Resilience

Sad but true – we all have a Use By Date. Whilst we don’t like to think about it, it is inevitable. At some stage we are all going to die. In “The Comfort Crisis” author Michael Easter quotes researchers from the University of Kentucky who had people think about death and the result was…they got happier. The scientists concluded, “Death is a psychologically threatening fact but when people contemplate it, apparently the automatic system begins to search for happy thoughts.” Easter notes that it is similar to being on holiday. If you obsessively dwell on your holiday ending (yes we will be able to travel again in the future), it is depressing and isn’t helpful. However, acknowledging that the…

Most of us have good intentions about looking after our own well-being. We also have a pretty clear idea about what we SHOULD be doing. We SHOULD do the most important things FIRST! We SHOULD get some exercise, even when we are busy! We SHOULD stop and eat a healthy lunch! We SHOULD drink more water! We SHOULD be more positive and optimistic in the staffroom! At times we ‘SHOULD’ all over ourselves! However, having good intentions isn’t enough – it’s your actual behaviour that counts! To reduce our stress levels and improve our well-being, we need to have the discipline to stick to the things we KNOW we SHOULD do. Our own thought processes and self-talk have a significant…

Sleep is something we all do; in fact, we spend around a third of our lives in this strange, unconscious state. A lack of sleep impacts on our physical and mental health. Too little sleep can devastate your body, brain and microbiome (gut bacteria), dramatically increasing your risk of developing a range of chronic conditions. As adults we should be aiming for 7 to 9 hours per night. However, it isn’t just the quantity of the sleep that we get that is important, the quality of sleep has an impact too. In his book, Fast Asleep, Dr Michael Mosley provides advice on how to get a really good night’s sleep. Fortunately, there are surprising and highly effective ways to improve…

It’s not a very comfortable thought, but true nonetheless; staff who work in schools are at very high risk of burnout. All of us are. We don’t have to be new teachers or have a difficult schedule or even teach the worst-behaved students in the school. This makes sense if you consider how we spend our days: sandwiched between the needs of our students, the requirements of the curriculum, the expectations of our society and our own idealism—our desire to effect a positive change in the world. There is comfort in sensibly accepting the knowledge that we are at risk of burnout. Because career stress is not going to vanish overnight, it is up to you to protect yourself from…

It can be difficult to disconnect from our work in schools. We often think about the challenges we face and worry about particular students, even when we are on holidays. Technological “improvements” have made us more connected than ever and this can have a negative effect on our well-being. The ability to disconnect is more important than ever. If we are constantly “on” and thinking about our work, our stress levels will be high and we are unlikely to be present in our home life. This has a negative effect on our relationships and our happiness. Dr Adam Fraser in his excellent book, “The Third Space” highlights the importance of transitioning between school and home. Creating an opportunity to leave…