Opinion

Give yourself some time

After 18 months of pandemic and other work-related stresses, many of us would benefit by stepping back from the coalface for a while, says Michael Pettavel
Michael Pettavel
Michael Pettavel

I write this having just had two full weeks off work. It has been my longest break for a while, and it has taken until now to stop thinking about work almost constantly. To address the times that it creeps back into my consciousness, I have been digging out an unused area of the garden in preparation for a pergola. Physical work helps ameliorate the stress of the last year and a spade and a pickaxe have been my cure of choice. Having written that, it sounds a bit extreme; I am adding an ornamental cobbled area so it’s not simply manic labour.

I share this with you because it has been so long a time since I have had time away to think. It has helped put into perspective the roller-coaster we have all been on in the past 18 months. A little bit of distance is valuable, and it reminds me of Guy Claxton’s book Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind. In it he points out the importance of patience and separation from the issue or problem that you are working through and not trying to make a decision as quickly as possible. This allows the creative side of your mind to mull things over, resulting in a more imaginative (and better) solution. Sleep on a problem and let your ‘under-mind’ do the working out. Difficult in the past 18 months.

To be good at your job in the early years, you need to give a little bit of yourself away. This is done freely and is one of the pleasures of working in a sector that actually makes a difference to others. In other words, you commit. Having said this, it is important to be mindful of yourself. There is constantly a list of things to be done urgently, especially when resources are scarce. Without care, you can find yourself on a treadmill that will spin as long as you keep running.

I needed a break, but there was too much to do, too many SEND applications to get in, reports to write, development plans to complete, budgets to cut, new regulations and curriculums to read and process. I was so aware of what I wasn’t doing that I forgot the lesson of stepping away for a moment. Know when it’s time to take your foot off the gas, do something different and process the myriad of information coming right at you by doing something for yourself.

So, my column this month is simply to say, give yourself space. Allow your Tortoise Mind to wander and protect it from the Hare-like tendency of trying to get too much done in not enough time. Or you could always try digging…