S13: E256
How are you feeling?
Exhausted?
Overwhelmed?
Overstimulated?
Exhausterwhelmulated (adjective): The feeling of being exhausted, overwhelmed, and overstimulated all at once. Also see Teacher, May.
I saw this on an Instagram post and friends reshared it on their feeds. It kept popping up and being reshared, which means that this feeling of being exhausted, overwhelmed and overstimulated is something that many of us are feeling at the end of the school year. Just knowing you’re not alone can help ease the burden of carrying these feelings. And also make you think about what to do with knowing that so many of us are feeling this way too. What do we do about it when we have to keep going? This is a super short episode today because when you’re in the trenches, the last thing we need is long winded advice. So here are three things to remember at the end of the year to keep you going and hopefully help with some of what you’re feeling. I’ll focus on each of the feelings of exhaustion, overwhelm and overstimulation.
THREE IDEAS FOR EXHAUSTION, OVERWHELM and OVERSTIMULATION
EXHAUSTION
When you’re feeling exhausted, remind yourself that this is a season and focus on one day at a time.
May feels forever. There’s so much going on and so many things to wrap up at the end of the year. If you can keep in mind that it’s a season, that alone may help ease your feeling that it’s always going to be like this and that you can’t keep moving forward like this. I know many teachers countdown the days at the end. I’m guilty of this at times as well. Only ten more… only five more… But sometimes I wear myself out thinking about how much longer I have until rest comes because I’m not even sure I have enough energy to make it through the day in front of me. As the bible says in Matthew 6:34 “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Remind yourself that this exhaustion feeling does have an end. And then focus on the day you are in right now. As best you can.
OVERWHELM
Find one thing to act on and one thing to let go.
There’s a lot to wrap up at the end of the year. Prepping rooms for summer, turning in grades and report card comments, end of year meetings. And also continuing to teach students. When you feel overwhelmed, find one thing that you can act on and cross off your list. And find one thing that you can let go. We often feel like we have to do it all and we have to do it all right now. Pace yourself and remind yourself that you just have to make one choice at a time and tackle one thing on your to-do list at a time. You might put this practice of acting on one thing and letting go of one thing into play by doing something like this:
Act on entering fourth grade report card grades and comments. Let go of cleaning those recorders for today.
Act on taking everything off your bulletin boards. Let go of figuring out how you want to arrange your room for next year.
Act on cleaning out your desk drawers. Let go of getting that closet perfectly organized.
Act on sorting costumes from the musical into bins. Let go of making sure that all costumes are organized by type.
OVERSTIMULATION
Make a plan to be alone, to sleep more or to rest your mind.
There’s a lot going on around us at the end of the year. It’s easy to feel overstimulated. These are all personal ideas. I’m not a doctor and don’t claim to know what’s best for you so be sure to consult your doctor as to what is best for you. A few things I’ve found helpful when I’m overstimulated:
Finding time to be by yourself. I always like to clean my classroom, reorganize and wrap up the year with some quiet music (or no music at all) and do it by myself. It’s nice to be alone after being around so many people at the end of the year.
Rest is always an answer to almost everything we are facing. I find a good night of sleep helps me in every area when I’m awake. Go to bed earlier than usual. Rest can also mean laying down on the couch with a good book or snuggled with your kid and dog hanging out together watching a show or talking.
Move your body. Go for a walk outside. Take a yoga class. If you’ve listened for any of length of time to this podcast, you likely know I’m a huge fan of Peloton. I use their app all the time and they’ve got some great mental health classes that were recently released. Ride bikes with your kids. Walk the dog. Getting outside can be really rejuvenating if it’s something you can do and want to do.
Cook a favorite meal. Bake a favorite dessert. Spend time in the kitchen mixing, stirring, and cooking something you love and enjoy eating.
Spend time meditating and praying. Deep breathing can slow your heart rate and help your mind relax. Focus on scripture and thanking God for His presence in your life. For loving you and providing for you and helping you in the season you find yourself.