I don’t know about you, but my plans for January are already off the rails….
I did have a restful and enjoyable break. But I really struggled to come up with an idea for this month’s long post, or the time and energy to write it. Then an idea that turned out to be more of a Spotlight idea so will need more time.
In the spirit of the advice I give *you*, I have moved my own goal posts.
Luckily I only spun my wheels for a relatively short period of time before I realized that I can apply those 2 guiding questions I keep suggesting to you:
- What’s essential?
- How can I make this easier?
I realized that I was the one who decided to write a longish thing monthly and send it out in the middle of the month. I can decide to do something different. No one dies if I skip a month. Or if I just send an email.
I’m also getting better at having no expectations about other kinds of work on those days when I have 4 coaching clients and a meeting with my assistant. Although it looks like I have time for other things, I don’t have the cognitive capacity for this kind of writing.
I’ve had a conversation with a Guide for the Journey client about reducing expectations on the days they have lots of teaching, and even going home right after the last class. The cognitive and emotional labour of listening and responding, or of monitoring how students are responding and subtly adapting your lesson plan, is considerable.
As a result of this, we’ve got a plan started for a Spotlight on planning when uncertainty is high. This came up in the planning class in December. The post, Planning for Known Unknowns, was written just before the Covid pandemic really hit for most of us and might be useful for the things people are facing now. It is also worth reading as a reminder of where we were in that moment. Covid isn’t the only thing that’s made things more stressful.
You can do this!
Related Posts:
So tired you could cry? Enable Low Power Mode.
This post was originally written instead of the usual mid-month article in January 2023. Added to the Spotlight On: Burnout in August 2024.
