The Master Teacher Blog

It might seem as though the summer break offers limitless time to do what we want and need to do. However, as we well know, the time will end up passing quickly. Some structure and focus can be helpful to our ability to use the time to our best advantage. Of course, summer comes with its own set of commitments, expectations, and responsibilities, so we need to find balance if we hope to have a successful break from the school year.

We can be tempted to pack the summer full of events, activities, learning, and preparation for fall. Yet, over-scheduling can prolong our recovery from the school year, distract us from using the break to our best advantage, and leave us low on energy and enthusiasm for the start of a new school year in a few months.

As we make the transition from finishing the school year and begin to focus on how best to spend the time we have over breaks, we would do well to prioritize our time and attention. Our priorities might include some items that help us to “tie off” our experiences from the year that just ended, consider how best to engage the summer, and do some preliminary thinking and planning for next year. Here are six ideas we might consider putting into action to create some structure, form some focus, and preview what we would like to accomplish.

Catalog the best things that happened and your most significant accomplishments from the past year. You might relive some of the most uplifting and satisfying experiences from the past year, so consider making some notes to capture reflections and record your insights. If you kept a journal or made contemporaneous notes during the year, now is a good time to read and reflect on your thoughts and observations. Be sure to forgive yourself and others for what may not have gone as you planned and expected.

Make a list of what drew your interest and attention during the year. You might have heard about or encountered some new strategies to research, new tools to secure and learn to use, or you may have been stymied by reoccurring challenges you want to understand and overcome. Unfortunately, the pressure and pace of the school year can make focused exploration and development of new skills difficult to accomplish. The summer might be a good time to delve into these areas of interest and possibility.

Make a “soft” outline of what you would like to improve next year. Deciding to take some action and tackle a challenge can stimulate your thinking and draw your attention to information and opportunities that support your intentions. Your list might include strategies, units, or lesson designs you would like to develop. You might want to gain some insights and strategies for classroom management. Or your interests might lie elsewhere! What is important is to identify what you are looking for because when you do, you are more likely to find it.

Make an initial list of what you would like to learn, accomplish, polish, or produce during the summer. This task may require some discipline and a reality check. After all, you can only do so much. However, giving some thought and having a list can help you focus and prioritize available time, and it can assist you in scheduling potential learning and practice opportunities before the summer slips away.

Take time for some casual, informal collaboration. The coming weeks can offer opportunities to meet with a colleague, mentor, or coach to explore ideas, share observations, and exchange insights without the pressure of immediate action or application. Exploratory conversations, what-if ruminations, and “how might _____” exchanges can surface new ideas, open new paths, and suggest opportunities to pursue this summer and beyond.

Make a commitment to unplugging from constant work-related communication and tasks. Occasionally checking your email can help you avoid missing important communication, but hourly or daily checking and responding can unnecessarily drain energy and undermine your efforts to recharge and refresh your energy and spirit. The summer can also be a time to experiment with setting boundaries and developing strategies you can use during the school year to maintain a sustainable balance between your work and personal life.

Obviously, some of these steps may be more relevant to your life than others. You may also have ideas for additional or alternative actions to make your summer the best it can be. Now is the time to put your thoughts into action.

For many of us, if not most, anxiety can be an enormous life distraction. We can find ourselves spending our time worrying about what lies ahead, doubting whether we will measure up, wondering how we will face a confrontation, or being apprehensive about any of a hundred other challenges life throws our way. Our anxiety might feel like a gnawing sense of concern, or it can feel like an all-consuming worry.

Interestingly, the very presence and level of our anxiety are more likely to be based on our fears and perceptions than on reality. We can easily obsess about a situation that may have few real implications—or none whatsoever. We might constantly replay a situation that is behind us when everyone else has moved on. Or we may catastrophize an outcome that has yet to be determined and will likely not be as bad as we imagine. Fortunately, there are steps and strategies we can employ to counter our anxiety and lessen its weight. Here are seven of the most common anxiety-producing behaviors and practical ways to counter them.

