Yesterday I wrote, ‘The battle within‘ and said,
“The battle within is greater than the battle beyond.“
And while I firmly believe this I am seeing countless tweets from educators and educational leaders across different districts, provinces, states, and international borders, talking about the overwhelm and exhaustion of their role in a pandemic. The challenge ‘beyond’ is taxing the battles ‘within’ and burnout seems endemic.
I’ve seen comments like:
“I can’t sleep thinking about how much I have to do.”
“I have no time to exercise or take care of myself.”
“I have to take the weekend off.”
“I asked for help but it isn’t coming fast enough.”
“I’m in my second year teaching and I feel I have to quit.”
“I’m tired of just doing an adequate job.”
“This is unsustainable.”
“I won’t make it to June at this pace.”
“My students deserve more, but I have nothing more to give.”
Here are a few suggestions I hope can help:
- Take care of yourself. Busy times are exactly when self care matters most. Everything you do for yourself during these times will give you the energy to help and provide for others… but more importantly, you will just feel better!
- Ask for help. It’s ok to let others know you need support.
- Collaborate. Find others who can share the load, and find energy by working with others.
- Reduce your own expectations around work load. What can you do to reduce marking, or to provide assessment that is student rather than grade focussed? Example: Instead of giving a test that takes 10 min. each to mark, give a 1-1 assessment that takes 5-10 minutes. You and your students will both get more out of the experience.
- Take body and brain breaks. Have fun, while recharging yourself and your students.
- Turn off work for a set time each night… be militant about this. Go for a no technology walk with someone. Put a block of time in your calendar. Play a board game.
- Do something creative.
- Meditate daily.
- Get to bed early.
- Exercise. Suggestion: Try to do a quick workout early in the morning… get your heart rate up for 20 minutes to start the day.
- Pack healthy treats that you enjoy, so that food breaks are rewarding in more ways than one.
- Connect with friends digitally. Your digital bubble need not be small just because your face to face one is.
This is a time when the battle beyond can overwhelm the battle within… so make intentional efforts to care for yourself and not only you, but those around you will benefit!
