My 5 year old son wakes me up at 6.30 am as usual today (Saturday) and enquired, ‘is it the summer holidays?’
Sadly not, just a weekend! The first week back has taken its toll. Alarm clocks, attempts at healthy lunches (and having to plan ahead for these), swimming lessons, Cubs, attempting to fit in some exercise- yes it’s term time and it’s going to be a long one (always the longest in fact). My children won’t appreciate how much effort I am putting into ensuring their lives and my work life run smoothly, until they have children and before that point, I’ll just keep attempting to remind them!
So, what can you and I do in the first term back to make a small chink of light in the long term stretching ahead of us? Let’s face it, as a profession we are not on the breadline but nor do we have enough money for regular spa breaks. We have very little time and what time we do have we invariably think about work – this is exacerbated when you add your own children and general life dramas into the mix. We sometimes need help. It’s a profession that states you should ask for it yet we are still concerned that if we do, it’s seen as a negative and you are labelled for life – hopefully your school is not like this.
At the bare bones of it, you love the kids, love the job, love inspiring young minds – it’s just all the other £&@* (fill in your own word here).
I love the concept of marginal gains, small increments of improvement which when added up make a positive change. We all have the ability to add some of these gains, however tiny, into our lives. For more on how this concept was used in sport, click the article below:
Here are some marginal gains to see you through the first term. They won’t fix your problems, but if they make you feel better, even if only slightly, then keep doing them and create some more of your own!
- Can you leave work 20 minutes earlier a couple of days a week to allow yourself a quick walk to clear your head and reflect on the day? Going home with a clear head, helps prevent work baggage from leaking in.
- Can you plan small weekly things to look forward to? Even if it’s just a zoom with a mate in the evening. Small things to look forward to is like a little step ladder to get you through the weeks as opposed to one long uphill slog.
- Can you try to continue any healthy habits you maintained in the holidays? Or start some if you didn’t manage it?! I’ve upped my Fitbit minutes from 22 to 30 a day to help continue exercising regularly. It’s a marginal gain! It’s working so far…. Ask me again in week 4!
- Can you and your colleagues continue the war on paperwork by checking the purpose of any extras you are required to do?
- Can you and your colleagues create opportunities for wellbeing during the school day? Perhaps you could arrange for a staff circuit training session, drinks after school on a Friday or just getting a mobile car wash company or something to wash cars once a half term – it all adds up to one less thing to do.
- Can you try for 15 minutes more sleep a night? Just 15 minutes! This will add up to an extra 1 hour 45 minutes a week! #MarginalGain
- Can you encourage an ethos where staff regularly ask other staff how they are (and actually want to hear the answer!)? So many of us suffer in silence.
- Can you carve out 10 minutes of your break/lunch to leave site and go for a walk or find a quiet spot (we have an art cupboard I can hide in!)? Practicing mindfulness during the school day is great for stress levels.
“The whole principle [of marginal gains] came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.
Dave Brailsford 2012