Negative self-talk. Telling ourselves that we are not capable and are likely to fail or otherwise undermining our self-confidence can be especially harmful and anxiety producing. Unfortunately, we may not be fully aware of how negatively we talk to ourselves. Becoming conscious of our self-talk can be an important first step. We also need to remember that our brains pay attention to what is repeated; the more we tell ourselves negative things, the more our brains pay attention to those things.

Counter strategy:

We must pay close attention to what we tell ourselves and consciously shift our negative self-talk to become more positive. Mantras and affirmations can help. The more often we practice speaking positively to ourselves, the less anxiety we generate and must deal with. Of course, speaking positively and confidently about ourselves to others can also be a helpful counter strategy.

Avoidance. If a situation, interaction, or task is creating anxiety for us, we may try to find ways to avoid it. While it may seem that staying away from a circumstance that makes us anxious should make it better, doing so often increases our anxiety. Avoiding a needed conversation, delaying an important decision, or refusing to complete a time-sensitive task can increase our anxiety, while also making the situation worse.

Counter strategy:

Of course, the most direct and obvious counter strategy is to face the situation and get it over with. Usually, the experience is far less negative and uncomfortable than we imagine. Reminding ourselves of situations in the past that we faced and survived, and even succeeded in, can sometimes help. When we need an intermediate step, we might approach the situation incrementally. Breaking a task into parts and completing aspects of the work can be reassuring and diminish our reluctance. Taking the step of scheduling a conversation can give us the courage to go forward. This also is a time when positive self-talk can help us gain the confidence to act.

Either/or thinking. Seeing most things as either good or bad and not recognizing what lies between or what represents the gray area can leave us with little room for nuance and flexibility. Consequently, we can be caught up in reaching extreme conclusions that have no basis. For example, we might overlook a detail in a task, make a mistake in our communication, or misspeak in a presentation, and in response, our either/or thinking leads us to conclude that we are incompetent. Even worse, we worry that others think so, too.

Counter strategy:

The fact is that we all are human. We all make mistakes. Concluding that a misstep is evidence of incompetence is to overlook the reality of life that mistakes may be reminders or opportunities to learn from the experience, but they are rarely not fixable. It is even rarer that are they recalled for very long by others. Life is filled with nuance. Recognizing that most of life exists between the extremes can be reassuring and freeing.

Overthinking. We can become stuck in a loop of replaying our thoughts, reviewing every possible implication from a conversation, or attempting to predict every possible outcome in a situation. Overthinking can magnify issues and divert our energy from places where our thinking might have a useful outcome. As a result, we can find ourselves exhausted, confused, and unable to decide, let go, and move on.

Counter strategy:

Whether we find ourselves replaying an event or situation over in our head or worrying about every possible outcome, we need to recognize what is happening before we can employ a strategy to counter it. Fortunately, there are several steps we can take to counter this tendency. We might set a time limit to avoid being caught in an endless thought loop. We can challenge our thinking by asking ourselves questions such as, “What is the worse probable outcome?” or “Am I blowing this situation out of proportion?” A realistic assessment of the situation can often break the thought pattern. We also might commit to focusing on the elements we can control and then decide what actions to take. Finally, we can accept that imperfection is natural, mistakes will happen, and it is okay to not have all the answers.

Second-guessing. Second-guessing is related to overthinking, but it typically happens after we have reached a decision or taken an action. We may feel uncertain about our choice, wonder if we considered everything, and worry about opportunities we left behind. Our anxiety might be heightened if we gain new information or discover additional implications after having decided.

Counter strategy:

Sometimes we can realize that we did not make the best decision and revisit and change it. However, second guessing is most common when the decision has already been made, and then it is time to move on. Rather than becoming preoccupied by whether we made the right decision, we can focus on the fact that we made the best decision we could with the information we had at the time. Few complex and important decisions are made perfectly. They almost always require trade-offs. Instead of marinating on something we cannot change, we can shift our focus to making the best of the situation. In many circumstances, the value and wisdom of a decision resides more in what we do after the decision than in the decision itself.

