something is (almost always) better than nothing
I used to think mindfulness practices were piffle. What is all that imaginary lemon stuff about? So its been quite a journey for me to focus on my own wellbeing and get the ‘just get on with it, be strong, don’t show weakness’ voice in my head to pipe down. My friends would probably consider me to be on the hippy end of the specturm now – reinforced by the rompersuit style dungarees i now own.
Over the last 10 weeks, I’ve been in the fortunate position to support Teachers from across Scotland to focus on their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of their colleagues.
It’s most definitely been a rough couple of years for our teachers. The pandemic upended just about everything we took for granted about teaching, and they had to add carer, nurse, counsellor and cleaner into the role description, and like the rest of us, they had to learn new technologies whilst being live on screen.
At the start of the 10 weeks, its safe to say practitioners were exhausted, frustrated, lonely, and overwhelmed.
At the end of the 10 weeks they’re feeling empowered, equipped, connected and hopeful.
What we’re done over that 10 weeks is create space to think about how to use and apply a few practical wellbeing tools – all based around the NHS Wellbeing planner which talks about social, psychological and physcial wellbeing. Or as I summarise it : Talk, Breathe, Walk, Sleep (Repeat)
But one of the biggest takeaway lessons from the sessions wasn’t about the tools or techniques – it was actually about all the barriers we put in our own way to stop us doing things, even when we know they’re good for us and others. Many practitioners suffered from the Akrasia Effect (James Clear delves into this in Atomic Habits) or procrastination – both in their own approach, and how they can support others.
At the end of our sessions, we came up with some simple top tips to help us get moving and keep moving on our wellbeing journeys
- It starts with knowing the warning signs – pay deliberate attention to your body and mind
- Doing something is almost always better than doing nothing
- Starting small is better than not starting at all
- Starting with your early adopters and supporters, is better than not starting at all because you fear the reactions of other.
- The best place to begin, is with ourselves. So we’ll stop feeling guilty about taking time to restore our wellbeing levels
Number 2 and 3 are my favourite. We sometimes get so caught up in what other people will think and react that we don’t do anything. It’s one of our common cognitive biases – the ‘spotlight effect’ in which we over estimate how much attention people are paying to our behaviour or appearance.
And although sometimes you have to take a big leap of faith, most of the time its enough to take a look at the terrain around you, and take the next best small step and see where it leads you.
What’s your next best small step?
