Description: This week's challenge can be beneficial for the individual educator, their teams, their students, and their families. Does it get better than that?
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Transcription: Hi everyone. I'm your host, Tina Boogren, and this is Self-Care for Educators. Welcome to season three, episode two. For this week, I'm gonna give you a little bit of a heads up just depending on , who might be listening as you are listening to this podcast. I'm going to say a word. It is a three letter word, beginning with A, that I will say throughout this podcast. So, if you are in a situation where you don't want that word said aloud, here's your warning. Go ahead and circle back to this. When you are on your own and maybe little ears aren't listening. Hmm. So, hopefully that piqued your interest. This week, my invitation to you is I want you to consider what your BAMS are. B-A-M-S. BAMS, which stands for bare ass minimums.
Here's what I mean. Oh, you are about to move into if you're not already there, the, the survival phase of the school year, where everything gets crazy. And, you can't do all the things you want to do. You know, in my 180 Days book of Self-Care for Busy Educators, I talk about the start of the school year is the season of sacrifice, which simply means that there's just too much to do with too little time. All of the obligations getting into a school year started is no small feat. Whether you've been doing this for a long time, or its your first year, you're in a new role or in a new building ... It's a lot. And knowing that, I think that this is time, a good time for us to think about adjusting the dial and getting really clear on what are our bare ass minimums.
Let me give you some examples here. Maybe you can't work out every single day, but your bare ass minimum is you're gonna take one walk--a walk around the block or a five minute walk every day. Maybe you, oh gosh, you don't have time to do meal planning, but you are at least going to eat your lunch, sitting down at your desk without any distractions. Maybe you set a BAM around what time you're going to leave school, that you're gonna set a cutoff time and say, that's it. That's enough. Now it's time for me to go home. Maybe as a family, you sit down and figure out what are your BAMs? Like what, what are some things you can let go of? Like, around the house or obligations or cleaning schedule, whatever it is. And, figure out what's gonna be your minimum. What do you need to do to just help yourself get through, maybe you set a BAM around your bedtime that you decide that maybe the whole list isn't done, but you know what? My bare ass minimum is that I am in bed by 10 o'clock every single night. I'm gonna have to let some things go. Maybe it's thinking about your work schedule and thinking about ... You can't get too far ahead. You're not gonna be able to do all the things, but what are those essentials that need to get done.
And, I think kind of right now, hopefully many of you are listening to this on Sunday. I think this is such a good thing to think about as you move into the new week of like creating a list. What are those bare ass minimums that you are going to engage with this week? And, what are some things that you can let go of and actually writing them down and writing down the things you're gonna let go of for this week. It doesn't mean you're never going to do it, but you're gonna let some things go and be able to circle back to them when things settle down a tiny bit, which I know is hard to say, because during the school year, when do things settle down, but we know starting the new school year ...
Craziness. And, we start to get into a rhythm. Our body kind of gets used to getting up early again and what the new schedule is, and we're making less decisions just because we kind of have that routine down. And so, you can pick some of those things back up, but for now, know that you can't do it all. And, that is okay. You don't have to do it all. And, I think there's a real comfort in just saying, okay, I can't do all the things. But, here's my bare ass minimum. I'm gonna drink my water. Here's my bare ass minimum. I am going to leave work at work by four o'clock every single day. Here's my bare ass minimum. I am going to take a walk every single day. Here's my bare ass minimum. I am going to get up on the first alarm and not hit snooze, so that I don't feel so rushed in the morning.
Make that list. See, if it helps you kind of move into this new week feeling like a little bit, like just giving yourself a little bit of grace and knowing that, oh, you can't do all of it. And again, that, that is perfectly fine. Come up with what your bare ass minimums are. And, what I always think is super helpful is if you jump over to the Facebook group and share some of those, you know, I love when we're able to learn from each other. Gather ideas from each other. Maybe put what your bare ass minimums are and what you're willing to let go of, because that just might inspire someone else to say, you know what? I think I can let go of that for now too. And maybe by letting go of it, you mean asking for help. Maybe we brainstorm some ways that we kind of pull our families into this, this season of sacrifice and say, here's where I need help. Here's here's some things we're gonna let go. Here are some places that I need for you all to step up and help me so that we can survive and still love each other through this season of sacrifice. I can't wait to hear what your responses are and see if this works. Report back.
As always, a huge thank you to Brooke for making this happen. Thank you to Solution Tree and Marzano Resources for this job I get to do. And, of course the biggest thing--thanks to all of you, my bad-ass Self-Care Squad. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for the work you do. And, thank you for trying on this strategy. What's your BAM?
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