How are you holding up?

It seems like everywhere I turn lately I see an early childhood teacher, family child care provider, instructional aide, manager, coach, director, administrator saying…

I’m beyond exhausted.

I’m so burnt out.

I’m drowning in paperwork.

I have so much required professional development.

I’ve got mountains of paperwork to do.

I have no bandwidth for one more thing.

Me, my family or someone I love is dealing with the impact of long covid…still.

I’m exhausted from the changing protocols of covid or just the continuation of it.

I’m tapped out.

I feel it deep in my bones, the exhaustion.

Self care? …work-life balance? …what even are those things?

Whether you’re tired from the “regular” challenges of early childhood, from the last two years, specifically or from the way the long term effects of the pandemic have impacted children’s behavior I know you know but it bears repeating: you are not alone in this.

Even as Spring is coming and restrictions are lifted in so many places…the exhaustion continues for so many, perhaps especially those of us who are caring for and educating others.

Do you have something you’re doing that’s helping to sustain you right now?

I’ll go first. My top 3 survive (and thrive?) strategies right now are:

Hide in the bed. Even for 10 minutes.
Connect with like-minded souls and shared passions. Even if we’re too tired to take steps towards creating what we want in the world - or just in our immediate spheres - feeling connected and swimming around together in that shared vision for a few minutes fuels me enough to help me get out of bed (see #1: hide in the bed).
Do less…but strategically so. I call my friend who tells me it's ok to do 60% (!?) of what I think I should do…and then actually helps me figure out how to do just that.

What’s one strategy you’re using right now to survive or thrive?

And, if you’re not exhausted: what’s your secret?

Let us know in the COMMENTS below.