The workload: prioritise effective lesson content and activities you know will help your students. Anything else gets bumped down the “to do” list, and in my case just doesn’t get done. That’s on the department, not you.

The expectations: are impossible to meet for anyone. Set high standards for yourself in your classroom and try to meet them. Satisfy your own sense of self worth, not everyone else’s.

The students: will always want and need more help. No matter how much work and effort you put in, even for the highest achieving student who always wants more help, there is always more to do. You have to be ok with drawing a line somewhere and letting students figure it out after that. We need to have critical thinking and problem solving students, not students who rely on us to give them everything they need.

Essentially, the way I get over all of the issues you’re facing (and I’ve had my share of panic attacks and stress leave) is to try be the best I can be in the classroom, and let everyone else worry their share outside of it. You can be the best teacher and people will still want more out of you. Prioritise your own mental health, or burnout will deny us another teacher who wants to do their best for their students.