Dear MDECOE and greater community,
As we say good-bye to another challenging academic year, many of us are aware of how exhausted we are! So how do we maintain our commitment to the work that we do? In an online article in the Harvard Business Review, author Amantha Imber recommends that we take a sharp left turn in our thinking, and stop managing our time and rather focus on our purpose. Her recommendation is to “write down your purpose and keep it on your desk to act as a constant visual reminder of why you do what you do, especially when things are exhausting or stressful.” She goes on to give these other pieces of advice:
- Create a “wall of encouragement.”-In your own workspace, think about how you can create a wall of encouragement. It might be physical or it might be digital, like a folder on your desktop that contains encouraging emails, awards, positive feedback, or even memes that make you laugh. Social scientists have found that inducing a positive mood has many benefits, including improved well-being and general happiness.
- Remove recurring irritants.- There is a force called tunneling, coined by Eldar Shafir and Sendhil Mullainathan. When we have limited cognitive resources (or brain power) due to life stresses, we adopt tunnel vision and miss opportunities to identify and solve problems. Particularly when we are dealing with one or two big issues (like a global pandemic), our brain power diminishes and we have less mental capacity to deal with other things. When we are facing several big problems in our lives, we ironically don’t have the capacity to solve the little one. As a result, we tend to engage in short-term, reactive thinking. To escape the trap of tunnelling, give yourself some slack, in the form of time or resources.
- Reflect on your to-do list-To overcome the feeling of the never-ending to-do list, make a regular ongoing appointment with yourself to reflect on your to-do list. This process makes you more mindful about where to put energy and helps to focus on the work that matters most.
Imber concludes, “Time is a finite resource and it can’t be flexed. But energy is not. Use the strategies highlighted above to protect your well-being and give yourself the spark you need when you’re feeling down.”
To read more, go to https://hbr.org/2022/04/stop-trying-to-manage-your-time
For a list of other self-care options, please see our COE self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community at:
https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care
May you find time to take a break and reflect on the great work that each of you do!
Warmly,
Shari