The terms “self-care” and “well-being” are often narrowly understood or simply misconceived. Myths like these abound: Self-care is selfish. Self-care means pampering and relaxation. Wellbeing is about lunchtime yoga and morning teas at work.

If we aren’t well, we can’t turn up to school consistently and work well together. Self-care and wellbeing are therefore a vital part of our everyday work and professional development. Our article Self-care is vital for teachers and leaders sets out this argument in more detail.

Work-life balance is an appealing idea and a commonly used term, but not one that withstands too many questions. How can ‘work’ and ‘life’ be separated when work is a part of life? How can they therefore be ‘balanced,’ which implies equal amounts of time and energy to applied to both? And in any case, is balance meant to signify time allocation, personal priorities, or something else? 

‘Are you okay?’ is simple question that can accomplish a lot of important work for personal and professional check-ins with people around us. It’s a clear and gentle prompt when we sense that colleagues may be going through a difficult time.