The Time is NOW to Invest in Self-Care

Brad HughesBlog, Manage Better, Self Care Better

TL;DR:

  • Education is a personal profession that requires empathy and energy, so it is crucial that we take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others.
  • It is essential to pay attention to, advocate for, and be strategic in addressing our needs upstream. Staying connected is crucial to our health and well-being.
  • We need to be intentional to practice moving from fear to hope.
  • The time is NOW to invest in your own self-care, rest, recovery, and relationships.

The time is NOW to invest in self-care.

Recently I participated in the Teach Better Team’s weekly #MasteryChat, Thursdays at 8PM ET on Twitter. It’s an amazing chat filled with heart-led educators seeking to help one another do better and BE better.

In this recent chat, moderator Adam Cottos brought us a series of questions that helped us explore why self-care as educators and caregivers is so necessary. We reflected on the self-care steps we were taking, or about to take, as we approached winter break, and what we were most looking forward to when we returned to school in 2021.

The Most Personal of Professions?

Education is among the most personal of professions. In so many respects, we ARE what we DO. And when we struggle to DO well, we may struggle to BE well.

The empathy necessary as educators and caregivers is tremendously energy-intensive. Caring for oneself is critical to restoring the capacity to care for others.

First, we must give ourselves express permission to prioritize the people, places, and activities that bring us joy. Then, take time to name and praise when others invest in themselves.

Connection with others is crucial to our own health and well-being. Relationships both protect us from stress and fear, and help restore us to hopefulness when our reserves are low. Click To Tweet

The Solution is Upstream

There’s no pouring from an empty cup. And burnout is a costly wake-up call. It is essential to pay attention to, advocate for, and be strategic in addressing our needs upstream. Staying connected is crucial to our health and well-being.

Some of us may be far downstream and really struggling right now—feeling overwhelmed. Isolated. Disconnected.

And connecting during a global pandemic? Challenging, to say the least. In fact, the pandemic has fundamentally disrupted the way we connect. In so many respects, our personal, face-to-face connections carry with them anticipatory stress, worry or fear, and are mitigated by physical distancing restrictions, masks, and other personal protective equipment.

Connection with others is crucial to our own health and well-being. Relationships both protect us from stress and fear, and help restore us to hopefulness when our reserves are low.

The time is NOW to invest in self-care.

Small Shifts Away from Fear

I believe that how we shift from fear to hope is the problem of practice in the COVID-19 era. And anytime we help ourselves or others take even a small step away from worry and isolation, we’re doing this greatly needed work.

If you’re struggling, you may not know exactly what you need or even how others can help. Not knowing is OK. Look to others that can just be present for you. Having companions through the difficulty is a worthy start.

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Welcoming the New Year with Hope

I’m so hopeful that we can continue to restore schools as havens of physical and emotional safety in 2021.

I think back to those tumultuous first days and weeks after school closure in our district, and our tentative and fearful steps as we approached the first days back face to face in September.

After weeks of worry about reopening our school face to face, the sight of our first little ones and their families returning on the schoolyard with their masks on and their hopeful eyes is a memory I’ll never forget.

There’s still so much to accomplish, but think of how far we’ve come!

My goal is to return to school ready to give what I can, where I can, to whom I can, wholeheartedly and energetically. I’ll do this by investing NOW in my own self-care. I’ll invest in rest, recovery, and relationships. I’ll invest in the people and pastimes that bring me joy, and look for that joy to be reflected back to me. So many others lift me up and make this something to truly look forward to!

Stay positive, stay real, and stay strong. And get out there and do AMAZING things as you LEAD with LOVE!

The time is NOW to invest in self-care.

About Brad Hughes

Brad is an elementary school principal with 25 years’ experience in education. He is currently at Forest Hill Public School in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, designated a HERO Generation school in the Waterloo Region District School Board. Prior to becoming a school leader, Brad taught for 16 years in classrooms from Kindergarten to eighth grade, most recently teaching middle school Visual Arts, French and Special Education.

Brad is a certified Self-Reg School Champion and has an ongoing commitment to reframing the joys and challenges of school life through a Self-Reg lens. Brad and his wife Jennifer are proud parents of a son and daughter both in university. He describes himself as an optimist and recovering perfectionist who is passionate about #LeadingWithLove and improving the lives of kids by supporting the adults that serve them.