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6 Well being rules for working from home

Normally, I would share useful insights from the Geography department about how Geography approaches Teaching and Learning at Markham. Given the global pandemic and the fact that we are all working from home I have decided to focus my attention on another topic…home working. Cabin fever is a real threat. Loss of routine, lack of direct contact with the students you have invested so much of yourself in, the creeping monotony of another day spent indoors, alongside the multitude of societal pressures; all this builds up to have a real impact.

Staying healthy at home is paramount in this time of international upheaval. It is disorientating, unsettling and the workload seems greater than ever. Given this it is more important than ever that we as teachers, parents, lovers, singletons whatever our home situations, stay fit and healthy in body and mind. With this in mind, I have shamelessly stolen a useful article from the TES website on healthy working from the home. I have been employing these ideas over the last two weeks to keep me sane and healthy! Enjoy!

1. Separate work and play

Easier said than done, but possibly the most important one to follow for the sake of your mental health.

If you have been given working hours, or if you have set yourself a working day, stick to it. Make your students and parents aware when you will be contactable and work only within those times.

Once you respond to the odd parent out of hours, in the evening or on a weekend, you give all your students and parents permission to expect your response at their convenience.

In education, it is difficult enough to do this under normal circumstances. Without the structure of the normal school day to support your barriers between work and play, the lines will blur very quickly so try and maintain this strict division.

SWITCH OF YOUR LAPTOP AT 7PM. IT CAN WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW.

2. Get out more – if you can

Having an excuse to stay inside for a day or two may sound fantastic at first, but it gets very old very quickly. With the pressures of the new working environment, it also begins to get harder to motivate yourself to get out.

However, if you can, try and get outside at least once a day during daylight hours. This is hard given the curfew but go to the shop (in gloves and facemask), have a coffee on your balcony, if you have a terrace..use it. If you are lucky enough to have a garden do some gardening. Getting out is so important, just to get some fresh air for a few minutes and to feel the breeze on your face.

Obviously some of these ideas will depend on what's allowed under the rules being imposed each week amid the coronavirus outbreak, and the importance of keeping your distance from others must be maintained at all times, but if circumstances allow it then do what you can to see some green space however briefly.

GET SOME SUNSHINE (THERE WON’T BE ANY IN JUNE)

3. Work up a sweat

We all know that exercise is good for us, yet it rarely sounds like a good idea. With the early mornings, late evenings and sacred weekends of teaching it can be especially hard to find the time and the energy to get physical.

However, if you follow rule number one and get your working hours in order, then use your free time to do some exercise. You could do yoga in the garden, follow an exercise class on YouTube, or join the Markham Exercise group. We meet once a week at 6pm..email Kelly or myself if you would like to join us.

DO SOME EXERCISE EVERY DAY

4. Practice social media hygiene

This is a difficult one to follow. All around us, there is a media furore that verges on hysteria, reporting on the daily implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Add to that the Whatsapp and Twitter rumours of travel restrictions, mandatory health checks, flight cancellations, government deliberations – it quickly becomes impossible to keep a clear head. As such, trying to limit social media at this time is vital.

Follow the official channels for news announcements, mute those Whatsapp groups (you know the ones) and focus on what you can verify, not what others have heard about from a friend of a friend who might be in the know.

5. Spread the love

If you are finding today difficult, then you can be sure that someone you work with is in the same boat. Your frustrations and the pressures that cause them are universal for your colleagues, so don’t go it alone.

Check in with your work friends, is there someone who has fallen off the radar over the past couple of days? Reach out, have a phone chat, a video call, organise a remote film night together, play a game over the internet, set each other a challenge to paint something or write a poem. Does your department have a Whatsapp group? Why not?

It's easy to feel like you're alone when teaching remotely, but the truth is we are all in this together, so keep in touch whenever possible. And share resources!! We don’t all need to be recreating the wheel every lesson.

WHO HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO TODAY?

6. Learn something new. Just for you.

You could take up knitting, puzzles, painting. Set aside 30mins a day to your new hobby. Personally, I have just joined the Great Courses Plus. A great website where you can take a course run by university lecturers in a range of interesting courses. I am currently half-way though a course in Russian History. I now know why Ivan was Terrible and what was Great about Peter! This the website https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/home

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT TODAY?

With thanks to Oliver Ireland who is assessment coordinator at The New English School, Kuwait

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