Snowed in

I thought now would be a good time to write since I've been snowed in all day. We got hit with a major snowstorm and got over a foot of snow. I saw the forecast Sunday and changed my flight home to Thursday morning, which was totally the right call since my original flight this morning was cancelled last night.

Since I last wrote in August, I have had some major ups and downs related to work. I started off this year putting a ton of pressure on myself. My caseload has tripled in 3 years and our overall student population has increased by more than 200 students. I have always been a bit of a perfectionist, so feeling like I'm not doing an A+ job in every area of the job really was dragging me down. I have been dealing with burnout. I ended up getting super sick at the end of October with a couple of different illnesses and ended up taking time off for that and because of a snow day. After that, I realized something had to give, and have been working really hard in changing my mindset a bit. I have been trying to wake up each day and think of two things I am grateful for. And during the work day, I am trying to do more of "taking things as they come." This is what mindfulness is about. I'm trying to complain less, and do more of accepting things as they are. I am trying to reframe "being bothered," as "Someone needs me to try and help them." This is not an easy task, because as a school psychologist you are pulled in 8,000 directions.

For example job duties may include: testing, assessment planning and scoring, report and IEP writing, observations, functional behavior assessments and behavior plans, IEP and evaluation and 504 meetings, consultation with teachers, push in support for behaviors and time on task, counseling, crisis response, team meetings, transfer paperwork, answering phone calls and emails....and more.

It's a lot. It's impossible to do it all perfectly. I am trying to learn to be okay with it. I love my coworkers and a lot about my school and want to be able to stick it out. Last Friday we went out as a school for apps and drinks and then got to play laser tag at the school in the dark! It reminded me of how much I love and appreciate my coworkers.

And now it's break time for Thanksgiving. Just have to make one final push before Christmas break.
Here's hoping the mental shift continues to work wonders!