Thank you all so much for your posts.
I can appreciate that is hard to avoid stress particularly at this time of year. Managing our time is fundamental in meeting all of our professional and personal commitments. I too find exercise a great way to unwind and get perspective. Being organised is also imperative. Plus the importance of having supports in our life is something that cannot be overrated. When we find that we are experiencing stress I think it is crucial that we factor in time to replenish ourselves.
Which brings me back to the purpose of the blog. Which was to provide you with links to sites that were credible and informative & to start a discussion on the area of stress and stress management. I hope you find something here that helps you.
Finally, Mary I hope you find your phone!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Stress Levels
Hi Judanne,
to quantify typical stress levels I would have to admit that I tend to get stressed out quite easily, usually as a result of over-committing myself. It can be difficult to avoid this in my role as in many other people's I would imagine. The key is to be disciplined and to have realisitic expectations of myself and of others.
I would say that I'm usually hovering around the 4 mark on a scale of 1 to 10. The effect this has is to make me forgetful and prone not to listen enough, which I then have to work hard to manage as I cannot do my job if I don't listen to people and forget what I'm supposed to be doing. I find that the best way to reduce stress is to make sure I get enough exercise, even if it is just walking to and from work and to take at least twenty minutes every day to organise my schedule with realisitic cut-offs that I then try to stick to.
At the moment, I'd say I'm at a 6-7, due to all of the Christmas planning and some personal finance concerns on top of the usual things. Too much work and not enough time is the culprit as usual. Today I lost my phone for example. So, time to slow down and take deep breaths. I'm looking forward to implementing some mindfulness techniques to see if things improves, so now I just have to make some time to read the materials.
Best regards,
Mary
to quantify typical stress levels I would have to admit that I tend to get stressed out quite easily, usually as a result of over-committing myself. It can be difficult to avoid this in my role as in many other people's I would imagine. The key is to be disciplined and to have realisitic expectations of myself and of others.
I would say that I'm usually hovering around the 4 mark on a scale of 1 to 10. The effect this has is to make me forgetful and prone not to listen enough, which I then have to work hard to manage as I cannot do my job if I don't listen to people and forget what I'm supposed to be doing. I find that the best way to reduce stress is to make sure I get enough exercise, even if it is just walking to and from work and to take at least twenty minutes every day to organise my schedule with realisitic cut-offs that I then try to stick to.
At the moment, I'd say I'm at a 6-7, due to all of the Christmas planning and some personal finance concerns on top of the usual things. Too much work and not enough time is the culprit as usual. Today I lost my phone for example. So, time to slow down and take deep breaths. I'm looking forward to implementing some mindfulness techniques to see if things improves, so now I just have to make some time to read the materials.
Best regards,
Mary
Monday, December 8, 2008
Stress Management
Hi Judanne,
Having had more time now, to mull over how stress affects me in my role I'd like to add the following.
- I would say that my stress level can elevate from a 1 to 3 when I am absorbed in something I greatly enjoy in this job such as putting all the research together like jigsaw pieces with regard to college options, career options etc for a student that you genuinely feel you are helping, as not all stress is negative a low level is good in fact to enable me to be motivated and fully involved in a project.
- This however can elevate up to a 7 or 8 when I am dealing with a child who has problems at home who genuinely wants to follow a certain career but home life means you can see he cannot reach his potential in the short term so its hard not to bring your concern home.
- Together with dealing with diffucult parents who put huge pressure on their children and demand a certain career direction for their child which they are not suited to. In the current economic climate I am seeing this kind of pressure from a parent onto a child more often.
- Bigger class sizes mean less time with students in a class setting, so stress over quality of career guidance I am giving.
- Paperwork although necessary eats into the time given directly with the child.
- Networking is again a time factor as the allotted time given by department to gather current info from colleges, industry etc is not adequate and eats into on the ground school time and alot of the time my personal life is affected as alot of networking would happen in evening.
-What I find most helpful for dealing with stress very is exercise, I find when I am fitter and stronger physically, I feel better all round and can handle thing much better. Bill Cullen The Apprentice star says that he gets up at 4am every morning and exercises for 45 minutes. It would be important for me to do some of this exercise outside in the country so I can get proper air and a change of scene.
-Personally as well I find some form of relaxation exercise very helpful and I would start the day with this every day.
-Being organised and planning your day ahead is also vital it does not mean that you religiously stick to the plan but at least you have some organisation on the day ahead and are less stressed. -Breathing properly would be another one, reminding myself when I am uptight to breathe properly.
- Learning to take proper breaks instead of working through and so you perform better
- Telling someone when you feel things are too much, discussing with a supervisor, principal or most importantly a friend of partner and ask them to suggest solutions or tell them you just want them to listen.
- There are some good courses now which you can suggest your school to run or even pay for privately as it is you that suffers if it is not addressed.
I hope I have given a good idea of what causes stress for me and what I find helps me.
Kind regards,
Marie
Having had more time now, to mull over how stress affects me in my role I'd like to add the following.
