What does balance actually look like? We hear about it, we seem lovely captioned images on Instagram of people sitting under palm trees and reflectively gazing out to sea, but what does it actually look like? How can teacher approach this concept as we begin a new school term?
Here are a few thoughts:
Balance is not about control or perfection. In fact, it’s the opposite! To live a more balanced life, you need to learn to be ok with things not always going the way you want or expect it to.
Balance means focusing on what you’re good at and what it most important.
It means that you may spend hours focusing on a class project that will engage and excite your class, and spending half the time working on something that is less of a priority. It means that you spend a day having a fun and rewarding day with your family on the weekend and instead of perfecting the formatting of your letter to parents for Monday.
Balance is about saying “no” when it’s appropriate. Here’s a little reminder: you are a human. Humans need rest, social time, laughter and fun in order to function at their best. If you struggle with saying “no”, you will quickly find that the first areas that begin to suffer are the very ones that you need to keep you going. Working hard is a wonderful characteristic and we should all strive to do better, but adding more and more responsibilities to your plate will take its toll. You want to put an effort into some of the after hours activities, but you know it’s time to say “no” to some things when you seem to be the only one that is involved in every after hours activity, planning etc.
Balance means getting stuff done in the time you’ve given yourself.
Procrastination can be a devastating enemy. If you have exam papers to mark on the weekend, give yourself two hours to get it done and then just do it. Better yet, stay back at school and get it done so you don’t have to take any work home with you.
Balance means having a life outside of work.
Friendships, relationships, family time, exercise, social gatherings and learning new things are all a part of having a balanced and healthy lifestyle. All of these require ongoing effort from you. Be sure to block out some time to engage in activities that include at least two of these each week.
I hope this helps.