How Do I Keep Going When I Feel Overwhelmed?

There were days during my first few years of teaching when I wondered if everyone else knew something I didn't.

Other classrooms looked calm.

Teachers seemed organized.

People left school before I did.

Meanwhile, I was still sitting at my desk wondering how I'd ever make it through the rest of the year.

The hardest part wasn't the work.

It was believing I was the only one struggling.

Looking back, I realize something.

I wasn't failing.

I was trying to learn an incredibly complex job while doing it in real time.

Teaching asks us to make hundreds of decisions every single day.

No one is perfect at that.

Especially not in their first few years.

When I feel overwhelmed now, I don't try to solve everything.

I shrink the timeline.

What's the next lesson?

The next conversation?

The next transition?

The next break?

That's all.

I've found that overwhelm usually grows when I'm carrying tomorrow, next month, conferences, report cards, and testing all at once.

So I set some of it down.

Not forever.

Just for today.

Because I can't teach well if I'm constantly living three months ahead.

One Next Step

If today was hard, don't decide whether you're cut out for teaching tonight.

Get some rest.

Come back tomorrow.

Then focus on the next chunk.

You don't have to have the whole year figured out.

Just the next piece.