Instructors: Bringing Summer Wellness into the Fall Term

Every term, we block off our classes in our calendars, only to re-learn the same lesson: teaching is rarely straightforward and certainly not predictable. Unlike research or service commitments, teaching spills far beyond the scheduled hours. Teaching demands a different kind of planning and a lot more of our invisible energy:

• Behind-the-scenes time: Preparing to teach, grading, coordinating TAs, and administrative tasks of following up on students’ progress and implementing institutional or departmental expectations.
• Adaptation time: Adapting to evolving technologies, shifting student needs, updated procedures, and new pedagogical approaches.
• Emotional energy: Navigating the unspoken expectations, worries, and real-life circumstances, both our students' and our own.

Many teaching challenges are no longer purely pedagogical but are increasingly shaped by institutional, structural, and social change. These pressures compound over time and can impact your wellness.
True wellness in teaching begins with acknowledging just how much happens off the clock or outside the boxes on your Google calendar. Here are a few ways you can intentionally protect your time and energy to carry that summer wellness into the fall term.

Talk about your wellness.

Given the plethora of available health and wellness supports for our students, it’s easy to talk to students about maintaining their wellness without any mention of your own. Talking about how you support your wellness not only makes you more approachable and relatable as an instructor, but it also role models how you adapt and shift with the demands of academic life. For instance, at the start of a class on Monday, you open class by mentioning an awesome bike ride in the River Valley with friends on Sunday morning. You explain that you’re offline then to recharge. The students see that you still came to class prepared with their graded assignments, and you model healthy personal-boundaries.

Block realistic marking time on your calendar.

Pushing grading to the "margins" of your day leads to stress, rushed feedback, and late nights or weekends spent marking instead of with important people (or animals) in your life. Estimate how much time you need to grade a single assignment, multiply it by your total number of students, and add buffer time for breaks and interruptions. Put that total time directly into your calendar as non-negotiable "Marking Time."

Set a 'batching schedule' for routine tasks.

Checking email 15 times a day breaks your focus and significantly lengthens the time it takes to finish simple administrative tasks. Batch small-tasks of teaching into designated time slots. Try processing emails only during two specific windows a day (such as 11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.) and close your inbox outside of those hours.

Prevent decision fatigue.

Answering constant variations of the same student emails regarding deadlines, missed classes, or syllabus details drains your emotional and mental bandwidth. Set up systems that do the work for you:

• Course Discussion Board: Create a public "Q&A" forum in Canvas and instruct students to check or post there before emailing you.
• Email Templates: Create and save templates inside your Gmail (a non-AI method) for common scenarios so you can quickly copy, tweak, and send without rethinking your approach every time. Learn how to create a template in Gmail »

Learn to say "Not Yet".

Within the wellness space, much has been written about the importance of defining one’s priorities, boundaries, and learning to say no. If you are someone who struggles with the word no, for whatever reason, try starting with “not yet”. Such as, “My teaching load is heavy at the moment, so I’m not able to commit to this yet”. Some of the opportunities will undoubtedly disappear, but some others may wait or hold until the time is right for you to invest the time and energy.

Remember that instructor wellness resources are available!

For additional support throughout the term, U of A instructors can access a range of campus health and wellness resources:

• Health and Wellbeing resources are available from Human Resources, Health, Safety and the Environment (HRHSE), including the The Employee Family Assistance Program available to U of A Faculty, Contract ATS, and ATS instructors. If you need support go to EFAP or review their brochure  24 hours a day and seven days a week. 
• Regular exercise has positive benefits for your health and wellness. To access U of A resources, visit Campus and Community Recreation.

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No list of wellness tips will eliminate the pressures that you face on a daily basis. While you can't control every demand thrown your way, these small habits can help you reclaim a sense of control over your own well-being. Remember: protecting your energy isn't selfish, it's essential to your wellness and ability to teach over time.

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