Being a teacher, how can I avoid the stress?

How many times you have come home to realize that you have to continue working and then whe you finally go to bed, you realize you forgot to do something else, and what it is worth, you wake up in the morning already thinking you have to do more things. If it is so, then it means you are about to get a stress disease.

There is no magical solution for this, and it depends on every person to avoid this stressing situation.

I can tell, based on my experience, few hints that can help to avoid in falling into a stressing situation.

First of all, I plan. I plan all, and the more I plan, the better. You can say why? Because when you plan in advance, you take into account all the possible problems that you can face, and you already know what to do in those cases. Lesson plans are so important for a teacher, that I wouldn't see a teacher working without one.

Second, even if I have planned all in detail. I must have an open mind to adjust my plans. All teachers know that even if we know what to do, there are some inconvienents, and we must be prepare to overcome them. The point is that, if I already know this, I won't get stressed in the future, because I saw it coming already.

Third. I organize my time, so if friday or saturday is my free time, then IT IS my free time, and I don't give time to do my "homework". I do that at work, or on sunday, the day I have scheduled to do my job for the week.

Fourth. As a teacher, I know I don't have enough time at work to do all, and some of it, I must do it at home. That is why, what I have done is, killing myself at work, using all the time, even the few minutes I could rest, to do all possible work, so I don't need to take things home.

Fifth. I know it is so hard, but while I am at home, I try to forget my job. At home I try to watch tv, movies, reading, playing on my wii, and even I am bad at dancing and singing, I do it, because every time I do it, I laugh, I enjoy that time. I try to spend my time with my family, my girlfriend and forget that I have a job. Some teachers can criticize me when I say that I work to live, and I don't live to work, because even if I love teaching... my job is not all my life. I have more personal areas that I want to develop.

Sixth. I manage my stress by hearing music. It is incredibly how a slow and nice song can change your day. And when I feel down, I hear a happy song.

And last. One thing, that has helped me a lot to relax myself, is by just closing my eyes, and travelling to a pacific and lonely beach, and stay in there for some minutes, watching the sky, hearing the water, and just seeing how the waves are moving. That really helps me a lot.