27 April 2026 · 7 min read · By Harriet
Teachers ask me this question more than any other. 'How did you know it was time?' Here are the ten signs I see again and again in the teachers I work with. If you're nodding at three or more, it's probably time to start planning.
1. The Sunday night feeling has become a Sunday morning feeling
It used to start at 6pm Sunday. Now it starts when you wake up. Soon it'll start on Saturday. This is your nervous system telling you something your conscious mind hasn't admitted yet.
2. You fantasise about a serious illness
Not a real one. Just enough to give you a few weeks off without having to explain yourself. If you've thought this even once, take it seriously. Healthy people do not wish for illness.
3. You can't remember the last time you taught a great lesson
Not a 'good' one. A great one. The kind that made you come into teaching in the first place. If the conditions to do your job well no longer exist, the job has already changed — whether or not you've left.
4. The behaviour incidents have stopped shocking you
What would have horrified you in your first year now feels routine. This isn't resilience. It's depletion.
5. Your part-time contract is full-time hours
You went part-time to get your life back. You're working four days for three days' pay and doing the planning on your day off. The system has quietly rewritten the deal.
6. You no longer recommend the profession
When a young person says they want to teach, your stomach drops. You used to be proud of what you do. Now you're trying not to put them off.
7. You're losing yourself outside of school
Hobbies have stopped. Friendships have thinned. Your weekends are spent recovering from the week and dreading the next one. The job has expanded into the spaces that used to be yours.
8. Your body is telling you
Migraines. Eczema. Recurring chest infections. The Sunday tummy. Teachers' bodies often know before their minds do. Listen.
9. You've started doing the maths
You've worked out how much your pension would be worth if you left now. You've Googled 'how to leave teaching'. You've read this far. You already know.
10. Someone you know has left and seems happy
And it's been weeks now and they haven't gone back. That's the proof. Other people are doing it. So can you.
What to do next
If three or more of these landed, don't panic-quit. Plan. The teachers who exit cleanly are the ones who build something on the side first, prove the numbers and walk away on their own terms. That's what The Ultimate Teacher Exit Plan teaches.
Want the full step-by-step? See The Ultimate Teacher Exit Plan — the complete course for teachers leaving the classroom.