Fearing the worst. While waiting to learn an outcome or fearing the arrival of bad news, our anxiety can grow, even though we do not know if what we learn will be negative. Also referred to as catastrophizing, convincing ourselves that the worst will happen and that we will not be able to deal with it can be daunting. The combination of expecting catastrophe and doubting our ability to cope with it can feel overwhelming.

Counter strategy:

Certainly, reminding ourselves that the worst case is only one of the possible outcomes can help us to gain perspective. Resolving ourselves to wait and deal with the outcome when we know it can help. In the meantime, we might consider what we can do and how we might cope should the worst case become reality. Often, it is the unknown and unexamined outcome that is so scary. Developing options and creating plans for what we might do if the worst happens can help us to uncover steps, strategies, and alternatives that reassure and give us confidence that we will survive.

Needing to please others. Preoccupation with what others think about us and feeling that we need to please them in order for them to like us can create an insatiable need that accelerates our anxiety. We can find ourselves parsing other people’s words to find reassurance. Consequently, an off-hand comment or meaningless observation can put us in an unfounded anxious spin.

Counter strategy:

We can start by reminding ourselves that the most important opinion is the opinion we have of ourselves. When we are true to ourselves and make decisions based on our needs, values, and goals, we become more likeable than when we constantly ruminate on the opinions and observations of others. This perspective does not mean that we ignore the needs and perspectives of others. We can care, give, and please others if we do not lose our sense of ourselves. Importantly, in the long term, people with whom we experience the healthiest relationships value who we are, not whether our goal is to please them.

Regardless of its source, anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling and can be a barrier to our best thinking and work. By recognizing the source of our anxiety and taking steps to counter it, we can minimize its impact and find the freedom to be our best selves. Of course, if high levels of anxiety persist and we are unable to let them go, it may be time to seek professional help and support.

Estimates are that teachers make as many as fifteen hundred student-related decisions per day, more than just about any other profession. Some decisions are routine, while others cannot be anticipated. Some decisions carry little risk and have low impact, where others may carry long-term implications for our students and our relationships with them. Some decisions are accompanied by clear criteria and implications. Others come with limited information and are filled with uncertainty and risk. The result: The number and nature of daily decisions we face can wear us out; this condition is known as decision fatigue.

Unfortunately, decision fatigue can then lead us to make poor decisions. We can fail to fully assess the implications of decisions we make, we may ignore key information that should inform our decisions, or we may choose options that do not align with our goals. We may even put off decisions that should and could be made in real time.

Decision fatigue can also lead to levels of frustration and anger that are disproportionate to the situations we face. We can find ourselves making impulsive decisions we otherwise would resist. We may feel as though we are not capable of recognizing the best choice to make. The bottom line is that we risk not relying on our best judgment when the number of decisions we must make leaves us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

Of course, we cannot avoid making decisions entirely, nor should we. The decisions we make determine the nature, direction, and productivity of not only our day, but also the day our students will experience. However, there are steps we can take and strategies we can employ to make our “decision load” more manageable and position us to give greater attention and thought to the most important decisions we make.

First, we can be clear about our values and goals. Many decisions become easy when we consider their impact on our students’ learning and their alignment with our professional practice standards. Unfortunately, when we make decisions in the heat of the moment that are not in the best interests of our students or aligned with our professional commitments, the regret and guilt we feel can add to our frustration and exhaustion.

Second, we can reduce the number of decisions we have to make. We know the value of routines for common processes and procedures in our classes. However, we may be able to expand our use of classroom routines by asking the question: What am I doing that my students can do? By giving students greater responsibility, we can free up time and energy to allocate to higher leverage decisions and activities. Further, when we establish routines for our own time and activities before and after school, we can reduce the number of decisions we have to make when we are feeling stressed or tired.

Third, we can prioritize the decisions we face. Before we begin our day, we might identify the most important decisions we expect to face and give some pre-thought to options and approaches that might lead to the best outcomes. When it is time to decide, we will be better prepared and able to rely less on in-the-moment thinking. Additionally, sorting the decisions we must make can help us to identify decisions that are not important or urgent and can be delayed or avoided.

