The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.
—Mike Murdock
What Routine Will You Create?
I keep having the same conversation with educators. It goes like this:
Me: How’s your year been going?
Educator: It’s going.
Me: What’s something that brings you joy?
Educator: Ummm…
After a pause or a little chitchat, the educator tells me a version of this sentiment: You know, I’m tired. I’m not sure why, but it just seems like I’m exhausted before I even begin.
I understand. When stress mounts, fatigue settles in. It’s easy to look around life and blame the circumstances. We might think that if our supervisors communicated sooner, we wouldn’t be so tired. Or if the weather would just warm up, we would feel better. Circumstances can be stressful. I’m living in a season of circumstances outside of my control that feel heavy and unfair.
What I’ve recognized is that although I cannot change the circumstances, there is something I can control that will change the load I carry. I can control the routines of my day.
We all have routines that stack together throughout our days. Perhaps your school day begins with checking email and reacting to each message. Before you know it, the halls are full of students, and you jump up to quickly post the day’s learning target. You dig out the materials for the day and rush a greeting to some students. You forgot to grab a cup of coffee, so you rush to the workroom. The announcements begin, and your day continues down this path of reacting to one moment after another.
This is a routine many of us tolerate.
By contrast, I think about Tammy Mulligan’s morning routine. She arrives in her classroom and turns on the SMART Board, opening the morning’s agenda for students to see. She organizes the day’s materials, making them accessible for students. She has plans to meet with two or three students who need extra phonics or fluency practice. Students come in and read the morning message, preparing for the day. Tammy finishes the tailored phonics practice as the morning announcements begin. The day starts with intention and joy.
This is a routine we can create.
The quality of our days depends on the routines we create or tolerate. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and fatigued, rather than wishing you could change your circumstances, consider a routine you could create. I was having a difficult time focusing on the most important tasks of the day, so I created a routine to end my day. I place three sticky notes on my desk and write the three most pressing tasks to complete the next day. When I arrive at my desk the next day, I know exactly what to do.
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
https://choiceliteracy.com/big-fresh/
