The Art of Disconnecting Before the Next School Year

A (Somewhat) Helpful Guide to Teacher Tech Detoxing

Let’s face it: your brain still autocorrects to “grading mode” every time you open a Google Doc. You twitched at the sound of a notification ping during your third margarita. And the last time someone said “Zoom,” you screamed into a beach towel.

It’s time to disconnect — not just from Wi-Fi, but from mental bandwidth theft.

1. Turn Off Notifications… for Everything

If your phone dings one more time with a “Back-to-School Deals You Can’t Miss” alert, you might just frisbee it into the lake.
Let’s make one thing clear: If it starts with “Canvas,” ends in “Parent Portal,” or has a tiny red dot next to it — it can wait.
You’ve got two months (give or take). Treat them like gold.

2. Trade Screens for Something Wild — Like Paper

You know that book you bought three years ago and told yourself you’d read “over the summer”? Crack it open.
Use a bookmark. Feel the pages. Smell them. (Okay maybe not smell them — you’re not that far gone… are you?)

Bonus: It won’t ask you to update your password mid-chapter.

3. Outsource Your Inner Overachiever

Teachers don’t relax — they just project-manage vacations with laminated itineraries.
Try doing something without optimizing it.
Sit in a chair. Stare into space. Make eye contact with a tree.
Resist the urge to schedule it in your planner.

4. Clean Out the Tabs (in Your Brain and Browser)

You don’t need 47 open tabs reminding you of classroom makeover ideas, Pinterest anchor charts, or that oddly specific blog about “Team-Building with Pipe Cleaners.”
Close them.
All of them.
Even the ones you might need later. Especially those.

5. Get Bored. Gloriously Bored.

Remember boredom? That magical portal to creativity before smartphones hijacked your attention span?
Embrace it. Get bored enough to daydream, to doodle, to take a nap under a tree without wondering if you’re being “productive.”

6. Remember: You're a Human First. Teacher Second.

Before the next school year steals your evenings, weekends, and bladder breaks… reclaim your human-ness.
Laugh with your people. Walk barefoot in the grass. Take a break from fixing things that aren’t your job to fix.
The best teachers are full humans first — rested, recharged, and maybe just a little sun-kissed.

So go ahead. Unplug. Reboot. Recharge.
Because come August, you're going to need all that juice — and not just the caffeinated kind.

💡 Coming Soon:

• Snooze Buttons and Supply Lists: The Real Countdown to Back-to-School
• Why the School Email App Should Auto-Delete During Summer Break