Description: 2020: The Year of the Never-Ending Workday. In this episode, Dr. Boogren discusses the provocative question, when does the educator's workday end? Share strategies with the Self-Care Squad on the Facebook page!
1. If you'd like to incorporate music into the end of your workday routine, check out our Educator 911 playlist on Spotify.
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Transcription: Hi and welcome to episode 16 of Self-Care for Educators. I am your host, Tina Boogren, and in this episode we're going to explore the idea of establishing a healthy ritual to signify the end of the work day. You know, this year has been nothing but a dumpster fire in so many ways, and one of the things that my girlfriends and I have been talking about is how hard it is to find the break between work and not work. So many of us are working from home or have kids at home or have spouses home, and so it feels like the work just never stops, especially for those of us that are inclined to be kind of workaholics. Like, I could work all day. I love my job, which is great, but that means that I'm not always great at setting boundaries around when I'm working and when I'm not working. And, I know I'm so much healthier and feel better when I find a little bit more balance. And so, we've been having these discussions like, How do we end the work day? What does that look like? And, notice that I said in a healthy way ...
At book club the other night, we were having this conversation, and so many people said, Yeah I've got some habits built, but I'm not really loving them. You know, whether it's pouring a drink or two drinks or having some sort of snack or treat, because we deserve it ... That felt good for awhile, but for many of us, it's not feeling so great anymore. And, as we think about how do we want to ... you know ... end 2020 ... how we want to end 2020 or how we want to feel at the end of this year ... I think these small little opportunities for healthy rituals can be a really important way to shift how we feel, so we as a group, we're going to brainstorm, What are some things we could do? And, we came up with a few ideas that I'll share, and then I'm going to rely on you guys to share ideas, as well. The power of this group is in the brain, the brains of all of you that when we come together, I think we can come up with some great ideas.
So, here's what we came up with. What I tend to lean towards is taking a walk. I know that's not going to surprise you. I'm a broken record, but to me there's something about moving away from the desk getting out of the house ... either listening to our 911 playlist or a podcast or just silence for a little while signifies to my brain and my body that we are done working, and I can just kind of ... let some things go. Shut some things down. A lot of people have said rather than reaching for a drink, having a ritual around ... maybe it's tea. Maybe it's sparkling water in a wine glass. Something that doesn't make them feel like they're continually reaching for a drink if that's a habit that they don't want to kind of succumb to. But yet, it still feels like a relaxation piece. I think there's a lot to be said for rituals around tea or sparkling water all that good stuff. Someone else said, you know, doing something with your family again ... Playing a game ... Stepping away from a screen ... Going out in the yard and playinga... Taking a bike ride around the park. All those kind of physical movement things I think can be so big and just to get outside. And, that's the other part of this. So many of us are a little bit trepidatious about when the weather starts to get bad what can we do? Are there other ways that we can still move our bodies? Of course. But, you know my walks might be ... I'm going to try to bundle up as much as I can, but I may need to use my Peloton bike more or, I don't know ... find a different way to move my body maybe not outside this winter. It makes me nervous.
What are some other things that we could do? I would just would love to hear your ideas, and I know my girlfriends in my book club would be really, really, really grateful for any ideas that you can come up with.
The last idea that we were thinking is just a simple notion of taking a few deep breaths or maybe engaging in a full on meditation might be a nice way to just kind of close one chapter of the day before we move into the evening part of it. Those of you that are going back to work, like, physically in a building, in your school building, or in your office maybe making sure that that time ... that commute time you do something to help signify the end of the day whether that's listening to music as loud as you possibly can, or listening to a podcast, or again ... a lot of people say that they just need silence .. That on the way home, they can't have any sort of noise because you're filled with noise and kids and all that loudness, if you will, of the day that sometimes it's nice to just have silence on the way home and then do those deep breaths in your car. Rather, you're just taking those deep breaths. Or, set a pairing habit that when you have to stop at a red light, then you take as many deep breaths as you can during that red light. All those little tiny things I think can just be so helpful for this.
So, I can't wait to hear what you come up with. Let's share. Let's share over ... I think that the best place to share ... over in the Facebook group. I'm assuming most of you have found us over there. We are just at Facebook.com/SelfCareForEducators. God, its like my favorite place on the Internet. I'm so grateful for you all, and as always a huge thank you to Brooke for making this happen. Huge thank you to Solution Tree and Marzano Resources for the work that you put into the world and the work that I can do through you. And, as always, oh man ... a huge, huge, huge shoutout to you, my Self-Care Squad. Man oh man, I am so grateful for you. Thank you.
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I'm so thankful for you. Have an amazing week