Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all!
I'm in my first year as an early career teacher in a secondary school and while I love my job, I'm really struggling to have any kind of life outside of work - by which I don't mean going out with friends or weekend breaks, but doing exercise, keeping up with my hobbies and interests, or even maintaining interest in things that I used to get a lot of joy out of. I find that by the time I get home from work - sometimes even at about half-four - I'm exhausted from masking and making decisions all day. I find that by halfway through the half term all I'm doing during the week is working, eating, sleeping, and getting overwhelmed and irritable at the slightest thing. It's like spending the day around colleagues and students, managing all of their expectations and roles I'm expected to fulfil completely drains me and I have no energy left to do anything which might help me to refuel, make me feel like myself again, or get some spoons back.
If anyone has struggled with anything similar upon entering a people-centred profession, I'd love to hear how they coped and how they managed to claw back some energy for themselves.
I often describe my job as feeling like getting hit by a train - no matter how much you love trains, it still hurts!
LB873
I muddled through in the early years. Every day was a learning curve. I spent a lot of time alone, doing school work. That has lessened as the demands of the job have changed. Planning lessons takes far less time than when I started. Since my diagnosis last year, I am more aware of how the job affects me. It is tiring buti aam more conscious of it now, which helps I think.
While I'm not a teacher, I do work in a high masking role and use up all my energy just getting through the day sometimes.
I think the biggest thing that helped me get through it was batch cooking - I find after work I have room for 1 thing every day (cooking, cleaning, socialising, life admin), and being able to take a portion of food out if the freezer and eat a proper meal every day without having it using up my "1 thing" time is amazing.
Thank you for the insight - good to hear that there's hope! I think some of the sensory demands can be a bit much but mostly it's just the constant masking and talking or listening that drains me. Did you struggle at the start of your career?
I think that's what's draining me so much! Glad it's not just me
I have been a secondary teacher for 17 years. I love it. My rule has always been one day of no school work per week, usually Saturday. This gets me through most weeks. I enjoy the planning side of it, which for me is solitary time, in which i can hyperfocus. What also keeps me sane is knowing school life is often very routine based, lessons, days and weeks. Things tend to repeat themselves. Further to this, you get guaranteed downtime every six weeks or so, longer in the summer.
Teaching is harder in the early years but it gets easier.
I am very routine focused, so Friday night's ritual is always beers and listening to records in a darkened room. Saturday's too. Having two kids limits my solitude, but it makes it even more special when it comes. Shorter working days means less time to have to spend with other people, too.
If you can cope with the sensory demands of teaching, I believe it's a good job for some autistic people.
Masking is so tiring isn't it. I'm a teaching assistant and I only work part time because my lunchtime I am completely wiped out by masking all morning.