Fourth, we can develop a process for making common and frequent decisions. We might think about decisions that we face monthly, weekly, or daily and reflect on what has worked in the past, what information we will need to collect, and what options are likely to be available. Not every decision has to be treated as unique. However, we need to be careful not to treat unique situations as routine or we risk ignoring options, missing opportunities, and short-changing students and their learning.

Fifth, we can set deadlines for making difficult decisions. When we face decisions that carry significant consequences, feature multiple options, and lack clear direction, we can be tempted to put off deciding. Consequently, we can spend excessive energy evaluating options even when we have all the information we need or will have to decide. Meanwhile, we have less time and energy to give to other decisions that demand our attention. Establishing a time by which we will decide we can avoid unnecessary procrastination, while giving needed attention to the decision before us.

Sixth, we can commit to taking mental and physical breaks during the day. Even a short walk and some fresh air can replenish our energy and clear our thinking. A brief non-work-related conversation with a colleague can help us to relax and regroup. Momentarily stepping away from the pressure to decide and orchestrate activities can be an effective antidote to decision fatigue.

We may not be able to avoid making hundreds of decisions each day, but we can create routines, processes, and priorities that allow us to better manage the decisions we face. We can also recapture energy and time to make better decisions and avoid becoming overwhelmed and fatigued by those that remain.

Smith, D. D. (2022, August 9). How to make decision fatigue more bearable. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90776828/how-to-make-decision-fatigue-more-bearable

Occasionally, we have all found ourselves in situations wherein we felt manipulated. It may have been a request, an expectation, an insinuation, or something else that left us feeling confused or uncomfortable. Regardless of the specifics, it was generally not a good feeling.

Some manipulation is the result of happenstance and is not intentional. At other times, we might bring the situation on ourselves by failing to be clear or feeling obligated to cooperate. Fortunately, most people do not attempt to manipulate others as their primary approach to relationships.

Yet, there are certainly people who rely on manipulation as a go-to behavior to get what they want. They may be a colleague, student, friend, or even a family member. They reveal themselves through their frequent reliance of any, some, or all the following behaviors:

• Guilting—Making us feel guilty for not cooperating with or volunteering to carry out their wishes or taking responsibility for their emotions.
• Playing the victim—Seeking sympathy and claiming that others are responsible for their problems and feelings.
• Blame-shifting—Claiming that everything bad is someone else’s fault, even when the fault clearly lies with them.
• Lying—Refusing to admit falsehoods even when the evidence is obvious.
• Gaslighting—Raising suspicions about what we know or have experienced, leading us to question our reality.
• Intimidating—Making subtle threats, threatening to exert power, or hinting at consequences if cooperation is not forthcoming.

Unfortunately, regular engagement with emotionally manipulative people can take a significant mental, emotional, and physical toll on us. We can experience depression and anxiety, feel helpless and lack of confidence, and suffer from guilt and shame. We may even engage in unhealthy coping behaviors and suffer from exhaustion.

The good news is that there are several useful strategies we can tap to protect our well-being and manage manipulators and their behavior. Here are seven approaches to help you gain control and remain sane.

Set and enforce emotional boundaries. Be ready for the manipulator to press and test your boundaries. Expect attempts to ridicule and guilt you for not prioritizing the manipulator’s interests and priorities. If pushed, refuse to engage; instead, respond by stating your commitment to prioritizing your well-being.

Refuse to take responsibility for the manipulator’s emotions. Don’t take what the manipulator says personally. Your guilt, shame, and vulnerability are what they crave to be successful. When you break that link, you diminish their power. Their feelings and behavior are their choice, not your responsibility.

Remain calm. When the manipulator attempts to pull you in, refuse to react. Detach emotionally from what the manipulator is saying or doing. When manipulators do not receive the reaction they expect, they often lose interest. If the manipulator persists, you may need to create physical space, including walking away or ending the relationship.

