Productivity Hangovers

Ah yes, the long sought after break, where mental wellness will be restored.

There are a few long breaks teachers get to experience throughout their year. For an average year, it will be Christmas break, Teacher’s Convention (not all jurisdictions get the same time off but we get three days and then attend sessions toward the end of that week), Spring break, and, of course, summer vacation. There are also other holiday weekends teachers may use to catch up on their assessments or other tedious tasks, but it is the beginning of the longer breaks where the productivity hangover comes into play.

I first used the term last year and it is only through writing this I learned it is a legitimate term. My ‘bro’ definition of a productivity hangover is basically that I can sit on my couch for several hours in the morning while demolishing an entire pot of coffee while wanting to be productive, but just not having anything in the creative tank to move myself towards action.

The interwebs, however, characterizes a productivity hangover as the end result of “binge-doing.”

It may be surprising, but I have heard from several teachers that they struggle to adjust to their new reality during long breaks. An abrupt loss of purpose, trying to balance between socializing and resting, and guilting themselves over whether to continue being productive or not to be are some of the initial ruminations that come their way. It is not that these breaks are not earned, nor are they not welcomed, but that some find it difficult to adapt from their constant engagement and busyness coming to a hault which leads to a day or two of completely shutting down.

Some will jokingly (or not) say they feel nothing when they are away from the students, but the first few days of a productivity hangover typically goes as follows:

10:17pm - expecting to stay up late on your first night off but going to sleep early instead after watching obscure Netflix documentary

8:27am - Wake up

9:33am - actually get out of bed

10:27am - eat an egg? (in the meantime you are now finishing your first pot of coffee for the day)

11:10am - rest of day - murder Netflix shows with slight despair until you go back to sleep and then repeat for the next 48 hours.

I should also mention this is the schedule for the childless educator (me), so perhaps I should be reframing my idea of a productivity hangover as simply a privilege of wanting to be productive but not needing to be at that time.

I would also not necessarily characterize this as burnout, but more so the unwitting chase for mindlessness rather than mindfulness.

This past December I took a personal day to have a mini Christmas with my family just a couple weeks prior to Christmas Break. As I arrived to see my family all hanging out, living like normal people, I just could not snap out of my brain fog throughout the whole evening. As my brothers and I went to the bonus room to watch Oilers lose, I took three naps over a two hour period. I was shutting down.

This may have also been because we were watching the Oilers play which is typically a snoozefest, but the fact both of my brothers kept mentioning my mental absence caused me to re-evaluate why I was so exhausted. I do not think it was one particular thing, it was likely just the first time there was a day or an evening where a list of marking or a podcast was not on the horizon for the following morning, and my body took the opportunity to wind itself down.

Perhaps the lesson here is a cliché as it seems, don’t always feel the need to be productive and enjoy those slow Saturday morning coffees sometimes, friends.

This Week on the Pod:

Faith McPeek - Faith (mcpeekteaches) is an elementary teacher based out of Illinois. On this episode, Faith and I discuss how adults are actually the most difficult part of teaching, leaving your Teacher Bestie to move to a new school, Fortnite, DS Pictochat, and, much more.

Next Week on the Pod:

Elizabeth Yeager Washington - In the first of a few Social Studies themed episodes, Elizabeth is an Education Professor from the University of Florida where she specializes in Civic Education and best practices for teaching controversial issues in the humanities classroom. On this episode, Elizabeth and I discuss the controversy around teaching controversial issues, the main issues she sees with pre-service teachers and getting them to take risks, the recent challenges to academic freedom in the US, the project/lecture dance, and much more.