On my journey of recovering from work-related stress, I’ve learned the importance of setting goals. When planning your professional path such as becoming a brilliant head of department, ask yourself why you wanted to start teaching in the first place. Discover your 'why' and define your overall professional goal. It may take months or even years to achieve, so once you know it, you can plan your route with smaller, manageable milestones. Without these stepping stones, your journey can feel like an ongoing slog, which can negatively impact your mental wellbeing. Whether it is gradually growing your department or securing a stepping-stone promotion, the journey can be just as fulfilling as reaching your ultimate goal.

Teaching is an amazing but tough job, and for some reason, we are made to feel that being ‘good’ at it isn’t enough. School leaders can easily work 50+ hours a week, and when you speak to them, they’re often unhappy, cynical, and want to leave their roles due to the unsustainable hours. Unsurprisingly, senior educators who work 35-40 hours a week are happier, healthier, more positive, and more present at school. When I returned to teaching, I made a commitment to strive for a healthy work/life balance by not working evenings and weekends. To achieve this, I learned to say ‘no’ to tasks that pulled me away from my day-to-day duties. The result? I never loved teaching or leading more. Saying ‘no’ may feel uncomfortable at first, but it’s far better than suffering from burnout.

There are always so many things to do. In my first year, I wanted to do them all to show impact—increase participation, improve outcomes, raise the standard of sport, win more competitions (you get the idea). But this is both unrealistic and unsustainable. Focus first on the things that will most impact students’ learning (curriculum, teaching, learning). The other activities, such as sports days, school trips, after-school clubs, and summer fetes, are important but should not be the top priority. Once the first priority is embedded and working well, then move on to the next, and so on. Each term, choose just one focus area for the department, while planning the intention for the next term. This way, you accomplish three key improvements each year. Build and develop gradually over time, rather than trying to do everything at once.

One of the major causes of work-related stress is teachers feeling that they don’t have enough time to complete their tasks. Listening to my team and taking their feedback on board has been essential for me to thrive in leadership. One way to support your team is to ensure they have the right tools in place. Pupil Progress, for example, is an easy-to-use pupil progress tracker that helps educators and schools take control of their performance data. This point solution moves teachers away from the manual data entry associated with spreadsheets, instead centralising data so teachers can easily see which students are below target, saving them crucial time that can be spent on lesson planning. It’s also a great way to motivate students who are below target, as they know what they need to work on to achieve a higher grade.

In all walks of life, we like to feel that we’re doing a good job, but we often rely on others to inform us of our achievements and failures. When moving into leadership, we may continue to seek positive feedback, but in reality, that feedback rarely comes. However, parents, students, and colleagues are quick to point out areas for improvement. This can reduce self-confidence and cause us to doubt our decisions. The truth is, we can only control our own thoughts and actions—not those of others. With this in mind, we can either choose to believe the negative voices or recognise that their opinions are not the truth. Instead of relying on external validation, measure your own success, celebrate your wins, and critically assess the decisions that may not have led to the best outcomes. This will empower you to make difficult decisions, even when others may judge you for them, knowing they are the right ones. 

You will never reach the end of your to-do list. There is always more you could do, but that doesn’t mean you should. Unfortunately, in education, there is a toxic culture of competitiveness and leavism — working outside of contracted hours. If you find that you don’t have time to mark, plan, teach, manage, and lead, then something needs to change. The most significant lesson I’ve learned is the importance of self-care and prioritising your own needs to ensure you remain mentally well. Evaluate the importance of each task and the time it will take to complete. Is it really necessary? Can you delegate it to someone else? Or can it wait another week? Don’t accept that you must work one day over the weekend to get everything done. This is not true—it’s just a belief you’ve developed and a habit you’ve fallen into. Your time is better spent with family or friends, socialising, resting, or engaging in hobbies.

As a mental health fitness coach, I support executives and headteachers with the aim of preventing burnout, reducing stress, and alleviating anxiety. By prioritising mental wellbeing, I believe we can enhance productivity through the use of positive psychology exercises, mindfulness tools, and mindset-shifting strategies. Our REBOOT course is specifically designed to aid burnout recovery and can serve as an intervention for staff exhibiting signs of burnout.

Our clients are consistently amazed at how they become more productive, less stressed, happier, healthier, and more successful in both their professional and personal lives. They also report improvements in their relationships with partners, children, parents, and friends. It’s truly a pleasure to help people develop the tools, strategies, and mindset they need to thrive. If you or your team are experiencing low mental fitness, know that MindFirst can help you prevent burnout and excel in your roles. Remember: you are awesome, and you don’t need anyone else to tell you that.

Chris Misselbrook, founder of MindFirst Education Ltd, is a Mental Fitness Coach with over 15 years' experience in secondary education and five years as a Royal Navy Reserve Officer. Drawing on his background in teaching, military leadership, and personal experience with burnout, Chris helps education leaders reduce stress, boost productivity, and build resilience. He offers science-based workshops, talks, and coaching, tailored to schools and academy trusts, alongside first aid for mental health training, 1-1 coaching, group sessions, and keynote speeches.The Snapshot feature can be taken at a whole school level to effectively ‘freeze’ a moment in time for future comparisons to measure progress over time and the evaluation of intervention effectiveness. Individual departments can create their own snapshots within their trackers, offering flexibility and specificity in monitoring student progress.