Avoid power struggles. Manipulative people excel at power competition and advantages. They have lots of strategies and are not reluctant to use them, no matter how they may impact you. Resist debating, forget trying to win, and detach from determining who is right or wrong. The manipulator is trying to escalate the situation to achieve an advantage. Don’t take the bait.

Be clear about your needs and expectations. State what you mean in direct terms. Resist sending open-ended messages, invitations, or requests. Vagueness and mixed signals are the manipulator’s playground. They will reinterpret what you said or meant and leave you feeling guilty, regretful, and bewildered. Meanwhile, expect vagueness and mixed signals from the manipulator, often followed by an interpretation that favors what the manipulator wants or expects.

Listen to your intuition. Manipulators can be difficult to spot. They are often friendly, even seemingly genuinely helpful, when it fits their purpose. They may compliment and smother with kindness when they want something. If you find yourself second-guessing your interpretation or feeling “icky” following a conversation or experience, manipulation may have been at play. If something feels manipulative, it probably is.

Tap sources of support. Manipulators often attempt to isolate those whom they are trying to manipulate. Their tactics work best when their intended victims are not testing their experiences against reality or others’ perceptions. Talk to friends, colleagues, or family members about what is happening and get their reactions. If they have experience with the manipulator, they may be able to validate your experience and offer advice. Consider seeking professional help if the situation is becoming serious and you are having difficulty finding a path forward.

Of course, the “through line” for each of these strategies is that we need to take care of ourselves. Self-care is a critical element in successfully countering an emotional manipulator. They depend on others’ emotional and physical exhaustion for their success. But we are not powerless, and we can prevail. Own your own!

This is a time of year when we can feel like responsibilities are piling up and we may not be making the progress we envisioned. We might be at our full “bandwidth” and feel as though we are unable to manage what we face, let alone take on anything more. We may even be feeling as though what we face is spinning out of control.

As much as curling up in bed and pulling the covers over our head may seem attractive, the choice to avoid our situation will not help it. We need strategies to deal with what we face and restore a sense of control.

The good news is that even in these times there are steps we can take to gain a better perspective, create a plan, and move forward with greater confidence and clarity. Here are five strategies to get started:

• Sort. Often, the feeling of being overwhelmed is the result of things piling up without us having a clear sense of what do or where to start. If this is what we face, we can ask ourselves several questions to create categories to help us decide where to begin: What should—and can—I do right now? What can wait? What can be dropped without making a significant difference? What can be put off, put down, or pushed back?
• Prioritize. We might ask ourselves questions to determine what matters most. What is urgent and important versus what is creating pressure but may not be crucial? What would not carry consequences if delayed or ignored? Is there something we have elevated to feel important but really is not something that will make a marked difference if left unattended? Are there promises or commitments that we made that can be delayed or undone?
• Schedule. Deciding what to do and when to do it can give us a sense of control, build our confidence, and help us to see a path forward. What can I do right now and take off my list? What can wait for a few days or until next week? What tasks might be combined and addressed together? Completing a few small tasks and shifting items on our list can create a feeling of progress and lessen the pressure and stress we are experiencing.
• Connect. Now is the time to engage our network. In fact, these are some of the times for which we build and maintain connections. We might reach out and have a conversation, maybe meet for a cup of coffee, or engage in a favorite activity with a supportive friend or family member. This can also be a good time to connect with someone we have not talked to or spent time with recently. The interaction can remind us of what is most important in our lives and give a perspective on what we face.
• Decompress. Sometimes what we most need is some space and time to step back and disconnect. We might listen to our favorite music, go for a walk, engage in a hobby, or just chill. The key is to break the pattern we are experiencing and do something that feels calming and comfortable.

What we experience as overwhelming may be very real or a result of the way we are feeling—or, likely, a combination of both. Regardless, we need to do what we can to regain our balance and move forward. Often, just taking time to sort, prioritize, and schedule what is on our plate can help. However, we also need to take care of ourselves whether we do so by connecting with others or by spending time alone to decompress, renew our energy, and shift our perspective. Ultimately, it would do us good to remember that feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean we are powerless.

