Are you struggling with the pressure of be productive instead of prioritizing teacher self-care during winter break? After months of non-stop decision-making, lesson planning, and grading, teacher burnout recovery requires actual rest, not just shifting your work from school to home. In this post, I’m giving you permission to put down the to-do list and focus on what truly matters during winter break for teachers: recharging so you can return to the classroom in January with renewed energy. Because rest isn’t wasteful. It’s essential for teacher work-life balance.
We’re a couple of days into winter break, and you know what I’m doing right now? I’m rereading The Handmaid’s Tale, working on a jigsaw puzzle at my kitchen table, and watching Christmas movies. And my house is still a mess.
And you know what? That’s exactly what I should be doing.
Why Teacher Rest and Relaxation Isn’t Wasteful
I think a lot of us feel pressured during winter break. It’s not necessarily guilt. It’s just that we’ve put so much on hold during the semester that winter break for teachers can overwhelm us. Maybe your house is a mess like mine. Maybe you’ve been meaning to paint your bathroom or tackle that growing to-do list. You feel pressured to do it all because “you’ve got time.”
But here’s what I want you to remember: it’s also important to take time to rest. Teacher self care during winter break is essential. We have a very intense job. When we’re on, we’re on.
And I mean REALLY on. We’re making hundreds of micro-decisions every single day: who needs redirection, who’s struggling and needs a check-in, how to adjust that lesson on the fly when it’s clearly not working. We’re managing 150 different teenagers with 150 different needs, juggling a million things simultaneously, and we never actually finish our work AT work. There’s always essays to grade. There’s always lessons to plan. It literally never ends.
But teacher work-life balance doesn’t have to be a dream.
I was thankfully able to get caught up on my grades before break. I gave my AP World students a mock exam, graded all the SAQs, the LEQ, and the multiple choice, and got everything entered.
But you know what I DON’T have? I don’t have my plans done for January. I don’t have copies made. I don’t have all of that ready to go.
And it’s okay. It’ll happen. I’ll get it done. But right now? Right now, it’s time to rest.
Teachers, this is the time for burnout recovery.
Teacher Burnout Recovery Starts With Permission
Give yourself permission to catch your breath and do something you enjoy. You might be super cool and amazing and like to travel, hike, and ride bikes. Or you might be like me and prefer to lounge around, read, watch movies, and put together puzzles. Whatever it is, make time for it this break.
I don’t think we ever fully disconnect from our teaching brain. I’ll read something or watch something and think, “Oh my goodness, this would be a really great thing to talk about in class.” And that’s okay. As long as we don’t let it dominate our holiday, it’s fine for your mind to turn back to school.
Just don’t ruminate on things that maybe you did wrong this semester. Reflect. Think about how you can fix it and move on. This is rest time, not fix-it time.
Teacher Work-Life Balance During Winter Break
f you do nothing else on this break, do one thing that you really enjoy that truly relaxes you. It doesn’t matter how boring or exciting it is. Take care of yourself and recharge.
You deserve rest. Not because you’ve earned it (though you have), but because you’re human. And because January is coming, and you’ll need every bit of energy you can store up.
So go read that book. Work on that puzzle. Watch those movies. Sleep in. Do whatever fills your cup. And don’t apologize for it.
Key Takeaway: Combat teacher burnout recovery by giving yourself permission to actually rest during winter break instead of tackling every item on your to-do list.
Key Moments:
1:15 – Taking time for teacher self care during winter break: reading, puzzles, and Christmas movies instead of rushing to check off your to-do list
1:57 – Releasing guilt about the mess: why winter break for teachers should prioritize rest over productivity and tackling postponed projects
2:47 – Understanding teacher burnout recovery: recognizing the intense mental load of making hundreds of daily decisions for 150+ students
4:03 – Embracing teacher rest and relaxation without finishing January lesson plans or making copies before break ends
4:03 – Permission to disconnect from your teacher brain while maintaining healthy teacher work-life balance during the holidays
5:04 – Supporting teacher mental health break practices: reflecting without ruminating and giving yourself space to recharge before spring semester
Prefer Reading? I’ve Got You…
Show Transcript
I’m here for a super short episode this week and next week too. So we’re a couple of days into winter break, and you know what I’m doing right now. I’m reading The Handmaid’s Tale. Actually, I’m rereading it. See, I read it a few years ago, but I decided to pick it up again so that I’m ready to read the sequel, which also came out a few years ago, but I haven’t read yet. So I’ll finish The Handmaid’s Tale and read the sequel for the first time over Christmas break. And not gonna lie, I’ll probably read a few more things than just that because I plan to spend a significant amount of time reading. I enjoy it.
I’m also being the absolutely exciting and fabulous person that I am working on a jigsaw puzzle. So that’s happening at the kitchen table while we watch Christmas movies, because we are also watching Christmas movies this break. And that’s fun. And my house is still a mess. And you know what? That’s exactly what I should be doing. I think that a lot of us, and it’s not necessarily guilt, it’s just that we feel like, okay, we’ve put so much on hold during the semester. Maybe your house is a mess like mine. Maybe you’ve been meaning to paint your bathroom. I don’t know something. And you feel pressured to do it because this is, well, you know, it’s break and you’ve got some time. You’ve got a little time.
But when you think about all of the things that you have to do. I want you to remember this. It’s also important to take time to rest, because we do have a very intense job. When we’re on, we’re on, and I mean really on. We’re making hundreds of micro decisions every single day. Who needs redirection, who’s struggling and needs a check in, how to adjust that lesson on the fly when it’s clearly not working. Managing one hundred and fifty different teenagers with one hundred and fifty different needs. We’re juggling a million things simultaneously, and we never actually finish our work at work. There’s always essays to grade, there’s always lessons to plan. It literally never ends. And you know what? I was able to get caught up on my grades before break. I’m so proud of myself, especially since I gave my AP world students a mock exam without the DBQ. So that was the LEQ. The SAQs and the multiple choice. It was a lot to grade, but I did it. I got it done. It’s entered. Not perfect, but it’s entered.
But you know what I don’t have? I don’t have my plans done for January. I don’t have copies made. I don’t have all of that ready to go. And it’s okay. It’s okay because it’s going to happen. I’ll get it done. But right now. Right now, it is time to rest. So give yourself some permission to catch your breath and do something you enjoy. You might actually be super cool and amazing, and you might like to travel and hike and things like that. Ride bikes. Or you might be like me and like to lounge around and read and watch movies and put together puzzles. Whatever it is, make time for that, this break. Now, I don’t think we ever fully disconnect from our teacher brain. Like I’ll read something or I’ll see something or watch something and I’ll think, oh, wow, this would be a really great thing to talk about in class. Or I should have my students watch this clip or something.
And you know what? I think it’s okay. As long as we don’t let it dominate our holiday. It’s okay for your mind to turn back to school. Just don’t ruminate on things that maybe you did wrong this semester. Reflect. Think about how you can fix it and move on. And we’ll talk more about reflection in the next episode. But for now, just notice what comes up and let it go. This is rest time, not fix it time. And I’m going to say that if you do nothing else on this break, do one thing that you really enjoy that truly relaxes you. Oh, and eat some Christmas cookies too. That is very important. Remember, it doesn’t matter how boring or exciting your break is. Do what you like to do. Take care of yourself and recharge.