Teaching is one of the most intense occupations one can participate in. We as teachers are faced with myriad tasks that include grading papers, responding to student inquiries, and managing our courses. It is complicated enough to manage a single course; four or five becomes an increasingly difficult endeavor. However, our passion for teaching allows us the ability work through these difficult processes. While traditional classrooms are difficult to manage, the online milieu exacerbates this phenomenon. Operating in the online environment can have the potential to increase burnout as the intense connectivity of the online environment places our classrooms at our finger tips 24/7. We strive to support our students and provide a rich and meaningful learning experience by continually connecting with them; however, this connectivity comes at a price - the inability to remove ourselves from our work and our sanity. Scholars have put forward various theorems of creating work/life balance yet many of these theorems seem more applicable to occupations that function in a more traditional model. Therefore, as teachers, functioning in the virtual realm, need to develop strategies that assuage the potential for burnout.

While we desire to be there for our students ubiquitously, we need to, at times, disassociate ourselves from our occupation. We need to remember that our courses will not fall apart if we are absent from the classroom and our smart phones for a brief while; so called unplugged hours can help us disconnect from our classrooms in order to reconnect with our peers, our families, and ourselves. This process can be as simple as turning off our phones, disconnecting from the internet, and developing "time off" periods during our ostensive weekends. This benefits all of the aforementioned stakeholders in different ways: we have the opportunity to reconnect with our coworkers and gain from their knowledge and experience, we develop a healthy and productive home life, and we remove ourselves from ourselves. With regards to the last mentioned stakeholder, ourselves, we too often may exist in our own heads given the mental work we engage in and fail to be present in the moment; we carry our classrooms with us. Through removing ourselves from our classrooms and embracing the world outside our working milieu, we can produce value added feedback for our students, be present with our families and communities, and be at peace with ourselves. While the strategies listed here are not revolutionary, I have found some peace by utilizing them and I look forward to your suggestions and feedback.