When Colleagues Push Back: 6 Things to Remember While Making Changes to Avoid Teacher Burnout
- Erin Sponaugle
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Setting limits at school is hard enough. Here's how to stay the course when the people around you aren't thrilled about it.
Let's talk about the part of teacher burnout recovery that nobody really warns you about: the part where you're doing the work, making the changes, choosing better, and the people around you aren't exactly cheering you on. You want to avoid teacher burnout, but the reaction from the teachers and staff you interact with makes you feel like you're the one doing something wrong.
Because here's the thing. We are not a singular force in our schools. We work with other people, and those people are impacted by our decisions. So when you start making changes to protect your time, your energy, and your sanity, such as starting to say no, going home on time, or stepping back from committees you never should have agreed to in the first place, not everyone is going to applaud you for it.
Some of your colleagues, be it teachers, staff, or administrators, are going to be downright upset and angry.
And that tension? It can make you want to abandon every good change you've made just to smooth things over. I know, because I've been there. I've come out on the other side, but I know exactly how uncomfortable that in-between space can feel. So let's talk about how to get through it.
You Are Not the Bad Guy Because You Want to Avoid Teacher Burnout (Even If It Feels That Way)
First, let me just say this plainly: it is completely natural to feel like you've done something wrong when the people around you are unhappy. We want connection. We want approval from our peers and colleagues. When you work in a school, you spend a significant amount of time with these people - it becomes close-knit, sometimes intensely so - and the last thing most of us want is to be the one who upsets the balance.
But here's the truth: if you're not making anyone a little uncomfortable, are you really making changes?
What we need in education, what the Teachaholic movement is all about, is flipping the script. We have to do what is sustainable. We have to keep enough in our own tank to go home and still have something left for the people we love and for ourselves. Teaching cannot be the thing that empties our cup every single day.
That means change. And change, by its very nature, is going to ruffle some feathers. That doesn't make you wrong.
Why the Holidays Make This Even Harder
The holiday season is a hotbed of emotions — and not just for our students. There is a lot that teachers are processing this time of year, too. And if you are someone who has chosen to do less so that you can be more for your students, for your family, for yourself, the holiday season at school can turn up the heat.
When everyone around you seems to be doing more and it appears you are not keeping pace, and when the parties and behavior issues are running amok, the tension is real. The looks are real. The comments are real. But that tension is a process, not a permanent state. You can get through it.
6 Things to Remember When Your Colleagues Are Upset With Your Avoid Teacher Burnout Changes
When the people you work closely with are unhappy because you're saying no, setting limits, and reclaiming your time, keep these six things in your back pocket.
1. Not Everyone Is on the Same Chapter as You
People are going to interpret your choices through the lens of where they are in life — and that place might be very different from where you are. Some colleagues may never realize they need to change something. Others will get there eventually, just not yet. Neither of those realities is your responsibility.
You cannot wait for everyone to catch up before you start taking care of yourself. The fact that someone doesn't understand your choices doesn't mean they're wrong. It just means they're not there yet.
2. You're Going to Find Out Who Actually Cares About You
This one stings a little, but it's important: when you can no longer meet everyone else's expectations or fit into their agenda, you will learn very quickly who is genuinely in your corner and who valued you primarily for what you could do for them.
It's a reckoning. It can be shocking. But it is also one of the most clarifying and ultimately helpful things you will experience on the way back from the edge of burnout. You deserve to know who is really on your side.
3. People Are Allowed to Have Their Feelings — and So Are You
Your colleagues are allowed to be disappointed that you're not staying late anymore, or that you've stepped back from the committee you've chaired for the last five years. Their feelings are valid.
Guess what. So are yours.
The key thing to remember is that how someone else feels about your choices is almost never really about you. It's usually something they're working through internally, the same kind of thing you've already been working through to get to this point. Their feelings are theirs to process. That is not your job to fix. They're adults. They'll work it out. You don't need to step in.
4. Stop Over-Explaining Yourself
This is a big one. When people are upset, the instinct is to over-explain, over-accommodate, and over-justify — to make them understand, to smooth it over, to get back to a comfortable place. Resist that instinct.
Over-explaining doesn't actually help. More often than not, it weakens your resolve, muddies the message, and signals that you may not really mean what you've said. If someone sincerely asks why you're doing things differently, you can tell them — briefly and honestly, without apology. But you do not owe anyone a detailed defense of your boundaries. That energy belongs somewhere else.
5. Keep Doing Your Job
Let me be very clear: none of this is a permission slip to stop showing up for your students. No one is saying don't do your job.
Be a professional. Fulfill your obligations. Be present for the kids, because that is why we're in the classroom in the first place. What we are pulling back from is not our responsibility to our students. It's the extra bells, the performative martyrdom, the things that have quietly become expectations without ever actually being requirements.
Do your job. Do it with care and intention. But let go of the idea that doing more than your job is what makes you a good teacher.
6. Remember Why You Started
When the boat starts rocking, and you get the looks and hear the comments and feel the tension, come back to this: why did you start making these changes in the first place?
Maybe you were headed toward a wall. Maybe you were already running on fumes. Maybe you looked around one day and realized that everything you had was going to school with you, and nothing was making it back home.
That is why you started. You didn't want teacher burnout to take over your life. Hold onto it. The storms that come with making meaningful changes are not the destination. They are part of the journey. And time has a way of healing the wounds that are meant to be healed. The right people, the ones who truly care about you, will come around. The ones who don't? They were never really going to get it anyway.
There Is Something Better on the Other Side
I can tell you with complete authority, from ten years of living this, that things do get better. My relationships are stronger now than they were before because I made these changes. Because I didn't back down when it was hard. Because I stayed the course and took back my time, my life, and my sense of self.
And in doing so, I believe I have quietly shown others that it is possible to make better choices, even when nobody around you is ready to celebrate them just yet, and you can get there too.
A Quick Recap for When You Need It
Save this list for the next time things get tense:
Not everyone is on your chapter yet: and that's okay; it's not a reason to stop.
You'll learn who really cares about you: let that be clarifying, not crushing.
People can have their feelings: it's not your job to solve them.
Stop over-explaining: it won't make things better; it'll just drain your energy.
Keep doing your job: professionalism and boundaries are not opposites.
Remember why you started: your end goal is a healthier, happier, more sustainable teaching career.
Good things are ahead. I promise. And they are worth waiting for.
If you're ready to go deeper and start making real changes in just seven days, grab your copy of Teachaholic — available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback.
Looking for a way to save yourself from burnout without leaving the classroom? I've created a free guide with reflection questions, graphic organizers, and a quiz to help you get started on your journey. Download your free Teachaholic Action Guide to get started on your journey below!
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