Many of us have an extensive list detailing what we need and want to accomplish during the summer break. The list likely contains many important and unavoidable tasks, but hopefully, the list also includes several activities that will contribute to refreshing our spirits and renewing our enthusiasm for when fall arrives.

What may not be on our list are actions and activities we plan to avoid. However, what we choose not to do can be as important as those activities in which we plan to engage. As you finalize your plans for the coming weeks, here are six actions and activities to take off your list.

First, resist excessively rehashing the past year. Conflicts, missteps, disappointments, and regrets offer little value unless we can—and intend to—do something about them. If there are lessons to be learned, we need to discern what they are, learn them, and let go. Obsessing saps our energy and can undermine our confidence.

Second, avoid spending too much time in your classroom on materials organization, room orientation, and classroom decoration. Physical separation from our classroom can assist the processes of refreshing and renewing our energy and enthusiasm. While briefly stopping by the classroom to collect or drop off items might make sense, organizing, arranging, and decorating can generally wait until closer to the beginning of the new school year.

Third, forgo creating a detailed content coverage plan and assessment calendar for the semester or year. A general schema to estimate and monitor progress and determine appropriate times to assess that progress can be helpful. However, rigid planning risks focusing exclusively on content coverage and delivery rather than true learning and may result in administering assessments before students have finished with and are ready to demonstrate their learning.

Fourth, don’t spend time developing meticulous lesson plans. The makeup of classes and the needs of individual students need to be considered for lessons to be successful. We might script the first couple of days to get off to a good start, but as soon as we begin to interact with students, the experiences we design need to respond to their readiness, needs, and interests.

Fifth, skip making exhaustive lists of classroom rules. Having a general picture of behaviors and guidelines can help, certainly, but students generally respond better and feel greater ownership when they can play a role in discussing and developing classroom behavior expectations.

Sixth, try not to spend time stressing about the coming school year. We need to trust ourselves to know what to do when the time comes. We cannot predict the future, and worries about it are almost always unwarranted or overblown. It’s easier said than done, sure, but time spent worrying risks distracting us from the refocusing and refreshment time that summer should be.

Summer should be a time for rejuvenating our spirit, recharging our energy, and renewing our enthusiasm. When we remove unproductive and premature activities and actions from our summer to-do list, we make these goals more attainable.

Hoarding physical objects can be a significant life problem. We have seen television shows and read news articles about people who compulsively collect and hold on to seemingly useless objects, even junk. People fill their living space with stuff they collect and often cannot bring themselves to abandon what they have collected. In extreme cases, people are hardly able to live in their house or apartment due to the space occupied by what they are hoarding. For a variety of reasons, despite the stress and discomfort associated with the behavior, they persist.

While physical hoarding is a visible phenomenon, not all hoarding necessarily is visible or physical. Without consciously choosing or even realizing the impact, we can be accumulating mental and emotional “baggage” that saps our energy, grows our stress, and undermines our ability to fully enjoy our life and work.

Much like the accumulation of physical objects, our mental and emotional capacity to engage, explore, grow, and learn can be compromised when we allow past hurts, current conflicts, and the possibility of future disappointments to fill our minds and fray our emotions.

Of course, the mental and emotional elements that take up space come in many forms. It is also true that hoarding happens in stages and does not always grow to the point of paralyzing the hoarder. Regular house cleaning can help to counter urges to hoard. Similarly, conducting a mental and emotional inventory can help us to see what may be interfering with our happiness and success. Becoming conscious of what we are holding on to can position us to let go of what is not serving us well and create space for new energy, curiosity, and growth.

