TM4T Stress Armoury 01 - I've Got a Little List

You will no doubt have seen them on various teachers' blogs: 'ten top tricks to beat stress' or something similar. You will most likely have read them and found some helpful and some not.

The most important technique - that's why it's first - is to develop your own list of things that work for you. A list that you can read when things get tough; a list that you wrote in a positive frame of mind.  It is effectively a message across time, from a you-who-knows-what-to-do to a you-who-needs-help.  You should be prepared to share your list with others, and you should be prepared to change your list as your life changes. Your list should be practical (ten ideas is about right), and it should be personal.

There is an example of a teacher's list below. You will notice that there doesn't appear to be a common theme - it is a rattle bag of ideas and things-to-try.  Some of them clearly require some preparation over time, some are things that can be done in an ad-hoc way.

There is, however, a common theme, even if it isn't obvious: these all relate to the author's personal individual stress issues (in this instance, Mr Bigrush was looking for ways to prevent his mood being swayed unduly by stressful events during the day). Your own list may be similar; it is likely to be messier, it is likely to be more personal (the example below needs to be understandable by more than one person; your list doesn't).

You might ask 'if I already have all these ideas, why do I need to write them down in a list?'.  The key point is that when you are under stress, your mood and endocrinology will prevent you from thinking as clearly, quickly or rationally as you would otherwise do. You need to have something written down and ready, rather than trying to remember what worked last time.

Now... many teachers will be reading this page when they're tired or fuzzy-headed, so excuse me if I restate the central point: the list below is not intended to offer you a magic list of life changers.  You need to develop your own similar list, cherry-picked from the TM4T armoury, sensible teachers' blogs, and endless future editions of The Guardian...

Mr Bigrush's Ten Stress Tricks

1. Step outside the school

Contact an old friend - not a teacher - and organise time for a chat; a cup of coffee or a walk; tell them you need to let off steam.

Just talking about our emotions sometimes has an un-bottling effect.

Choose your friend with care: some are practical and tough-minded; they may give a different more realistic perspective on the problem; some friends are empathetic; they may just make you feel more loved.

2. Write yourself a letter

Write a mini-diary explaining why you're upset, how you're feeling, what went wrong and what's going to happen.

Another way of unbottling; a way of making sense of things, and a way of letting go and moving on.

3. Walk in the woods

Stop what you're doing now. Look at your diary. Plan to go to the woods as soon as is safely possible. Just 30 minutes of fresh air, woody smell, squelching wellies and chirping birds. Get things in perspective. 

4. Have a little victory

Stop wrestling with big problems. Look at your Ticklist and nail a couple of small, meaningful items. Cross them off and tell yourself you're wonderful. Make one of the victories something that YOU want to do, regardless of the School priorities or what-the-HoD wants.

5. Be thankful for what you've got.

Get out the 'grateful list' that I wrote: just think about all the wonderful things you do have and stop focusing on the things you don't. Think about mum, Ben, Portugal and the Frog.

When you have done that, think about your 'problems' again, and ask yourself: 'Will this be of any importance in a year's time?'  Get things in perspective and toughen up a little.

6. When the going gets tough, the tough go for a curry

Rope in everyone who is in the same mess as you and go out for a meal; you do the organizing and let it take your mind off your bad day. Don't be afraid to talk school-stuff outside school: things often look different outside.

7. Look in the Gush File

Every time you get a written compliment, or produce some work which is clearly excellent, or have a photo which makes you look amazing, or win a prize or get your name in the paper, put it in the Gush File.

This is the real you, and take real pride in your achievements. 

8. Get Some Exercise

Remind yourself what it is that you actually like doing: maybe it's swimming, maybe it's kicking a ball about. Exercise invariably improves your mood, and helps you to look at things with a different perspective.

9. Give something back

There is always someone in the school in a bigger mess than you, and if you can find a little time to help someone else, maybe a trainee, then it can have a really positive effect on your own mood as well as helping them.

Random acts of kindness to colleagues under pressure tend to be repaid in the long-run, but that's not why you do it. If you help to raise someone else's spirits, there is almost always a positive effect on your own emotional state.

10.  Column A and Column B

Get logical, get objective.  Nobody has a day that is all bad. List the pros and cons of the current situation. There are always things you have learned, opportunities you can take next time, ways to improve things, people you know better, understanding what to avoid.

Just writing things down can be therapeutic for some people, and listing things in a structured way often makes life less chaotic. Looking for positives is also a technique that can influence your mood.