Dating as a teacher can seem impossible. How are you supposed to find the time?
Many teachers resort to dating apps, as they simply don’t have the hours nor the energy to mingle with new people in real life. Once you do start dating someone, make them aware of your work/life balance problem. By setting expectations early, you’ll avoid conflict later on.
Below, we’ll explore some ideas for dating successfully as a teacher who has limited time to meet new people.
Why Online Dating Is Important in 2022
Online dating has grown to become the most common method for adults to meet their significant other.
A huge appeal of dating apps is that you’re able to present yourself to potentially thousands of eligible singles without having to dress up and leave the house. In that sense, dating apps have become a godsend for socially anxious adults, but also time-poor professionals.
As a teacher you probably don’t have the time nor the energy to mingle in bars too often. By creating an online dating profile, you might not have to. Instead, you can lie on your sofa in your pajamas swiping on singles in your local area and getting to know each other through messaging.
The downside of online dating is that you’ll never truly know whether you have chemistry with someone until you actually meet for a date. On top of that, there’s a huge gender disparity on mainstream dating apps, which leaves men struggling for attention and women overwhelmed with messages. There are other downsides which might specifically bother teachers, such as the fear of being spotted by a student or a parent.
However, many teachers would agree that the convenience of online dating far outweighs the potential flaws of this medium.
Why I Recommend EHarmony For Single Teachers Trying to Find Their Soulmate
EHarmony is a highly-recommended dating website for anyone trying to find their one true love.
Some 70% of eHarmony users find their spouse on the website within a year of buying a paid subscription.
Those are incredible odds, which surely can’t be matched by any other online dating service.
Plus, I’d imagine it’s even more effective for time-poor professionals, such as those in teaching roles.
Here’s why.
EHarmony is an online dating website marketed exclusively for professionals seeking serious relationships. There’s nothing about its marketing that will appeal to those looking for a quick hook-up, nor teenagers looking to prank or catfish their high school teacher.
If the wholesome branding doesn’t put these time-wasters off, the price of the subscription surely will. It’s one of the more expensive online dating websites and you can’t message anyone unless you sign up for a premium membership.
That means the only remaining members are those who are serious about finding their true love.
EHarmony is so effective at matching its members because it focuses on personalities. Each new member is obliged to fill out a 40-45 minute personality quiz before completing their registration and the results will be used by the eHarmony algorithm to find their most compatible matches for them.
Each day, you’ll be gifted a handful of new matches, which are chosen based on your compatibility score out of 100. You’ll only be permitted to message the matches chosen for you. No-one else.
This is a stroke of genius because it solves the gender disparity problem. Men are more likely to have their message read. Women can trust that they’re only hearing from suitable candidates. (EHarmony has a near enough 50/50 gender split as well, which is more than can be said for any of the mainstream dating websites).
The success rate of eHarmony members speaks volumes about the intelligence of the algorithm.
If you’re a hard-working professional with barely any free-time or energy, you can expect to be matched with people who aren’t put off by this.
What’s more, the set-up of the website encourages men and women to invest in deeper conversations with these members who have the same desires as them.
You can learn more about the benefits of eHarmony in my extensive guide titled: Does EHarmony really work?
How to Handle Work/Life Balance Problems as a Teacher
A lack of free time is a problem that hinders the dating lives of many teachers.
During your training and throughout your first couple of years on the job, it might feel like you have no time or energy for any form of personal life until the summer holidays.
Thankfully, this would appear to get easier to handle as you become more experienced.
In their articles and blog posts about the work/life balance issue, many experienced teachers claim to have discovered a range of time-saving hacks throughout their career.
So, it might be worth asking the more experienced teachers at your school how they managed to create the time to date. If they like you, they will surely be happy to sympathize and share the tricks of the trade.
There are plenty of good online forums for you to brainstorm ideas with other teachers too.
Try:
- A to Z Teacher Stuff
- ProTeacher
- R/teaching on Reddit
- The Education Forum
- TES Community
- The Teacher’s Corner
Should I Date Another Teacher?
A teacher doesn’t just struggle with finding the time to date. It can also be difficult to find a partner who is OK with you working so much.
The easiest solution to this problem is to date a fellow teacher. You can trust that they’ll understand your lack of time and energy. What’s more, they’ll be the most likely to accept it, since they probably also have little time or energy to date.
You can enjoy your Netflix and Chill recharging sessions together, safe in the knowledge that neither of you will be suggesting a Tuesday night downing cocktails until sunrise.
With that said, you’ll both be free to go all out during the summer holidays.
The only problem with only dating teachers is that you’re significantly limiting your pool of options, especially if you’re (rightfully) worried about the repercussions of dating a teacher from your school.
Final Thoughts
To create this guide, I studied many other articles written by teachers about overcoming work/life balance issues. Almost everyone reminded the reader that teaching should be seen as your job, not your whole life.
It might be tough to find the energy to improve your dating life as a teacher, but doing so will surely improve your overall life satisfaction.
It’s worth the effort – and hopefully this guide will help you make it happen. Good luck!
Im Joe, and I travel the world working as a dating expert, confidence coach, and writer. I have written articles for the web’s most popular dating advice blogs and published two well-received books on dating and relationships. The Thrill Of The Chase is one of the books i’ve written.