How do I really manage stress?
I enjoy teaching students and I rarely feel affected by the "stresses" of class preparation & teaching. However, the core of my stress comes from the administration. I am a problem solver by nature, and I am getting stressed because the culture of the current administration is severely undermining the academic integrity of the institution, and there seems to be little I can do about it. Are there any realistic ways to deal with this? Honestly, I feel like the course information was a bit vague and unrealistic to implement into a real-world working environment.
Getting away may help with the stress, but I feel that it is just escaping from the things we don't want to confront. Stress should be dealt with in a healthy manner, but running away is never the answer.
I agree Steven. Teaching is a wonderful and fulfilling profession. When we're stressed however, we often lose sight of that. Staying focused on what we value can really help.
I have found that when instructors stress out they sometimes forget why they are in their job in the first place. We do this to help,share and give a bit of ourselves (knowlege) to the students and when you remember the core reason you teach that helps put all the stress in perspective.
Interesting perspective Clifton and so true. Part of gaining control of our stress is just understanding it and its' sources. When we unveil our stress landscape, we can start to cope, reduce and eliminate stress.
I have found that I sometimes feel stress from not recognizing that stress is closing in on me. That is to recognize that there is stress as a part of the things I am attempting to accomplish. I tend to step back, take a walk to "clear the factors" if possible and determine the stressors.
Managing stress is more than just meditating or relaxing. It is a full-time job! I am sure that we all know that negative stress can have a terrible affect on our health and overall performance.
I manage my stress (family, students, work) by replacing the negative with a positive. For example, if there is a Faculty Training that I must attend. I do not look at it as another thing that I must do, I look at it as a way to advance my knowledge and possibly my career. I also, see it as a way to become more involved with my fellow co-workers.
I totally agree with you.
As a Culinarian for more than 30 years working in different countries,learning different languages and dealing with different cultures, the stress levels now associated in this academic enviroment is way higher.
How do I deal with it?
I seperate the things that I control (preperation, Honesty, integrity and outcomes) and dismiss the things that I cannot control(class sizes, schedules, policy, constant curriculm changes and many more)
This not only relives any stress that may come my way, but it puts it back(stress) to those who caused it.
At the end of any given day, I can look in the mirror and know that I gave my students the very best that I had, to meet and surpass their expectations.
I need to enjoy the rest of my day with my loved ones and not take uncontrollable things impact me outside my work enviroment....
Been there and done that!!!!
I think a lot of what people feel as stress is really how they are looking at the situation. Things are going to come up that could be stressful if you let them,however there is a positive side to everything if you look for it. All you need to do is take a minute to reflect on the situation and find the positive .
For me to manage stress I need to remove myself from the situation and really take time to reflect. The biggest stress remove is to spend time up in the mountains of Colorado. Getting away from everything and just enjoying each day without any distractions is best.
Stress can be relieved by realizing that any given situation is not as bad as it seems. Breath in and breath out and stay calm.
