How do you recharge your batteries?
Perusing my copy of 21st Century Reading: creative reading and thinking with TEDTALKS (thanks for prompt delivery Tim!), the title of Lesson B, Unit 5 caught my attention.
The Power of Time Off
As some of you are aware, I recently took some time off. Just over six months. While this sabbatical didn’t pan out as I had initially intended, there is one thing I have noticed since I came back: I feel a renewed sense of energy and desire to get back into the teaching saddle.
Before I went in search of new and greener pastures, I was working silly hours a week and juggling far too many balls. In retrospect, I was probably on the path to burnout. Despite the many interesting projects I was involved in, I felt little enthusiasm for anything much.
Now I know I am not alone in feeling the weight of overwork and a loss of passion for what we do. So I was wondering what others of you do to get your mojo back; to recharge your batteries?
Thanks to a supportive family, I was fortunate to be able to take a sabbatical and not go hungry. Other ways over the years I have found to reignite the pilot light of my internal boiler include:
- Attending conferences – BESIG 2010 so inspired me, I changed my decision to leave the profession altogether. Since then, IATEFL’s annual conference has reconnected me to the people I relish working with and reminds me of why I continue to teach.
- Participating in CPD workshops – ELTAS is a brilliant organisation for ensuring we can reboot overloaded hard drives through networking and shared learning.
- Stepping away from what we know and trying out new and different areas of our profession, e.g. as I wrote in our newsletter about discovering EAP teaching.
As Spring is upon us with signs of shiny new life all around, what are you planning to do that will help you feel more Spring lamb-like rather than drained, leaky batteries?
