emotions are also important in decision-making. Overwhelm, anxiety, and frustration can all impair our ability to make sound decisions.

When the demands placed on you, such as work, school, or relationships, exceed your ability to cope, you experience stress. It can be a short-term reaction, such as being stuck in traffic or being late for school, or it can last for a long time if you’re dealing with relationship or money problems, the death of a loved one, or other serious situations. While some stress can be beneficial, such as stress that motivates you to study for an exam or perform well in a sporting event, untreated long-term stress has been linked to serious health issues such as depression, heart disease, obesity, and a weakened immune system.

According to a survey, women consistently report higher levels of stress than men. We don’t know if this is because women face more demands than men, such as taking on more family responsibilities, or because men and women experience stress differently. However, it is clear that chronic stress can have physical and emotional consequences if we do not find better ways to manage it.

Irritability, difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, headaches, stomach aches, intestinal problems, nervousness, excessive worry, sadness or depression are all symptoms of stress. Stress can have an adverse effect on a woman’s ability to conceive, the health of her pregnancy, and how she adjusts after giving birth. It can also have an effect on menstruation and sexual desire, and it can aggravate premenstrual symptoms.

It may appear difficult for women juggling multiple responsibilities to find time to adequately manage stress. People who are under a lot of stress may try to cope by overeating or undereating, drinking alcohol, smoking, gossiping, or lying around the house. The good news is that there are effective stress management techniques. Here are some clever ways to cope:

Breathe Correctly.

Sensory overload can occur in the classroom. Before you know it, your heart rate is increasing, you’re breaking out in a sweat, and your mind is racing. The most effective first step you can take in these situations is to breathe deeply. So, it’s not the most recent technique, and it appears to be overly simple, right? When you’re stressed, breathe in deeply for four seconds (place your hands on your stomach and feel it expand out), then exhale evenly for four seconds. Maintain this for 2-3 minutes for maximum effect.

Accept the Stress.

Whether you believe stress is positive or negative, you are correct: viewing stress constructively will cause your body to respond differently and prevent long-term physical damage. Those who have negative attitudes towards stress, on the other hand, face a variety of negative health outcomes similar to those caused by smoking. So, how do you alter your attitude towards stress? Reframing changes in heart rate and other stress-related physical symptoms with phrases such as “This is my body helping me rise to this challenge.”

Imperfect Yourself.

Those who are overly stressed and unhappy often have one thing in common: they believe they should be someone better than they are. As a result, today’s working-age population is the most obese, addicted, and indebted in history. Teachers are frequently prone to perfectionism and its negative consequences: they frequently believe that they are not doing enough, or that their mistakes are magnified due to the importance of their job. Fight back if you find yourself feeling this way. The truth is that you are already “enough,” and you deserve to be loved and praised. Don’t forget about it.

First Aid for Emotions.

Do you criticise yourself when you fail or make a mistake? It would be like getting a cut and then finding ways to aggravate the wound. We don’t do that when we’re in physical pain, so why do we dwell on mistakes and aggravate the wound when we’re in emotional pain? Finding ways to break negative thought patterns is recommended if you find yourself taking your classroom work home with you. Sometimes a two-minute distraction is all that is required to avoid getting stuck in an emotional rut.

Be Thankful.

This isn’t about delusion or forcing yourself to be grateful for things that are clearly negative, but rather about a determination to see the opportunity to move in a new direction present in each moment. The formula is simple: “Stop, look, go.” We must pause, quiet our minds, and create “stop signs”—miniature reminders of things for which we should be grateful every day. By “look,” I mean to open all of your senses and simply enjoy life. “Go” means to move forward and take advantage of what life has to offer at any given time.

“Grass is Greener” Thinking.

“The greenest grass grows where it is watered.” It’s not always what you want to hear on a bad day, but the reality is that you will face difficulties wherever you go.

Work Smarter rather than Harder.

It’s easy to conflate exhaustion and burnout with hard work. Working hard and doing good work does not have to leave you exhausted and tense. Consider delegating some of your work or investing in tools or technologies that will make your life easier.

Connect with Someone.

When you connect with another person, your body produces oxytocin, a chemical that aids in heart repair. And you don’t even have to be on the receiving end: helping someone else has the same effect. Teachers already devote a significant amount of time to this, but it is also critical to cultivate relationships with colleagues, neighbours, and friends. Except for those who reported caring for others, who experienced NO such effects, major stressful life events are generally strongly linked with negative health outcomes. You are much less likely to experience the negative effects of stress if you help your neighbours, family, and so on. Friends and family members who have faced similar challenges may have useful ideas and perspectives to share. There is no reason to face difficult life circumstances alone. Indeed, support from family or friends may help you begin and maintain better self-care.

Keep track of your stressors. Keep a journal to track which situations cause you the most stress and how you deal with them. Keep a journal of your thoughts, feelings, and observations about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting, and your reactions. Taking notes can help you identify patterns in your stressors and reactions to them, allowing you to develop a stress management strategy.

