We are currently living in a pretty strange old world. The smell of hand sanitiser fills the air as a mob of masks march through the high street. It can be tough with everything going on to stop and consider your own mental health during this time.
Here are 9 tips that help to look after your own mental health:
1) Plan in time for the things that help you:
Think about what helps lift your mood and gets you through stress, and plan extra time in for you to do that. Whether it’s exercise, safe face to face or virtual time with friends, watching your favourite sport or TV show, or spending time with your family. Try not to let these things go or sacrifice them.
2) Keep up with the basics:
Try and keep the basics going as much as you can – eating as well as you can, getting enough sleep (easier said than done, I know!) and watching your caffeine and alcohol intake. Give yourself small rewards.
3) Share how you’re feeling with people you trust:
If you can, identify a group of people you can be honest and open with about your feelings. Partners, friends, or close colleagues will want to help, and mixing the group up means you can ask different people for different things.
4) Share how you’re feeling with your manager:
If you can, have a conversation with your manager or senior team about your worries, it might help them to understand and be part of your support team. If you can encourage the staff team to adopt the same messages or nurturing and reconnection you’ll be doing with students, it can really help.
5) Keep things in perspective:
Remember, this is a period of adjustment for everyone. You aren’t a superhero, you are one single professional in unprecedented period of change. The rules will change, and the school community will learn and adapt, but you can only control you, and the circumstances in your classroom today.
6) Find small moments to yourself:
Try to keep in touch with how you feel and what if anything is a particular issue for you. Try and find a distraction technique to get you through difficult times. It might be headphones on the way in, a podcast in the car, or just five minutes of peace at lunch or break to do a meditation track or have a moment of fresh air.
7) Approach others with kindness and an open mind:
If you can, try not to judge other’s reactions too harshly – people have their own reasons, motivations and fears to contend with.
8) Note things you’re grateful for:
Keep a note of things you’re grateful for and things you’ve learned each day. You do this job for a reason – and the reasons why teaching and working with kids are so appealing may be even more important now, even though the challenges are tough.
9) Take a break from social media:
One thing we are all painfully aware of is how easy it is to find someone with something negative to say online. In the last 8 months there has been plenty of ‘teacher bashing’ and it can easily take its toll. Sometimes it’s best to just take a step back from social media for a few days/a week/a month.
Please leave a comment if there are any tips you would suggest when looking after your own mental health.