- I would say that my stress level can elevate from a 1 to 3 when I am absorbed in something I greatly enjoy in this job such as putting all the research together like jigsaw pieces with regard to college options, career options etc for a student that you genuinely feel you are helping, as not all stress is negative a low level is good in fact to enable me to be motivated and fully involved in a project.
- This however can elevate up to a 7 or 8 when I am dealing with a child who has problems at home who genuinely wants to follow a certain career but home life means you can see he cannot reach his potential in the short term so its hard not to bring your concern home.
- Together with dealing with diffucult parents who put huge pressure on their children and demand a certain career direction for their child which they are not suited to. In the current economic climate I am seeing this kind of pressure from a parent onto a child more often.
- Bigger class sizes mean less time with students in a class setting, so stress over quality of career guidance I am giving.
- Paperwork although necessary eats into the time given directly with the child.
- Networking is again a time factor as the allotted time given by department to gather current info from colleges, industry etc is not adequate and eats into on the ground school time and alot of the time my personal life is affected as alot of networking would happen in evening.
-What I find most helpful for dealing with stress very is exercise, I find when I am fitter and stronger physically, I feel better all round and can handle thing much better. Bill Cullen The Apprentice star says that he gets up at 4am every morning and exercises for 45 minutes. It would be important for me to do some of this exercise outside in the country so I can get proper air and a change of scene.
-Personally as well I find some form of relaxation exercise very helpful and I would start the day with this every day.
-Being organised and planning your day ahead is also vital it does not mean that you religiously stick to the plan but at least you have some organisation on the day ahead and are less stressed. -Breathing properly would be another one, reminding myself when I am uptight to breathe properly.
- Learning to take proper breaks instead of working through and so you perform better
- Telling someone when you feel things are too much, discussing with a supervisor, principal or most importantly a friend of partner and ask them to suggest solutions or tell them you just want them to listen.
- There are some good courses now which you can suggest your school to run or even pay for privately as it is you that suffers if it is not addressed.
I hope I have given a good idea of what causes stress for me and what I find helps me.
Kind regards,
Marie
Stress Management
Hi Judanne,
STRESS:
The Following situations can be stressful:
Alleviating stress:
David
STRESS:
- How Stressful is a question of how one feels one's self.
The Following situations can be stressful:
- Dealing with the high expectations a child brings from home.
- Being unable to give time to a problem, that is solvable but not in one or two short meetings.
- Dealing with a child's low expectations, when they are bright.
Alleviating stress:
- Know your career guidance subject.
- Five minutes deep breathing between sessions.
- Time Management.
- Support in school from other career guidance counsellors.
- Do other teachers know the counsellor's role?
David
Hi Judanne,
The role of a Guidance Counsellor would be around a five or six. This can be brought about mostly through factors outside of your control i.e. increased competition in the marketplace for jobs and the expectations of employers or educational establishments sometimes being set highly.
The successful balance of administration and networking within the role can sometimes be demanding. Time management is critical for one not to outweigh the other.
In order to reduce demanding factors within the role I think more work on time management would be beneficial.
Thanks
Ronan.
The role of a Guidance Counsellor would be around a five or six. This can be brought about mostly through factors outside of your control i.e. increased competition in the marketplace for jobs and the expectations of employers or educational establishments sometimes being set highly.
The successful balance of administration and networking within the role can sometimes be demanding. Time management is critical for one not to outweigh the other.
In order to reduce demanding factors within the role I think more work on time management would be beneficial.
Thanks
Ronan.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thank you
Hi all,
Thank you so much for your valuable input on stress management some of which I will be including in my presentation on Saturday next.
Kind regards,
Judanne
Thank you so much for your valuable input on stress management some of which I will be including in my presentation on Saturday next.
Kind regards,
Judanne
Friday, December 5, 2008
Stress Management
Hi Judanne,
What a great topic for a blog.
The Mayo clinic guided relaxation exercise is very effective and the candle burning is so apt for this time of year:)!
Stress is now a common experience and some simple tools to manage it are very helpful in this world we live in, and again especially at this time of year when we put ourselves under added pressure. From doing some reading of late on stress and related topics, the key is to break the cycle of stress by doing something to address it as it can get out of hand so the links to yoga and relaxation are very helpful.
I look forward to more links to more links to mindfulness which you say you are planning to add.
Thanks for the helpful info and techniques which you have posted.
Kind regards,
Marie
What a great topic for a blog.
The Mayo clinic guided relaxation exercise is very effective and the candle burning is so apt for this time of year:)!
Stress is now a common experience and some simple tools to manage it are very helpful in this world we live in, and again especially at this time of year when we put ourselves under added pressure. From doing some reading of late on stress and related topics, the key is to break the cycle of stress by doing something to address it as it can get out of hand so the links to yoga and relaxation are very helpful.
I look forward to more links to more links to mindfulness which you say you are planning to add.
Thanks for the helpful info and techniques which you have posted.
Kind regards,
Marie
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