Not the Week.
How I'm trying to make it through weeks that are just not the one...
Hey,
I’ve not been great company this week. Not completely bad, but in general.
There have been loads going on at school this week from continuing production rehearsals. Ongoing Ensembles, all the classes, and 2 recording days for GCSE music students to submit their coursework in, so coming I knew this one wasn’t going to be a cakewalk.
All of this, along with a general low mood, has meant that I have really not been able to give everything I could have this week and have been firing on far fewer cylinders than I usually am.
It comes around this time of year almost every year. I don’t do great in the winter. The lack of sunlight, colder and wetter temperatures along with mounting things at work always get to me and this one is no exception.
Look, there have been some great moments, such as an ace production rehearsal, some amazing performances in the recording days and there has been a general sense of progress in the department, but I guess my head just has not been there at all.
While sometimes my go-to response when things are hard is just to bury myself in the task and ask questions later, I am almost always worse off for it so this week I tried to really be conscious that I was not feeling it, and how could I manage while still doing all the things I needed to do.
So this week, rather than anything actually in-depth. I thought I’d just share some things that I’ve been trying to make bad weeks doable.
Strategies I’ve used to make the week more bearable.
Giving myself a break from riding to work.
Even though I usually really enjoy my bike commute to work, this week I just couldn’t face the cold (and floods at the beginning of the week) so I gave myself a break. It’s given me a little more time in bed in the morning and I arrive at school a lot less sweaty that’s for sure!
Operating on battery save mode
My line manager used this phrase this week and I thought “Yep, that’s exactly how I feel!” I’ve written before about how 80% is good enough when we are planning and working at school, but this week felt like I just needed to coast through on battery saver mode to get to the end of the week and that’s totally fine.
Trying to get more time at home
I have really been making sure that when my tasks for the day at school are done I am leaving to get as much quality time in the calmness of home as I can. This has been so helpful and it has made me so much more at ease throughout the week.
Chunking the day more
When I feel like this, most of the time I can just say “Take each day as it comes.” But this week has really been a case of “Take each lesson as it comes.” and I have really needed the smaller goals of, making it to the end of the period, making it to break, or making it to lunch to give me loads of little wins throughout the day.
While I have probably not been the best music teacher this week, nor would I ever claim to be, I have done it. I’ve made it in every day, taught the students engaging lessons, and kept up with all of my responsibilities, just in a very different way.
Students will gain far more from me as a teacher by me taking lower energy weeks like this to recover and hopefully have a better time next week, than they will if I still try and work at the same intensity and burn myself out, resulting in me being away from school, totally done…
In all, I’m just going to be thankful to make it through another week healthy and well, living to fight another day. Next week will be better I’m sure.
Thanks for reading.
Joe.
❤️ Here are some things I’ve been loving recently
🎤 Music - Totally obsessed with the new Dua Lipa single Houdini for 3 reasons. 1, because it’s a major vibe and I love it. 2, because it’s produced by Tame Impala, who I also love, and 3, because it opens the first verse with an accent on he 2nd beat which will always have me excited!
📰 Article - Almost as if by magic, while talking about how work was tough, there was a great article from Ali Abdaal talking about burnout. I mean, he was able to deal with it by going to Morocco for a week, which is not quite in my optics but was still a good read here.
🎼 Music (again) - I have been introducing all of my sixth formers to the music of Anna Meredith. I love her stuff so much! They have been particularly liking the video for Paramour. Firstly because the piece is great, and secondly because the whole thing is filmed from the perspective of a Lego train 😂.
⏰ Stopwatch - Do you know how hard it is to find a small stopwatch on a clip for hiking? Ok. Niche problem. But it’s been a faff and now I found one and it’s here if you want to have a look. It’s just a stopwatch, nothing special. But it made me very happy this week 😊.
✍️ Quote I’ve been pondering this week
