Let it go
A version of this blog by Isabelle first appeared in Times Educational Supplement on 28th Feb 2020
I decided to do 20 new things in 2020. One of these is to start each day with a daily mile come hail, rain or shine. So far, I have managed the walk without much in the way of ‘shine’. Being out in the early morning is a good time for thinking and reflection. In the days between storm Ciara and storm Dennis I keep hearing a song from the multimillion-dollar grossing Disney animation Frozen - “Let it go”. The refrain from the song is not weather related but about current conversations in and around education.
On reflecting on conversations, I have with education professionals - from class teachers to senior leaders - I advise them to take care of themselves.
There is evidence that workload and the resultant stress it can cause is increasing. Many working in education cite clear examples of the job affecting their health. Statistics and surveys show an increase in absence due to stress and anxiety related conditions.
One of the manifestations of this I see regularly is overthinking. People either beating themselves up for a ‘mistake’ made last week, or fretting about how to succeed tomorrow.
While some factors are outwith our own control, we can take steps to improve our own health and wellbeing.
The first step in this might be to stop overthinking everything. I believe, overthinking is a growing problem. This is when you dwell on how bad you feel and concentrate on all things you have no control over. We all have lots and lots of things on our minds but we need to learn to prioritise and to let other things go. We need to stop trying to second guess everything or analyse everything to death!
If work is keeping you awake at night; if you are taking work related matters personally; if you always expect the worse to happen – then you are overthinking and harming your health and wellbeing.
So, what can you do to get off this merry-go-round? Find ways to “switch off”. What are the best ways of doing this? That’s down to personal circumstances and context. However, here’s my chosen ways of keeping mentally healthy in 2020.
Each day I try to get 1 hour of exercise; drink 2 litres of water; limit my coffee intake to 3 cups; sing my head off along to my 4 favourite songs (when alone to save my family’s mental health) ; eat my 5-a-day; be outdoors, regardless of the weather, for at least 6 minutes; find at least 7minutes to chat and laugh with others; get 8 hours sleep; read at least 9 pages of a book and finally list 10 things in my life for which I am truly blessed.
These are the ways I distract myself to happiness but there are many others including mediation, dancing, exercise, learning an instrument, knitting, drawing, painting – even golf!
What will you choose?