Stressors:
Balancing my role as instructor for two schools, being a small business owner, and trying to find time for my family who are understanding but growing weary of my constant need to work and be on the computer (I teach online).
It is the struggle of trying to give 100% to everything when I feel most stressed. In any given day I am required to alternate between instructor duties, and our business responsibilities. While engaged in one area of work, I find myself starting to worry about what is coming up in the other area of work when I switch back to those responsibilities.
The weekends create the most stress. My family has the reasonable expectation that I will be available for family time. When I am committed to grading and handling teaching responsibilities all weekend, that creates stress in the family. I try to minimize that by setting specific hours I will grade on Saturdays and Sundays. That way we can plan family time around those blocks of time.
I am looking for some tips in this training to help me to more effectively balance and stop feeling guilt over neglecting my family and time for helping others.
people allow lots of small things to build up, and then it becomes to much for them. you cant allow this to happen
Yes, protocols are stressful to follow, especially when they are complex and we must remember a lot of rules.
I become stressed with the logistical and organizational aspects of my career. Standard policies can create a level of unrest on my part. As someone who owns and operates my own businesses, being required to follow a set protocol can be difficult.
Yes, being clear in the syllabus helps. Another approach is to allow the students to be responsible for organizing the completion of their missed work. Let them follow up with you and not the other way around. This approach will save you time and also teach your students important lessons in responsibility.
I can get stressed when I feel disorganized as well as when students do not attend class. When Students don't attend class, I have to call them to follow up, arragne for them to makeup missed work and communicate what they missed. This is a big stressor for me. I think that clearly establishing makeup policies in the syllabus helps, but it doesn't eliminate the stress completely.
recently, I took an hour of my time to get organized with my physical class files as well as my computer files. This really helped me cope with stress.
Yes, sometimes the actions of others are very stressful. This is particularly true because they feel out of our control. The best approach is typically to be vocal about our hopes and expectations of others but to also understand that they will ultimately choose to do what they want.
My main stressor at this time is due to the workplace standards and another employees actions have creating an unresolvable conflict in personal and professional life.
Ha! I'm sure dirt bikes help quite a bit. A supportive wife and family are also wonderful.
my boss is my major stressor i feel i do my job well and i am micro managed
Teenagers
Students not interested in focusing on work
Being new to my position brought stress, having to create a lot of new material and organize a new program was stressful, all the training requirements were stressful. I am thankful my children are now out of the house or the stress would have been much greater. I have decided not to give 120% each day, saving energy for myself has reduced stress.
I hear you I my self have recently done the same thing. Also add in the differences in culture, climate, missing of friends and family and having to learn all of these to be successful is still very stressful. Thank God for an awesome wife and family who supports me, and Kawasaki who makes awesome dirt bikes to ride.
My stress is short-term. New job, new home, moving across the country and a new teaching style is almost too many changes at one time.
Dr. Read,
Jennifer Shearon
Stress Management
October 2, 2010
I believe that stress management is one of my strengths. Without being able to manage stress I would be completely insane by now. Between personal, work, and financial issues my life is full of stressors.
If I could learn how to pick my battles appropriately with my children and my mother, that would reduce about fifty percent of my stress. I also need to not let my financial woes become my obsessions. If I can alleviate that particular stressor, then work wouldn’t be so difficult. I am unable to enjoy work to the fullest because of the expectations I sometimes place on myself. If I could learn to make the money, and not let the money make me, I would be much less stressed out.
All in all, it comes down to reducing two of my stressors in life, personal and financial. Picking and choosing battles and being able to no worry about financial abilities would reduce my stress by about 75%. That would in turn reduce the stress that comes from my job and would help me to enjoy my employment more, like I used to. There would, of course, still be stress in my life as with anyone else; however, it would be much easier and take less energy (both physical and mental) to manage.
Best,
Kristin Horton
This causes me stress to. I now have a makeup day a week and if they can't meet that day they can't take the test. It simplifies things for me and I don't feel so crazy.
Okay this might sound strange Dagger, but a guy named Wally Minto said to me once that when you are paying bills to mentally thank the person you are paying bills to, thank them for giving you the item or energy you needed to prosper.
Also, can you steal moments to be aware of your breathing! Since you talk about church I will say it here. Thank God for giving us bodies that needed to go to the bathroom otherwise we might not ever rest!!!! Bathroom meditation is a wonderful thing!
I loved hearing about the spa experience too. There is a book "The Artist Way" that says to take yourself out on a Artist's date which is a singular experience and involves something that renews you. It could be a bubble bath or an hour with your favorite book or a walk in the park or shopping or going to the movies...it is whatever relaxes you and renews your energy and creativity.
I am always looking for ways to reduce stress. Some things that help me day to day are, before I get out of bed in the morning, I take time to review my day, how I want it to go. When I do this I have a much better day.
Another thing a friend once told me to do: if something is looming over you and you are not sure what the outcome will be, instead of stressing about the unknown, think of the worst possible thing that could happen and then let that go and then think of the best possible thing that could happen and let that go and then breathe deeply 5 times and relax. It has worked for me. I stop obsessing over an event I have to deal with and I am more "present" when the event happens.
I have to continue to learn to put myself first. That is a big challenge for me when I am working with people to "find thier voice".
Yes, this is a good point Jeffrey. Stress can originate from so many different sources for facilitators. The key is to deal with things head on and stay on top of it all.
Causes of stress are every where and we as facilitators need to be able to handle them whether taking a break and stepping away from the job or relaiving stress on our personal time either way we need to deal with it and not let it pile on.
