Here is Santiago we are still dealing with the pandemic. Some neighborhoods have started opening up again, but many are still in quarantine. Those that have opened up have seen their numbers of cases rising, and we are dealing with the start of a second wave.
As much as we don’t want to think about it, there are some realities we need to face:
1. It’s inevitable that we are going to be back in quarantine again soon.
2. We will probably be teaching online until at least the end of this year.
3. Going back to teaching my students in their homes and offices while traveling around the city is going to be risky considering the number of people I would be in contact with as well as the number of people my students, their families, and their coworkers have been in contact with.
4. Teaching online might become the new norm as we wait to see how things develop with the pandemic.
Given that information, I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to how to manage my energy. I see two major components to this:
- Establishing what we need, what we want, and how we can get it
- Creating boundaries with students, family, and people that we live with to guard our energy
What do I mean by guiding principles?
I was intentional in choosing this name for a few reasons. First of all, rules sound like they are too strict and rigid. In the current situation I find that it’s hard for me to feel obligated to something 100%; if I don’t follow through, I feel bad and then start beating myself up in my head, and that’s never productive.
In contrast, guiding principles indicate what I plan to do most of the time. They can be strayed from if necessary, and they allow a degree of flexibility. Principles focus on my values and what I want to achieve rather than rules which focus more on compliance and adhesion.
Establishing what we need, what we want and how we can get it
I found what works for me with this is to go through a fill in the blank exercise. I first indicate what I need or want, and then I indicate how I can get the need or want met. Here’s the statement:
I want to _______________, so I can __________________.
Here are some of the ways I completed this:
- I want to sleep well at night, so I can stop drinking tea after 1 PM.
- I want to feel prepared for my classes, so I can connect on Focusmate every morning before my first class and devote that session specifically to class planning for that day and the following day.
- I want to maintain steady progress on my workshops and the podcast, so I can connect to Focusmate in the late morning and afternoon at least once a day.
- I want to read research and relevant books and articles related to language teaching, so I can connect to Focusmate once a day specifically to work on that goal.
- I want to focus on projects that matter to me, so I can refocus my energy periodically say no to projects that don’t get me excited.
- I want to have time to disconnect from work, so I can make social plans to play Catan with friends online, allow time to catch up on TV shows during the week, and take a relaxing bath.
- I want to enjoy good food from time to time without needing to cook, so I can order delivery once every week or two.
- I want to be sure I’m getting enough vitamin D, so I can sit out on my balcony in the late morning when it’s sunny and walk around outside my building between between classes.
Creating boundaries with students, family, and people that we live with to guard our energy
I used the same concept with guarding my energy. I do have to add the caveat that I live alone, so I have many fewer considerations in this area compared to people that live with family or roommates. Some of these ideas I adhere to more strongly than some of the previous ones. Here are some of them:
- I want to finish my work and disconnect at night, so after I finish my evening class each night I can close my computer and not do any more work until the following morning.
- I want to maintain contact with my dad, so I can call him two nights a week.
- I want to respond to emails in a timely manner, so I can give myself 48 hours to reply unless it’s an emergency.
- I want to prevent screen fatigue, so I can choose to limit myself to no more than 3 hours of class time within a 5-hour period.
Conclusion
I’ve found that this has been really useful with determining how I can best manage my energy during this difficult time. I’ve intentionally chosen to word the second half of the statement as “I can” as opposed to “I should” because I find the word “should” carries a lot of judgement and negativity. “Can”, however, indicates ability and choice. It feels much more empowering.
In addition to gaining clarity about what you want, this is a great exercise to use with your high school, university, and adult students. By having a discussion about guiding principles, it can help our students figure out what is going to be effective for them while going through the pandemic.
