To worry I need too much sleep?

[year5teacher]

I’m just about to finish my first term as an NQT. I am awake at 6:20am every morning and get home around 6/6:30pm, so pretty average.
I find myself generally knackered around 8:30pm and I’ve been known to fall asleep on the sofa at 7pm on Friday nights. This is obviously shit.

What I’m concerned about is that on weekends I feel like I need a nap in the daytime and I’ve just woken up from one now. How?? I was asleep from 8:30pm-7:30am last night!!!!

YABU - this is clearly normal for your situation (hoping for lots of this)
YANBU - that’s a lot of sleeping, maybe begin to let this worry you while probably not being able to do anything about it

Also: how do I train myself into falling asleep later? It’s like a switch gets flipped and I cannot stay awake if I try.

NQT year is punishing. Covid teaching, ditto. I’m in my 32nd year of full time teaching And I’m yawning by 8 and in bed before 10 at the moment.

@cardibach I think it’s deceptive as I’m not overly stressed but it’s making me feel like I have nothing else in my life other than teaching. I have a work/sleep balance rather than anything else. At least the sleep side isn’t missing out....

I could have written this when I was an NQT and all of the other NQT's I knew were similar. I'm just glad I didn't have kids then because there were some weekends I spent a large amount of time just sleeping/marking and recovering before the next week! It is an utterly exhausting, relentless year. Teaching is exhausting! You will get used to it and it will become much easier (and slightly less tiring).

Also well done on getting through this with covid!!! Keep getting the sleep you need and looking after yourself. You don't want to burn out and you'll need it to get through the rest of this year.

Nothing else in the world like your nqt year. Do what you have to do to get through. Also, you’ll feel like this towards the end of every half term - you’ll literally drag yourself through the last week or so!

I think as you feel more secure in knowing exactly what you are doing without having to think/plan as much, you will be using less mental energy, and probably need less sleep.

Thanks so much guys. I feel better now. I just thought, fucks sake is this a sign of something ELSE to worry about?? it’s weird as I’m not tired in work, I have bags of energy but then I seem to crash afterwards. Which I know is normal but it’s annoying that work gets the absolute best of me and then my poor boyfriend gets me passed out at 8pm!!

I’m not an nqt but I’ve still fallen asleep at 8.30 on many nights this term so far. I find teaching exhausting in this first term of the year, it does get easier!

I used to have a nap every weekend.

Just to warn you, you will also come down with a cold or something immediately after term ends. One term, I was right as rain at 3.30 and flat out with the most horrible stinky cold at 5.30. One way to try and avoid this is to keep yourself busy that evening and the next day, so you come down off the adrenalin more gradually!

@lanthanum oh god I know 😬 my mum is a teacher! And I used to have the same thing when I was a TA in reception. I take vitamin c so hoping I’ll avoid it this time... maybe...