Set boundaries. Make a list of the projects and commitments that are causing you stress. Determine which commitments are priorities and eliminate anything unnecessary. Accept no more commitments until you feel your stress is under control. Limiting non-essential obligations is essential for reducing chronic stress.

Make one health-related pledge. Do everything you can to improve your health so that you have the energy and strength to face the challenges you face. One small step, such as reducing excessive snacking, can have a big impact. Similarly, a brisk walk or other aerobic activity can boost your energy and concentration while decreasing anxiety. Physical activity boosts the production of feel-good endorphins while decreasing the production of stress hormones.

Control your devices. People who report constantly checking their email or social media tend to be more stressed. Take a break over the weekend and in the evenings. Before you go to bed, put your phone away.

Improve the quality of your sleep. Women who are chronically stressed frequently experience insufficient sleep and, in some cases, stress-induced insomnia. Begin winding down an hour or two before bedtime by engaging in calming activities such as listening to relaxing music, reading a good book, or practising relaxation techniques such as meditation.

Seek Additional Assistance. Yes, this is permissible. There will be times when you need help, no matter how long you’ve been teaching or how brilliant you are. Asking for help does not make you weaker; rather, it makes you more effective at your job. If you are still feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty getting through your daily routine, seek the assistance of a mental health professional, such as a psychological counsellor. Psychological counsellors are trained to assist you in developing effective stress management strategies and making changes to help improve your overall health.

Making lesson plans, ensuring classroom discipline, pressure from parents and management, a lack of administration support, annual education system upgrades, and now the challenge of streamlining with online classes; being a teacher is not an easy job.

Another challenge for teachers is stress management. Teaching nowadays requires more intelligence, energy, and planning, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Teaching is becoming more popular in the modern world as a noble profession and one of the best jobs.

Plan Ahead of Time.

The stress of lesson planning, meeting the syllabus’s deadline, and preparing the class for exams may feel like a burden on your mind. Still, it can be made easier by planning ahead of time, even at the start of the session. So, first go through the entire course, make a list of the lessons, count the number of working days and holidays in your calendar, and assign dates to each lesson. Then, stay on schedule and teach according to your lesson plan.

Remember to schedule days for revision, homework, class tests, and copy correction for each lesson. For example, if you have 24 lessons on the curriculum this year and 250 classroom days, you can assign each lesson 5-6 days. Maintain flexibility in this plan by allowing more time to complete a lesson if it is longer, more difficult, or if students want more time.

Every holiday, set aside an hour to plan classroom instruction and lesson plans. Searching for answers to questions in class, students being undisciplined as a result of being unattended, and making students read the lesson again and again because you are not prepared with additional notes; all of these things add to your mental stress. So, plan ahead of time.

Make Learning Enjoyable.

When teaching and learning follow the same routine and schedule every day, it becomes monotonous. So, while the class time cannot be altered, your classroom management strategies can. Surprising your students by announcing in class that there will be no teaching but only activity that day can work wonders. Depending on the circumstances, you can choose an outdoor activity, a classroom activity, or an online activity.

If you are a science teacher, take them outside to demonstrate plants and their roots, flowers, insects, and the processes of evaporation, gravitational force, water cycle, photosynthesis, and so on. If you are a maths teacher, use pebbles and leaves to teach them counting, multiplication, and division. All of this should be done at your end and shown to your students online if you are teaching online. If you teach a language, have them write their dream story, and so on. You can relax your mind by developing interesting teaching techniques, such as classroom games.

Feed Yourself.

More stress necessitates more energy, and more energy necessitates more nutrition. Hydrate yourself and provide your body with the minerals and vitamins it requires. Maintain a supply of roasted dry fruits, sprouts, fruit salads, smoothies, refreshing candies, energy seeds, and nutritional munchies on hand. If you have a long session or are feeling down, eat them. For active mode, avoid oily and spicy foods and switch to a healthy diet. Don’t forget that stress management is about learning how to deal with stress and how an energetic body can deal with it effectively.

Recharge your Mind and Body.

Another important consideration is to refresh your mind and body. Take a 5-minute break in between classes. For example, a 60-minute class can be divided into three 15-minute segments, with a 5-minute break after each 15-minute segment. Allow students to drink water, take deep breaths, and even lie down on the table to relax or perform a small activity such as telling them a joke or a short story related to the lesson. This will make the environment more pleasant for both teachers and students.

Relax your mind and body with a head massage, hair spa, bubble bath, dance session, and yoga classes. You can also learn about stress management exercises and practise them twice or three times per week.

Make an Atmosphere.

Last but not least, as a teacher, you must create an environment. If you are a teacher teaching student online, choose a teaching corner and adjust the table and chair to your height. Before beginning the class, check the internet connection, the condition of the device, and the lesson plans, among other things. If you don’t find your students responsive in class, connect with them, remember their names, and ask them about the problem. Create a student-teacher bond with each student. Make them respond positively by attracting them with engaging classroom activities and lucrative keynote speeches. Before beginning each lesson, explain why it is important for them to learn that particular lesson.

So, these are some stress-relieving techniques for teachers that will assist them in dealing with stress and growing as educators.

“The One Profession That Creates All Other Professions Is TEACHING.”