On: Balance

I am writing this in between arguments about whether or not to ban politicians from social media, and discussions about the merits of the patronage model in women’s football. Fret not, dear reader, I do not usually spend my weekends engaged in such esoteric deliberation: I am at a University Union schools’ debating competition. This all-day debating competition comes after a week of teaching, Chapel services, meetings, concerts, football matches, and still more debating (this time internal competition). That’s just the timetabled stuff, of course: I have also acted as counsellor, IT consultant, and detective at various points this week, not to mention heading up a vice squad following the discovery of a sizeable quantity of vapes in a bathroom ceiling. It’s fair to say this job is not dull!

Varied though this job might be, I have begun to ask myself how balanced it is. Each day brings different challenges and joys – much of it unpredictable – and they say variety is the spice of life. At times, though, I need to stop and ask if I need a bit more korma in amongst the madras and vindaloo.

Although a contested analysis, I find Maslow’s 1954 Hierarchy of Needs a useful basis for assessing how effectively I am caring for the boys for whom I have responsibility in the boarding house. The foundational requirement for ensuring safe, happy and thriving children is that their physiological needs are met (e.g. food, shelter, rest) before we can even begin to think about ensuring their self-actualisation is achieved. If you will permit me some self-focused introspection for a moment, as I reflect on my hectic (but entirely usual) week, I wonder how I can be the best I really can be if I do not eat or sleep well. How can I reach self-actualisation where I am achieving my full potential if my most basic of physiological needs are not being met?

Rest and recuperation are essential if we are to restore ourselves both physically and mentally. In the varied and colourful life of a Housemaster, it can be difficult to ensure these foundational needs are met. Since the early 20th century, the notion of work-life balance has been de rigeur and we have been urged to pursue equity between our professional and private lives. Working in secondary education, we are fortunate to receive extensive holidays (although there is debate about whether this really is such a healthy renumeration for the hours we put in), but does that justify us slogging our guts out in term time? How can we achieve some balance in order to carry out our jobs to the best of our ability while staving off burnout?

First of all, decide what it is you need to do to feel rested. Maybe exercise leaves you sufficiently energised to tackle the backlog of emails; perhaps a 30 minute nap will give you enough of a boost to finish off that duty rota you have left unfinished; maybe taking lunch at a local café with a friend will allow you to get a change of scene.

Whatever works for you (and I can tell you that it is a lie-in on my non-contact day that helps me cope with the late nights throughout the rest of the week), I would recommend being intentional in pursuing it: don’t just wait for those moments of quiet to come your way. Block out your diary and give yourself time away from the chaos: putting a 45 minute session in your Outlook calendar ensures no meetings, House tours, or cover lessons can be booked in.

Secondly, acknowledge that sometimes good is good enough. I know that, in order to accommodate  a long lie on a non-contact day, I have to accept that I will wake up to a string of emails. Much as I would like to end every day with a blank inbox, I have come to accept this is a utopian ideal (I currently have 3,605 items in my inbox, 32 of them unread). Instead, I respond to emails in order of priority and clear out old emails whenever I find 10 minutes in my day. My inner perfectionist shrieks every time I open my email inbox but I am gradually muzzling her!

Thirdly, recognise that you need to sleep. A recent study by Colorado State University on the impact of sleep on brain development in children aged 5 to 9 showed that those with poor sleep routines saw physical changes in the brain, and raised concerns about how stunted cognitive development can impact on children’s academic achievement and mental health. This is a challenge for those of us in boarding who have greater control over children’s sleep patterns in an academic setting (but that’s perhaps a blog post for another day), and these findings supplement similar conclusions drawn about the negative impacts of poor sleep on adults. My lie-in on a Wednesday morning helps me to reset a little so that I can keep working the long hours the job demands the other days of the week. I don’t want to do too much research into the need for sleep in case I find that four extra hours on a Wednesday is nowhere near enough to combat the impact of sleep deprivation over the course of the other six days but, for now, it’ll do: I notice the difference in concentration, mood and alertness if, for whatever reason, I have to do away with my Wednesday wallow. As I suggested above, the emails pile up while I am blissfully snoozing, but that’s okay: sleep is more important than a clear inbox.

Finally, cultivate hobbies. You might not have the time to pursue other interests in term time, but having something you enjoy outside of work that you can pick up in holidays or exeats is essential. I have determined to carve out time to dedicate to writing this blog as it is has become clear that I will not miraculously find the time to write when School is in full swing (I might have started writing this post at that debating competition one Saturday at the start of February, but I have only just finished it, two weeks later!). I attend church when I am not working on Sundays and find the spiritual refreshment I need to nourish a parched soul. I have also been playing in a prog rock band for a few years and I have kept that going since taking over a boarding house. I don’t meet with them as regularly as I once did but we get together when I am on exeat or holiday to rehearse and prepare for the odd gig. It’s great fun, something very different from the day job and, crucially, it’s just for me.

Working in boarding brings many challenges and rewards; it is demanding and can be all-consuming. Let’s try and bring some balance in to the chaos, whatever that looks like so that we can say, like Shakespeare’s Polonius, though this be madness, yet there’s method in’t. Now, to respond to a few emails…