Do you need help keeping your ducks in a row?

Be like a duck, paddling, and working very hard inside the water, but what everyone sees is a smiling and calm face.
~Manoj Arora

You may need some help to keep your ducks a row. The time is rapidly approaching when schools will reopen after the mad scramble to close in March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus. How and when this is going to happen will vary.

• Some schools are opting for entirely in-person classes;
• Some are opting for totally virtual online instruction; and
• Some are planning a hybrid model, using a combination of in-person and online classes.

If your institution provided you instruction over the past summer on how to put classes online, and many did, you may still feel like you are floundering under all the new demands. Teachers’ expectations to provide both content and emotional support to students are at levels unseen before the pandemic. It is also true that given the structural situation of higher education, this burden is falling most heavily on adjunct faculty who often do not have the resources to do this well, and who are not compensated equitably for their work. I hear this every day from clients seeking to leave academia.

Whichever way your school is choosing to reopen, you may like a little pragmatic help in thinking about how to organize your classes and keep your sanity and well-being in the process. This unprecedented situation is not only about switching gears; it is about mentally and physically adapting to these new, unanticipated circumstances. “Overwhelm” is nearly as much of a catchword as “uncertainty” has become, but is undeniably real.

To get your ducks in a row, start by getting your thoughts organized

Get out of the doom and gloom zone first. Lower your anxiety by limiting social media time and the amount of time devoted to reading and watching the news. It’s too easy to spiral down the black hole of clickbait or even legitimate links. These are practices I impose on myself, with varying degrees of success. I know it’s hard to stop. When I successfully walk away from the negative spiral, it is totally worth it.

Too much information can short-circuit your brain. Especially when there are so many competing narratives. Threat changes how you process information. Threat narrows focus (see the classic study by van Steenbergen, H., et al., 2011) and makes it hard to see the big picture. It is rooted in the present moment to allow immediate survival in dangerous circumstances. We are indeed living in dangerous circumstances. Build composure and equanimity by shifting your focus from threat to challenge. This will move your mind from cognitive overload to proactive problem-solving.

Next, get your physical response organized

Concentrate on what you can control. We are all scared in the face of this genuine invisible threat. Do what you can to be safe, wash hands for 20 seconds, and practice social distancing as much as possible, wearing masks. This is going to be particularly difficult for teachers, and some people are going to have to make the difficult decision to leave a profession they love to stay safe.

The 5Ws and an H that guides journalists can help, though I am dropping the 5th W (Why), as we already know the answer to that one!

• What do I need to do?
• When will I do it?
• Where will I do it?
• Who can I ask for help?
• How do I keep the stress level down?

If you had a bad experience in spring 2020, you are not alone. Most teachers and students don’t like online only interaction. However, there are a multiplicity of resources to help you be effective. Here are a few basic things to consider as you deal with online instruction:

• How will students understand the assignments (read ahead, watch a video in class)?
• Are digital materials accessible (do links work, are PDFs available)?
• How will you give them feedback (in-class quizzes, take-home tests, papers)?
• How will you engage them (Zoom, breakout rooms, peer presentations)?
• How will you communicate (virtual office hours, texting, emailing)?

Getting organized mentally and physically will help you be happy

There is plenty of research showing happy people are more productive, have more stable marriages, higher incomes, more creative ideas, more robust immune systems, and are less stressed. Keeping the stress level down and your immune system up may mean practicing additional self-care. Do what you can to lower your stress level.

Keeping your stress level down comes back to the basics:

• Get enough exercise
• Get enough sleep and rest
• Eat right
• Give yourself social time (and not just social media time or Zoom time)
• Find a way to keep things in perspective

I use walking meditation, even if it’s just around the block, to handle the several basic needs simultaneously. That’s called leveraging in the business world. One other important thing is to use humor to lighten up and light the way for yourself and others. Kitten videos, bloopers, or reading comics you like, are all good.

You made it through the spring and summer. You are clearly resourceful and capable of creatively meeting all these new challenges. Celebrate each and every small success, whether it is getting students to participate in breakout room discussion, preparing a video for broadcast to your classes, or somehow managing to stay on top of your professional obligations while juggling all your personal responsibilities. Gratitude for small successes will lead to more significant achievements down the line.

Have compassion for yourself and others moving forward. Support your colleagues when you can and let them support you when you need it. We will need a collective sense of being in this together as the fallout from this pandemic drags on and on and on.

Still feel you need help? Set-up a complimentary call today.

Tags: academia, academic, change, get organized, Getting Organized, goal setting, goals, planning