Teacher Burnout: Making Room for Self-Care Without Guilt

Teachers don’t need another reminder to practice self-care. They need room in their lives to do it. If getting through the school day leaves nothing for your health, your family, or your own life, that cost belongs in the conversation. In Part III of our Teacher Health series—The Response—Vanessa Jackson explores practical ways to care for yourself without adding more guilt to an already overcommitted life. We talk about asking for workplace accommodations, protecting recovery time, and why being able to endure something doesn’t mean you should keep enduring it. Plus: a simple morning hydration habit from Vanessa’s grandmother and job interview tips for teachers changing careers. Learn how to use the STAR method, pause before answering, and stop oversharing without becoming stiff or impersonal. In this episode: • Why struggling with self-care doesn’t mean you lack commitment. • The cost of pushing through pain and fatigue—and why your life after school matters. • Requesting reasonable accommodations, including access to a chair, and where to find federal guidance. • The realities of sick leave, substitute plans, and saving days for sick children. • Small opportunities for nutrition, movement, quiet, outdoor time, connection, and guilt-free naps. • Gretchen Rubin’s Obliger tendency and how outside accountability can support your own goals. • A teacher hack: start your morning with eight ounces of water. • Interview answers that stay focused: clarify, pause, use STAR when it fits, and let your answer stand. • Keeping family and health information private when interview questions are open-ended. Free Career Clarity workshop Monday, October 26, 2026, at 7 PM Central Who am I if I’m not a teacher? What else can I do? Join Vanessa to explore those questions and begin finding a direction that fits your skills and your life. You don’t need to arrive with a career picked out. Find registration information at https://teachersintransition.com Prefer a conversation? Book a free discovery call to discuss where you are, what you’re considering, and whether coaching could help. You don’t have to have it all figured out before we talk. Resources mentioned: • EEOC: Reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the ADA—includes an example involving lupus, fatigue, and a stool at work. • Federal ADA regulations: Definition of disability—includes consideration of pain, effort, and how an activity is performed. • Gretchen Rubin’s free Four Tendencies quiz. • CDC: Water and healthier drinks—background on hydration for this week’s teacher hack. • EEOC: Pre-employment inquiries and disability. • EEOC: Pre-employment inquiries about marital status and children. • Research: Association of stress-related disorders with subsequent autoimmune disease. • NIAMS: Living with lupus—includes information about stress and flares. Catch up on the Teacher Health series: • Part I: Teacher Burnout, Career Clarity & the Power of “Nope” — Episode 318. • Part II: What Teaching Costs Your Family, Even When You’re Home — Episode 319. More interview help: Explore the interview-question series in episodes 216, 217, 218, 219, and 221. Search by episode number in the Teachers in Transition episode archive. Know a teacher who needs permission to pitch the guilt and take the nap? Share this episode. Follow Teachers in Transition on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for more support with teacher burnout, career change, and building a life beyond the classroom. Until next time, take care of you. Help keep this podcast on the air. Teachers in Transition is independently produced. If these conversations have helped you, or you believe other teachers need access to this resource, please consider supporting the podcast. Listener support starts at $3 a month. Sharing this episode with a teacher who needs it helps, too. Connect with Vanessa Jackson • 💌 Email: Vanessa@teachersintransition.com • 📱 Call or Text: 512-640-9099 • 📅 Book a Free Discovery Call: teachersintransition.com/calendar • 🧭 LinkedIn: • 🔗 Bluesky: @beyondteaching.bsky.social • 📸 Instagram & Threads: @teachers.in.transition • 👍 Facebook: Teachers in Transition • 🐦 X (Twitter): @EduExitStrategy Until next time, remember: You’re not starting over. You’re taking everything you’ve learned and built—and deciding where you want to take it next. The transcript to this podcast is found on the episode’s homepage at Buzzsprout