In education, we’re always trying to stay one step ahead. Teachers use backwards mapping to plan their instruction based on tested standards. Before one academic year is over, administrators are creating schedules based on staffing and enrollment for the next year, and leadership teams are busy drafting the next school improvement plan. The need to stay ahead is crucial for educators, but it can also cause us to miss powerful opportunities to boost our well-being.

The strategy of savoring, first coined by social psychologists Fred Bryant and Joseph Veroff, is the act of mindfully engaging in positive experiences. Just like you might savor a bite of your favorite meal, savoring positive or meaningful moments is about slowing down and using your senses to take everything in. The more frequently you engage with moments in this way, the better for your sense of psychological well-being (Growney et al., 2025). Savoring moments has also been linked to a higher sense of resilience (Smith & Hollinger-Smith, 2015), something that supports stress management and creating thriving lives.

Savoring is such a simple strategy, yet it can take a great deal of intentionality when your workday is run by bell schedules, radio calls, back-to-back meetings and never-ending to-do lists. At the same time, savoring may be one of the most important well-being strategies for educators. Every positive moment is valuable, especially the more physically, mentally, or emotionally draining you find your work.

Because positive moments in education often involve having a meaningful impact on the lives of children and families, the impact of savoring those times can be huge for our well-being. Those “aha!” moments when a student’s eyes light up with understanding or the gratitude beneath a parent’s gentle smile are powerful signals that we’ve made a difference. We can tap into our reserve of such positive past experiences to help us stay grounded in what we love about our work and what makes the challenges worthwhile.

Here are a few tips to help you engage in the practice of savoring.

• Start with a recent experience that brought you joy. Think back on that moment and engage all of your senses. What were the colors in the space? Visualize the look on someone’s face. Did you hear laughter, a kind comment, or a playful tone in someone’s voice? Consider details that involve your senses, like the temperature of the room and even the smell of today’s lunch wafting from the cafeteria. The more you engage your senses, the stronger that memory becomes and the easier it is to recall that memory when you need a boost in energy.
• Use a structure to help you remember to find moments to savor. A structure can be visual, like a mural on a school wall or a bracelet you wear. Each time you pass that mural or glance down at your wrist, you get a reminder to look for a positive moment from your day. Structures can also be tied to a habit, like taking a drink of water or straightening your tie. Tying the habit of finding moments worth savoring to an object, a habit, or something else you are likely to encounter each day can help you build the habit of finding and savoring moments.
• Take mental pictures. Even brief moments can be powerful, like when a student you’ve been struggling to connect with gives you a smile. When you have a sudden moment of joy, pause for a moment to take it all in and hold that image in your mind. Utilizing all of your senses in this way may not be feasible if you’re rushing down the hallway or someone is calling for your attention. But holding an image in your mind only takes a few seconds and can strengthen that memory.
• Make savoring a permanent part of your to-do list. Whether it’s writing it in bold in a notebook you use or adding a calendar reminder at the end of each day is up to you. The important thing is being intentional about this practice so that you can hang on to the moments that really matter in your work. And if this feels like too much for you to do, take a moment to skim your current to-do list and ask yourself, “Which of these things will really matter to me years from now?” I’m willing to bet that few of those items will make the cut, but the moments you savor will.