How do we help our people or ourselves deal with the stress in our day?
I have witnessed countless moments where it has been shared how school staff are exhausted. Social media posts speak to overwhelmed educators. There are feelings that there is so little time available to do what we need to do. It has not been that long since I have left the classroom, so I understand the workload. Presently, I know we are all overwhelmed with the issues of our times. We have Covid and students quarantining, we must address students with trauma, some districts are dealing with critical race theory and many other countless issues that bring about stress. We also see the confrontation between school boards and parents which drags us all through the gutter. All the extra stuff is added to our usual day to day things such as, assessments, attendance, behaviors, and lesson planning. As the leader of an outstanding staff who work incredibly hard, I feel powerless to relieve their stress. Unfortunately, I mostly hear when things are not working or what concerns we need to express. There should be no surprise that people are leaving the field of education. How many times do we hear our politicians say we need to change the education system but continue to put more in our laps with strict guidelines? Many of our educators are feeling the strain as one issue after another issue keeps stacking up and brings us stress. What can we do to breathe life back into our field and the people we work with?
There are small things we can do for our people that provides some relief to their stressors. Common practice used is treating everyone to a meal or snack. Food is very comforting. The downfall of these practices are they only offer temporary relief to the stress loads. We can allow people extra breaks by filling in or allowing them to leave early. The use of tangible items to help our people overcome their stress is a common practice in schools. Jeans-day is another action we employ in schools that make our people feel relaxed and for whatever reason happy. These small acts chip away the little stressors and help for a time but will not reduce the major stress. These acts are important regardless of their short-term benefit. They build up our people and make them feel appreciated.
Conversation is another common practice that relieves stress in many situations. When we struggle emotionally it is very helpful to talk it out. The same could be said for our stress; talk about the frustration relieves some of that stress. This allows our people to vent at situations that bother them, or maybe even you, the leader. Be present enough to allow your people to share their frustration with you or the organization. It is hard to believe, but this can be healthy. As the leader, we often only hear about things that are not going well. The frustration surrounding these moments are what our people must share. Once this moment occurs, we can calmly address the frustration or stress and discuss an alternative that may help us see other perspectives on the stressing situation.
We are all allotted 24 hours, that is it. When we address the conversations that revolve around the lack of time, we can only seek to gain understanding of where the time constraints are. Are we doing the right things at the right times? Are we taking on other people’s stuff or expectations? We wish to be more efficient in our work. To be more efficient, we must address what we are doing and whether we are capitalizing on our best practices. When I was still in the classroom very early in my career, I would struggle with the never-ending grading each night. Instead of forcing my student to complete five pages in their math workbook, I instead strategically picked specific pages. We enjoyed working on long term project based on our reading standards. I looked very specifically at what had to get done verses what was offered through our curriculum materials. We trimmed the fat, so to speak and were able to hit all the standards. I am no expert, but I know we can all be more specific or strategic in our thinking and practices. This is something we may do already as we improve our craft.
What are the stressors in your organization?
How are you allowing your people to address their frustration?
Are you open to feedback, even if it does not align to your plans?
What are the items you are willing to let go of to be more efficient?
I have news for everyone. We are all stressed out at some point in our day, week, month, or year. Even the leaders of the organizations you work for. We are not always going to respond to the stressors we experience in the best ways. We need to reflect on the situations and see where there are opportunities we can do better. Thank you so much for taking the time to check out this post and I hope you find something of value in this post, even if it is one tidbit you are willing to run with. Have a great week overcoming your stress and I hope you find your joyful moments this week.
Steven C. Bucks- Leading Conversations