Let’s consider six mental and emotional elements that are worthy of examination and are candidates for abandonment:

• Grudges. Grudges can be among largest occupiers of mental space. Grudges distract us; hold us back from forming, fixing, and flourishing relationships; and almost always exact the greatest price from the people who hold them. Deciding to let go, forgive, and move on can be a major emotional space freer.  
• Guilt. Guilt can occupy a similar amount of mental and emotional space as grudges, but guilt is aimed at ourselves rather than someone else. To clear space, we need to forgive ourselves. To do this, we may need to apologize and make things right with someone we have harmed. We might need to recognize that we cannot change what happened, but if we have learned from the experience, we can give ourselves permission to let it go and free up some emotional space.
• Regrets. Regrets can be the result of choices we made or did not make. They can be the result of opportunities we let pass us by or paths we chose that did not serve us well. However, with each decision made, there were likely new experiences gained, lessons learned, and opportunities presented. Rather than looking back and fixating on what might have been, we can commit to making the best of what we have and making better choices in the future.
• Assumptions. Assumptions also take up significant undeserved mental space. Assumptions are untested, unproven, and often inaccurate perceptions of how things work, who people are, and what is possible. Testing our assumptions can help us to avoid misunderstandings, miscalculations, and missteps in our relationships with others and become more productive in our work.
• Beliefs. Beliefs are formed out of the assumptions we make. We might even think of them as being “stacked” on what we already assume to be true. Beliefs based on inaccurate assumptions can prevent us from engaging in new experiences, taking responsible risks, being curious, and trying new things. Like assumptions, we can create mental space by testing and sorting our beliefs about learning, teaching, and other aspects of our practice.
• Fears. Fear may be the most insidious occupier of mental and emotional space. Fear can conjure up images of failure, identify endless risks, warn of embarrassment, and present a near endless list of other “better avoided” actions. Yet, fear thrives on what might be, not on what is or what will be. Unless we confront our fears, we are not likely to dispel those that have no basis but still have a hold on us.  

Summer can be a great time for mental and emotional housekeeping. Remember: We do not have to be full-fledged mental and emotional hoarders to benefit from letting go of what distracts and holds us back. Most importantly, any space we create is available for more productive and growth-inducing opportunities.

The end of another year is only a few weeks away. Until then, we may have complete and detailed plans for all that we want to accomplish. Yet, much of what will actually happen in the coming days will compete with and even disrupt what we have imagined. We will also feel the added pressure and stress to finish instruction, wrap up learning, and finalize other tasks and projects. Ultimately, the time we have left will likely not be enough to do all that we would like.  

The challenge we face is to successfully wrap up the year without feeling as though we are losing control or becoming overwhelmed with frustration and stress. As we anticipate the coming days and weeks, here are six proven strategies to make our work more manageable and our experience more enjoyable. They can help us to find success without losing our sanity. As we think about these strategies, we might consider the safety instructions we receive when beginning a flight: we must put on our own oxygen mask before we can help others to do the same. In this metaphor, the “flight” is, of course, a symbol of our approach to the finish line. 

Set boundaries and create space. Despite the inevitable stress and competing expectations, finding time to do things we enjoy, making memories with family and friends, exercising, and just relaxing are important to being our best selves. If we are stressed and exhausted, we will not do our best work.  

Support and rely on colleagues. Trying to manage and complete everything that must be done by ourselves can be overwhelming. Collaborating on projects, sharing resources, and stepping up to help each other can make a huge difference. Beyond sharing the load, feeling support, and sharing ideas, working with others can lower our stress and increase our sense of connectedness. 

Focus on what really matters. We need to be realistic. The amount of time available is limited, while the number of potential tasks and activities lists are likely to be long. We might consider what we can let go of or postpone. Not every meeting must be held, not every deadline must be firm, and not every expectation must be met.  

Look for small wins. It might be tempting to focus on what might go wrong. We can balance this pressure by focusing on small wins to keep us positive and optimistic. We might reach out to a student with whom we have found it difficult to connect, or we may help a struggling student across the finish line. We might complete a project or perfect a skill with which we have wrestled for some time. The key is to recognize that despite what may feel like chaos, we are still making a difference.  

Be flexible and adapt. We know that not everything will go as planned. There will be surprises and disruptions, and communication will not always be timely and complete. Expecting perfection only adds to our stress. Choosing to “go with the flow,” stay loose, and expect the unexpected can reduce our frustration and help us to maintain our balance as we approach the end.  

