When You Dread Going to Work

Dreading Monday morning is a normal part of teaching during difficult patches. Term 2, a hard class, an unreasonable workload, a difficult relationship with a colleague or manager — any of these can make Sunday evenings feel ominous.

The problem isn't the feeling. The problem is not being able to tell whether it is a passing difficulty or something more serious that needs addressing.

How to tell the difference

**Duration and pattern.** A dread that is clearly attached to a specific source (a particular child, a coming meeting, SATS week) and lifts when that source is removed is a normal stress response. A dread that is generalised, persistent, and doesn't lift during half-term or holidays is not.

**What you're dreading.** Dreading a difficult interaction, a hard lesson, a specific observation — these are normal anxieties. Dreading the building itself, the people in it, the idea of doing the work at all — this is more significant.

**Physical symptoms.** Sleep disruption, appetite changes, persistent tension, difficulty concentrating, physical symptoms that appear on Sunday and resolve on Friday — these are physiological signs that the stress is significant enough to affect the body.

What to do

**If it's situational:** identify the specific source as precisely as possible. 'I dread work' is not actionable. 'I dread the 45-minute journey to work because it's during the part of the day when my anxiety is highest' is. Specificity makes solutions possible.

**If it's relational:** the most common cause of severe work dread in teaching is a specific relationship — usually with a line manager or headteacher. This is harder to address because it involves power. The most important thing is to not be alone with it: talk to a trusted colleague, your union, or a professional.

**If it's chronic:** talk to your GP. Burnout and depression are clinical conditions that respond to treatment. The Education Support Partnership (0800 562 561) offers free, confidential counselling for teachers.

**If it means leaving:** leaving a job that is making you ill is not failure. The profession needs teachers to stay in it; it needs them to stay in it healthy. A year at a different school, a different role, or a break from the classroom is more sustainable than grinding through something that is damaging you.