Well, it’s that time of year again. The ever-so-loving hustle of back-to-school antics. For students: shopping for clothes and school supplies, learning a new class schedule, making new friends, learning new teachers, coping with the hormonal stresses of puberty, acquiring new courses in your major (for college students), gathering money for tuition, etc. For educators: arriving back early, thus enduring a shortened vacation, learning a new curriculum, forming a new curriculum, professional development with admin, parent-teacher conferences, meetings….meetings….MEETINGS.
Mental and Emotional Health should be promoted more at school for both students and educators alike.
There are five tips I’d like to focus on for Educators:
#1 Maintain wellness practices.
With the approach of a new school year, it may be easy to leave behind wellness activities developed over the summer to devote more time to planning. However, it is more important than ever to carry key wellness practices into the school year.
Wellness can present in many forms, whether it is exercise, reading a book for fun, ensuring adequate time for sleep, scheduling social activities with friends, attending to your diet, practicing mindfulness, or journaling.
What will you do to maintain a focus on wellness?
#2 Establish boundaries.
Being constantly “on” in a helping profession, like teaching or counseling, is a recipe for burnout. It is important to set personal boundaries between work and personal time and to get some time away from work-related tasks and communications, including email.
What are your personal boundaries, and how can you advocate to maintain them?
#3 Identify your support system.
Identify the people in your life who provide you with support, whether it be an accountability buddy who will help you stay on track with your wellness goals, a person who listens and validates your emotions, or someone whose very presence reduces stress and provides you with a sense of belonging.
Just like self-care, it can be easy to sacrifice time we devote to relationships when we feel overwhelmed with work.
Who is in your support system, and how will you stay connected even when things get busy?
#4 Plan what you can, and accept imperfection
One of the most common responses to anxiety is avoidance, and getting ready for a new school year can certainly lead to some anxiety. Unfortunately, avoidance or procrastination will heighten the anxiety in the long run, whereas exposure (e.g., getting started on the planning) can reduce the anxiety.
At the same time, life is messy, and not everything goes according to plan, regardless of how detailed our plan is or how many contingencies we include!
An acceptance mindset, wherein we accept what we cannot control and continue to make choices that align with our values, allows us to let go of tension and instead act with psychological flexibility.
How do you demonstrate flexible thinking in your life, and how can you apply that to your work as an educator?
#5 Utilize resources available to you.
Humans are not meant to exist in isolation – we need a community to thrive! In addition to your personal support network, be aware of (and utilize) other community resources available to you to support mental health and wellness. These resources could be life-saving for you and the people around you.
References
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