How To Prevent Teacher Burnout When You Teach Online

Teaching languages online can be an incredibly rewarding career.

You get to connect with students from all over the world, share your love of languages and cultures, and make a real impact on people’s lives.

However, it’s also a career that can lead to burnout if you’re not careful.

Teacher burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and demands on the job.

When you experience burnout, you feel depleted, unmotivated, and cynical about your work.

Burnout can negatively impact not just your job performance, but also your overall wellbeing.

For online language teachers, burnout is an ever-present risk. The combination of teaching classes back-to-back, dealing with technology issues, prepping materials, giving feedback, and more can quickly become overwhelming without the right preventative measures.

In this post, we’ll cover how to recognize the signs of teacher burnout and what you can do to avoid it when you teach languages virtually.

Signs of Teacher Burnout

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight – it builds up gradually over time as unrelenting job stress chips away at your mental reserves.

Being able to spot the early warning signs is crucial for taking action before you reach the breaking point.

Some common signs and symptoms of burnout in online language teachers include:

Physical Exhaustion

If you constantly feel physically drained and fatigued, even after a good night’s sleep, it could be a red flag.

Teaching online involves sitting for long periods and using a lot of energy projecting your voice and facial expressions on camera.

Mental Fatigue

Along with physical tiredness, burnout causes severe mental and emotional exhaustion.

You may have difficulty concentrating, feel mentally foggy, and lack motivation. Simple tasks start to feel draining.

Cynicism & Detachment

When you’re burned out, you’re likely to feel increasingly negative, cynical, and detached from your work.

You may start to view your students as “just numbers” rather than people you want to help.

Irritability & Mood Swings

Burnout often causes moodiness, irritability, and mood swings, even over small things that normally wouldn’t bother you.

You may find yourself getting impatient or snapping at colleagues and students.

Physical Symptoms

Burnout takes a toll on your body and can manifest as headaches, stomachaches, illness, changes in appetite and sleep, or other physical issues.

Lack of Work Enjoyment

Perhaps the most telling sign is a lack of enjoyment from the parts of your job you once loved.

If you constantly dread teaching and feel miserable during classes, it’s a major red flag.

If several of these signs are popping up regularly, it’s time to take burnout seriously and make some changes before it worsens.

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Strategies to Prevent Burnout

While a little bit of stress is normal and inevitable when teaching online, burnout is preventable if you take a proactive approach to self-care, time management, and work-life balance.

Here are some effective strategies:

Set Boundaries & Take Breaks

It’s common for online teachers to fall into the trap of overworking by cramming too many back-to-back classes into their schedules or neglecting break times.

Establish firm policies like blocking certain times as unavailable, scheduling buffers between classes, and taking real lunches.

Incorporate More Physical Activity

Since teaching online involves a lot of sitting, build in physical activity as part of your routine.

Take a walk during lunch breaks, do yoga or stretches, or invest in a standing desk setup. Regular exercise boosts energy and mental wellbeing.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness practices like meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindful movement can reduce stress and burnout.

Set aside a few minutes before your first class to ground yourself.

Establish a Workspace

If you’re working from home, set up a dedicated workspace that’s separate from your living areas.

Having defined boundaries between your workspace and living space can help you “shut off” from work.

Set Work Hours

One hazard of teaching online is that the line between work and personal time can become blurry.

Establish set work hours and communicate them to students so they know when you’re unavailable.

Automate & Outsource

Look for opportunities to automate certain tasks like scheduling, billing, and providing resources to students. You can also outsource tasks like materials development to lighten your workload.

Access Support Systems

Don’t go it alone – access support systems like other teachers, professional associations, coaches, or therapy if needed.

Having an outlet to vent, celebrate successes, and get advice is vital.

Seek Work Variety

Doing the exact same thing day after day increases burn out risk. Switch up the content, activities, and formats you use.

Take on new projects or responsibilities to stay engaged.

Set Career Goals

Having a sense of progress, growth, and achieving goals is motivating and can help you feel more fulfilled.

Set some personal, skill-based, or monetary goals you’re working towards.

Take Real Vacations

When you teach online, it can be tempting to try and squeeze in classes while traveling.

While occasional scheduling may be fine, you also need to completely unplug with real vacations away from work.

Evaluate if It’s the Right Fit

If you’ve tried various prevention strategies but still feel burned out constantly, it may unfortunately be a sign that online teaching isn’t the right career path for your needs and personality long-term.

There’s no shame in realizing a job isn’t a good fit and making a change.

Burnout Recovery Tips

If you’re already experiencing burnout, in addition to implementing the prevention strategies above, here are some tips for recovering:

Take Time Off

Whether it’s a personal day, sick day, or vacation time, take some consecutive days fully off from teaching to rest and recharge.

Use this time to disconnect completely and enjoy restorative activities.

Reevaluate Priorities

Look at your current priorities and responsibilities. What’s really important and what can you temporarily cut back on or delegate?

Don’t be afraid to say no to anything extraneous.

Build in Buffers

When you return from time off, be proactive about building in more buffers and transition periods between classes.

Having generous gaps can make a world of difference.

Change Your Scenery

If you’ve been teaching from the same location, try changing your physical surroundings.

Work from a coworking space, cafe, library, or new room in your home to disrupt the pattern.

Assess Work Load

Is your current workload realistic and sustainable, or do you need to scale back the number of classes and responsibilities?

Don’t overcommit just for the short-term money gain.

Get Additional Support

If you’re struggling with severe burnout symptoms, get help from a therapist or coach who can provide guidance and support for managing overwhelm and processing emotions.

Be Patient

Recovering from burnout takes time, so be patient and compassionate with yourself.

Focus on making sustainable long-term changes rather than quick burnout band-aids.

Burnout can happen to any online language teacher, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable.

By being proactive about self-care, boundaries, work-life balance, and accessing support, you can have a long, healthy, and fulfilling career sharing your passion for languages with the world.