Balancing the Break and Staying Ahead: 3 Key Reminders
We could all use a break! That doesn’t mean we slack off. Let’s take a look at how to balance relaxing and productivity.
The grading season is coming to an end, and the Holidays are right around the corner. With most schools ending their grading season right before Christmas, a lot of kids are tired of school and really want a break.
Frankly, you probably are, too. You see, the end of the year is just a few weeks away. It feels like you’ve waited so long to get here. The Holiday break with Christmas and the New Year are just up ahead.
I bet your students are excited about the break as well. How can you balance the break ahead with the productivity needed after? Better yet, how can you help your students maintain this balance? Below, we will walk through three key things to keep in mind to both enjoy the break and stay on top of all you need to get done.
#1 Know What’s Coming Next
First Reminder, it can be easy to get lost in the whirlwind of holiday preparation. Keep in mind what else you’ve got going on and what you need next.
By understanding your commitments ahead of time during the Holiday season, you are doing multiple things:
Setting yourself up for clear communication
Giving yourself a better understanding of the scope of your tasks
Relieving mental clutter
Helps you set goals for the season
All things considered, knowing your schedule of commitments really sets you and your students up for success. Often, you have projects to complete over the holidays, and your students have homework over break.
Writing out the tasks associated with these things helps you visualize the work you need to do to get everything done and still relax. It helps you get it out of your head, relieving the mental clutter that comes from trying to manage everything in your head.
Most importantly, it helps you set goals and priorities for the holiday season. Some things just aren’t as important as others, and it’s important not to get bogged down with menial tasks when more pressing things are needed.
Help your students by utilizing a Calendar and communicating expectations while they are off school, and you may be off work. Things work more smoothly when you are organized and clear. For more information on the importance of organization, check out our Back to School Blog post, which highlights a few more reasons to stay organized and prepared.
#2 Prioritize Rest
Rest is super important! Over the holidays, tensions are High, family is usually around, and it often feels like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders to make sure everything goes right. Your student feels and sees that, too.
“Rest does not have to mean sleep (although I’m sure you have many sleeping hours to catch up on!). It means anything that gives you a break from the grind of your daily responsibilities.”
The Consortium for Public Education rightly emphasizes the importance of rest. A key note here is that rest is NOT JUST SLEEP. While sleep is incredibly important for cognitive fortitude and acuity, rest is much more than mere sleep.
It is the peace-saturated break from obligations and daily responsibility. Now, I’m not saying let your student run around flagrantly disrespecting their responsibilities toward school or family. Instead, make sure to set aside time to rest over the break.
While your list of obligations and looking ahead is important, it is just as important to set aside the time to not worry or fret about what is ahead. It is important to know, but not so important; it needs to weigh on you or your student’s mind 24/7.
The Consortium for Public Education puts it like this, “By prioritizing rest, we equip ourselves to face the challenges of the upcoming semester with renewed vigor and creativity.” Setting this example for your student also demonstrates a few important things:
You care about their Mental Well-being
You value recharging emotional batteries
You recognize the difficulty of being where your student is at in school and life
Ultimately, emphasizing rest is about emphasizing self-care. You are showing your student that caring for oneself is not only a good thing but a priority in times of stress and planning.
Be willing to rest and encourage proper rest in your household. It is not always easy, especially when you feel overwhelmed by the tasks around you. But that is when you need to take a break and rest the most. Your student can get there too, so make the time for them to rest a priority.
#3 Keep a Routine
With the Holiday break comes sleeping in and no standard schedule to change rooms every hour for a new class. It is so easy to be lazy or simply fall out of a schedule.
This makes going back to school or your everyday schedule after the break so much harder. You must maintain a routine over the break so that when returning to the regular activities of everyday life, it does not feel like an overwhelming shift.
A routine is not the same thing as a schedule; it is not rigid. It is a pattern to follow over the break that keeps your body and mind used to doing similar things each day over the break. This can be as simple as keeping meals at the same time each day or always setting aside time to read or draw each day.
The goal of maintaining a routine is to be prepared for the necessity of a productive life after the break is over. You can help your students by requiring chores or other regular household tasks to be done throughout the day.
The Counseling Services for Children and Family, PLLC, gives four Reasons why routine maintenance is so essential.
Promotes Emotional Security
Supports Physical Health
Boosts Mental Well-Being
Encourages Better Transitions
While your student may not always face Emotional insecurity, these other three reasons are more than enough to prioritize a routine.
The physical health benefits from regular sleep patterns and consistent routine include reduced likelihood of illness and optimal growth in children. The mental health of your student is also benefited from the consistency and stability that a routine provides.
A consistent routine will help reduce the stress that comes from unknown changes to routines. This reduced stress will make the break more pleasant for both your student and you.
Lastly, if you are always maintaining a routine, it will not be overwhelming at the end of the break to start back up the school routine. It becomes a minor, predictable shift to the normal routine rather than the astronomical change of going from lackadaisical lounging to studious structure.
Conclusion
As this Holiday season approaches quickly, don’t be overwhelmed. Take a breath and remember: Know what’s coming next, Prioritize rest, and Maintain a routine.
Don’t do one of these without the others. It would just make you stressed and ill-prepared for the end of the break. It also would not help your student learn how to manage breaks well.
I hope you and your family, no matter what that looks like, can rest well over this coming Holiday Break. If you find after the break that your student needs a refresher of any content you've done before the break, reach out about our tutoring.
Whether it’s one session or 20, we are here to partner with you and your student to overcome any roadblocks on your education journey!
