Focus on You

I'm not certain about all school districts, but my experience has been that the end of June officially signifies the end of the school year, at least fiscally, if not also contractually.  For eleven-month administrators, the end of June can mean vacation is about to begin.  For twelve-month administrators, it can mean things might slow down a bit in July with possible time for reflection and planning along with some vacation time.

Whatever your situation is, I strongly encourage you to use your vacation time.  Really use it.  Don't just take half days here and there.  Get out of the office.  Get out of the building.  Get out of town, if you can.

I recently took a week and left town.  I went near the Boundary Waters area in northern MN to a cabin.  No access to the Internet, so I couldn't check my emails.  My cell phone worked and I did get a few work calls during the week, but that was OK.  The luxury was having complete days to do whatever I wanted.  I never used an alarm clock and I slept in as long as my body needed.  I read a complete book.  I knitted a baby blanket.  I sat on the dock and watched the sunset across the lake.  I did enough sudokus to get my fill (almost).  I napped every day.  I soaked in every minute of the week.

As a new administrator, I probably wouldn't have taken several days of vacation since there is so much to do and learn.  But my contract says that I have to use my vacation days within 18 months, or I lose them.  When I was hired and my contract was created, I was told that this is a stressful job (!) and the board wanted me to use the vacation days to recharge.  I'm glad they did it that way.  I needed this vacation more than I realized.

Whether you've just completed your first year of administration or have been doing this awhile, I hope you focus on yourself during this next month of summer and really take some time off.  You deserve it.  And you probably need it.  So, go for it!  What do you have to lose?  A few stress lines?   

   

Comments

[James Yap]

Just read an article on the same thing: http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=stress.management&conitem=2bdd0f4e4589a110VgnVCM10000013281eac____

[Kevin W. Riley]

Wow Reggie. You seem to have struck such a raw nerve in Dr. Kritsonis that he downloaded his entire life's work in response to your post. I assume that was all an error of some sort. But believe it or not I read it all!

It made me realize there are those of us on the front lines every day-- battling the forces (and the odds), wiping kids' noses and making real change... and those who "study" us out there on the front lines!

Your board was right. You need to rest. You are in it now and serving as an administrator at the K-12 level is- in most places- tough, demanding, heartbreaking work.

I am in my 30th year as school leader and I have figured out how to rest in between plays... like an NFL lineman catching his breath in the huddle or grabbing water during a television timeout. I like the down time too, but to tell you the truth I rarely use it.

I have the next two weeks off and I can't sleep because unless I can continue to envision a new path for my school-- I will have students and teachers and parents who are going to be washed over by suffocating waves of federal bills, unachievable and unfunded mandates, and new studies from some university professor with ten thousand pages of accolades and not a single trace of experience of actually lifting a school (much less a community) from ruin.

I have children who are homeless, who live in poverty, who are learning English as a second language, who can't write their name, who have huge gaps in their education history, who have fathers in prison and mothers in Iraq... and those kids expect to be "at grade level" by June of 2009 because we have promised them that they have the ability to get there. They are counting on me to lead the way. They are counting on you too.

No wonder you are exhausted. No wonder I can't sleep.

[Scott McLeod]

Okay, I just deleted all of those Kritsonis comments. Since they weren't comments or contributions, just comment spam.

[Kevin W. Riley]

Thanks for cleaning that up Scott. BTW... I am still trying to figure out how to Post to LeaderTalk. I am relegated to being a "Comment" guy, which is engaging, but I would also like to contribute to the topics. Can you help?

[Reggie Engebritson]

Kevin,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my posts (both this one and "Do You Have Courage?"). I appreciate your comments.

I am glad to hear that you have learned to at least take breaks, if not full blown vacations, during your 30 year career as a school leader. It is easy to see how this job could eat you alive if you don't learn to recharge and take a break every now and then.

Thanks again for writing.

[Kevin W. Riley]

You're welcome Reggie. Hey... I wonder if you can help me. I have been trying to get some help on how to post on this site. No luck. So I can write comments to other people's stuff but can not originate my own. It's been pretty frustrating. Can you tell me what I need to do?

[Reggie Engebritson]

Kevin,

Scott is the guy to set you up and I see you have asked him about becoming a contributor. You could also send an email using the link at the top right corner of this blog under "About This Blog" and click "contact us" if you want to be a contributor.

But I am guessing he will see your comment that you wrote earlier and respond to you. He's a very busy guy, but he does read what is posted.

[Charlie A. Roy]

I'm taking your advice. Just booked the beach house for the first week of August.

[Reggie Engebritson]

Woo-hoo! Way to go Charlie!!! I just read your "Finding Balance" post on your blog site. Good for you for focusing on YOU!! You deserve it.

[Scott McLeod]

I just deleted an entire second round of William Kritsonis, Ph.D. comments. He appears to be an active comment spammer! Ugh.