Reflect, celebrate, and be present. We, our colleagues, and our students have come a long way. We have faced a myriad of challenges and experienced many accomplishments, and we have all learned and matured. Hopefully, we have also collaborated and grown as we engaged with our colleagues. Now is the time to reflect on what has happened and celebrate what has been accomplished. We also need to allow ourselves to be fully present, appreciate the moment, and experience the sense of completion that the end of the year offers. 

This is a special time of the year. There is much to celebrate, but we can become caught up in the tasks, projects, and challenges that distract us from the big picture and undermine our appreciation of what has been accomplished. Taking time for ourselves, setting reasonable expectations, remaining flexible, supporting each other, and celebrating all that has been achieved can help us to end the year with pride, joy, and satisfaction. 

At some point, everyone is likely to feel as though they are in a slump. Famously, professional athletes can find themselves slumping despite considerable talent, effort, and practice. Inventors, writers, actors, entrepreneurs, and artists—and just about anyone else who is committed to progressing, performing, and producing—are likely to find themselves in a slump at some point.

Educators are no different. We may feel as though we have fallen into a rut and are performing on autopilot. We may be feeling as though we have lost our energy and passion for our work. We may even wonder if it is time for a professional change.

The reasons for sinking into a slump can be varied. We may have neglected to keep growing and learning. The work we do and students we teach may have changed and might demand new strategies and approaches. We may be relying on tools and tactics that have served us well in the past but no longer seem to work like they once did. We may feel caught in an environment that is no longer fresh, nurturing, and challenging. The list could go on.

The question is how to break out of the slump and crawl out of the rut. Of course, the nature and cause (or causes) of our situation matter. The strategies we choose to shift our situation will depend on how we understand the challenges we face. Here are eight options to get started:

• Accept that you feel stuck and need to change. We need to resist blaming others—or ourselves—for our circumstances. The first step in breaking out of a slump is to accept where we are and take responsibility for moving forward. We can start by identifying an aspect of our “stuckness” that we control and making it our initial focus. Claiming our agency can be an empowering force for change.
• Take some time to reflect on what may be creating the slump. We can start by asking ourselves questions like: “Do I need a new challenge? Do I find myself circling back to old habits and approaches that no longer seem to work as well? Is it time to learn some new skills and build new competencies? Is my social network stagnant and in need of renewal or expansion?”
• Identify what you really want. Slumps are frequently times of vagueness, restlessness, and ambiguity. We can help ourselves break out of them by clarifying what we would like to happen. Revisiting our values and contemplating what really matters can create focus and build energy. Often, too, creating a visual representation of what matters to us and what we want from life can bring clarity and build commitment.
• Identify a few initial steps you can take. While the change that lies ahead may be large and require considerable effort and planning, taking a few small steps can build confidence and create momentum.
• Mark and celebrate even small progress. Rewarding ourselves for progress can build motivation, especially early on in our efforts. Setting goals, making progress, and recognizing our power can sustain our commitment.
• Resist comparing yourself, your talent, or your potential to others. There will always be people who seem to be able to do what we envision with confidence and ease. Comparing ourselves to others can rob us of confidence, undermine our commitment, and leave us stuck where we are.
• Avoid perfectionism. New learning, new behaviors, and pursuing new goals will bring mistakes, missteps, and setbacks. Perfectionism can create guilt, procrastination, and doubt—these are powerful enemies of progress. We need to focus on getting things done and moving forward rather than being perfect, especially early in the process of breaking our slump.
• Add novelty, spontaneity, and adventure. Change can be hard work, but it can also be exciting and fun if we allow ourselves to be present in it. We can choose to focus on the now and appreciate the unexpected irony and hilarity that life has to offer. Giving ourselves permission to enjoy the journey can also improve our mental health and happiness.

It is true that slumps and ruts are part of life. They may be inevitable, but they do not have to be permanent. When we claim our power, clarify our priorities, and commit to creating the life we deserve, nothing is beyond our reach.