Five ways to Beat The Back-to-School Blues

Helpful hints on how to cure the Back to School Blues.
Helpful hints on how to cure the Back to School Blues.

If you’re anything like me you may feel a little anxiety when the beginning of August rolls around. Suddenly the relaxing days of summer are quickly replaced with the all to familiar back to school frenzy. The fun days of frolicking in shorts and t-shirts are replaced with official work clothes and a mile high list of things that need to get done: lesson planning, classroom decorating, seating chart making, syllabus creating, and photo copying.

Getting back into the swing of things can be easy if you follow these five quick and easy steps to help you Beat the Back to school Blues.

Step One: What’s your why?

Why do you teach?

Why do you love what you teach?

Why are you the perfect person to teach the students who will soon sit in front of you?

What special skills and abilities do you bring to the classroom?

Why are you the best person for the job?

Once you’re able to tap into all those warm and fuzzy feelings about what you do and why you do it you’re better able to do what needs to be done to ensure that you’re the best teacher you can be.

Step Two: Organization is your best friend

Hi, I’m Sheryl and I’m organizationally challenged. Knowing this means I do one thing when it’s crunch time – I make a list. I used to be able to remember it all until stuff started leaking out like an old rusty water can. Luckily I read a book by Master Life Coach Jill Farmer entitled “There’s not enough time and other lies we tell ourselves.” In it she suggests we do the following:

o   Make a realistic to-do list and write it down. Doing this gives you a clear direction on what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by.

o   Keep your to-do list to only five items. I thought this was the craziest darn thing I’d ever read. It wasn’t and turned out to be a life-changer. Focusing on only a few thing at a time means you’re more likely to get them all done. I tested this theory last school year and it made a huge difference in my stress level and productivity.

Step Three: Call in the troops

Who said you have to do it all alone? Invite your friends, kids, nieces, or nephews to help you decorate your classroom or cut out letters or any other mundane task that could be done in half the time if you garnered some assistance. My kids loved helping me pick out posters and hanging them up. All it cost was a trip to a local fast food restaurant. Plus, we got to make happy memories that we still reminiscence about.

Step Four: Create a calming morning routine

If your mornings are anything like mine you hit the snooze button a few times before realizing you only have 37 minutes to be out the door. Thus ensues the morning frenzy that culminates with you leaving your lunch and a stack of graded essays on the kitchen counter right next to the stack of overdue library books.

Figure out how much time you need to prep for work. Then add an additional 30 minutes or more in case you accidentally hit the snooze button a few times.

Honestly calculating how much time you need will keep you sane in a sometimes-insane world. It also helps if you set a realistic bedtime and then stick to it. Research shows that a healthy body and an alert mind needs at least eight hours of sleep. You know you’re not getting enough sleep when you crave foods filled with carbs and sugar instead of other healthier alternatives.

Step Five: Treat. Yo. Self.

I love the episode on Parks and Rec where Aziz and Sari hold their annual Treat Yo Self Day where they indulge in extravagant massages, new clothes and anything else their hearts desire.

I strongly suggest you do the same. The only requirement is that you buy something that makes you extremely happy after you do something you really don’t want to do.

The best part is that you can do this for the rest of your life. I normally treat myself after grading a huge stack of papers. Or I may forgo the immediate treat and group a few of them together for an even bigger treat like a massage at my favorite spa – depending on how big the task was and what makes me the happiest.

Your treat doesn’t have to cost a dime as long as you choose something that really makes you want to do the thing you don’t want to do and gets you excited for the treat. You also need to pinky swear that you’ll actually go through with the treat once you’ve finished your difficult task.

If you can’t trust yourself to deliver on promises who can you trust?

Be gone with the old Puritan work ethic that says you have to work yourself into total exhaustion. That kind of thinking gets you a one-way ticket to burnout junction. I’ve been there and I never want to go back! All you have to do is Treat. Yo. Self.

Following these five steps can help you tap into your why, get organized, ask for help, create a calming morning routine and incorporate various ways in which to treat yourself. Going back to work after a relaxing summer break can be challenging – to say the least, but it doesn’t have to be.

You get to decide.

Sheryl-signature_NEW-150x150

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