5 Easy Ways to Relieve Monday Morning Anxiety for Teachers

October 26, 2022

Monday Morning Anxiety

I feel like if you are a teacher, some type of Monday morning anxiety is weaved in somewhere. I know some people talk about the Sunday scaries, which I guess leads to the Monday morning anxiety. In this post, I am sharing 5 ways to help alleviate the Monday morning anxiety, and let you not only enjoy your weekend, but not feel a hot mess on Monday when you return to school.

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What Causes Monday Morning Anxiety?

We have SO MUCH to think about to prepare for a day of school much less an entire week. There are lesson plans, copies (my least favorite!), setting up labs, setting up the daily agenda, writing the standards (or whatever else we’re required to write) on the board daily. AND, all of this is what leads up to become overwhelmed by thinking about it causing us to have this anxious feeling like we are forgetting something. Also, there are kids who get to school early and want to come into your room and while this is nice, it can become a distraction from getting things ready before class starts.

How To Beat Monday Morning Anxiety

ONE | Know Your Plan for Monday

If you have a plan for NO OTHER day of the week, always have a plan for what you are doing on Monday. Knowing what you are doing makes coming back to work after the weekend such a better vibe and has really cut down on my stress levels. I write everything down and put it where I will see it, that way I can leave for the weekend and actually enjoy my time off without having that voice in the back of my head trying to remind me what we’re doing on Monday. This brings me to my next tip…

TWO | Write a To-Do List on Sticky Note

I will have several sticky notes on my desk for Monday so that I can remember what I was thinking on Friday. I will write down one one post-it the agenda for Monday for my Anatomy class, I’ll do the same on another note for my Biology class, and I’ll have another for any of to-dos I need to get done that morning. Its usually short, because of reason number 3…

THREE | Prep Supplies on Friday

I have EVERYTHING ready to go for Monday. This only takes about 15-30 extra minutes after the kids leave to get my life organized for the next week. I mainly focus on Monday because I can get the rest ready once I’m back at work. Monday is what I want to have prepared before I leave. I write all the things on the board I am required to, I make my copies for all my classes, and I set out stations or labs (that I can) ahead of time. I cannot tell you how much this has helped relieved my anxiety after the weekend. Now, I go to bed Sunday night and wake up Monday morning knowing I’ve already got everything covered. This also helps not spin me into a tizzy if something else pops up out of my control, like having to help cover a class of an absent teacher.

FOUR | Don’t Check Email

I got into the habit of putting my email on auto-reply for people outside of my organization. Basically, if we don’t work together, you will get an auto response. I set it on Friday afternoon and it runs through Monday morning. This way, people know that I am not replying to their email until I get back to work. This sets boundaries with parents and students while also showing that I should not be expected to return emails on my time off. That time is to be spent living my life and enjoying my family.

FIVE | EFT Tapping or Meditation

So, this one might be a stretch for some of you, but here me out. If you don’t know what EFT tapping is, it is a technique where you literally tap parts of your body to help relieve anxiety. It sounds crazy, but it works. You can look up some videos on YouTube for EFT Tapping and Anxiety to see what I mean.

If you’re not into that, then a good ol’ meditation in the car helps too. Just by changing my mindset before I walk in for the day has tremendously helped me as well. Channeling my inner peace before I walk into whatever I’m about to walk into gives me the strength I need to get out of the car and walk into my classroom.

I hope that these 5 tips help to relieve that Monday morning anxiety that you are feeling.

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