Happy New Year!  2020!  I’ve been a little absent here as I got back into the swing of things and spent time with my family.  Speaking of that, the holidays and the time for new resolutions always make me think about work/life balance, something that is difficult for a lot of people, but sometimes especially us.  In a recent Facebook post, I saw people speak out strongly about bringing work home over the holidays.  I disagreed, and that’s okay, because I do what works for me, and I think that’s the key.

I also posted this graphic (for a few laughs) this week.  In all seriousness though, make sure you are taking care of YOU!

I wanted to share how I have developed a pretty good balance for being a School Psychologist and working mom.  But first, I want to say a few things.  I’m lucky to have a great job, in a well balanced position in the Northeast.  Second, there are definitely times (about once a month) when the evaluations just pile up and I spend a few hours of the weekend, but that is not my norm.  Here’s what works for me:

I define the limits of both work and home.  Since becoming a mother, this is something I’ve strived for and have finally gotten it the past few years.  When I’m at home, I’m “all in” mom/wife/chaos coordinator, and when I’m at school, I’m “all in” School Psychologist.  I know, I know, it seems kind of obvious, but hear me out.  When I first started working as a School Psych, I’d arrive an hour early to work, but spend that time chatting with coworkers and eating my breakfast.  Now, as soon as I get in to my office, it’s back in business.  I eat a quick lunch each day and save errands and phone calls for before or after work rather than during my lunch.  At the same time, I don’t do work at home (with the few exceptions a year, as mentioned above).  Defining these limits has worked really well for me.

I accept imperfection, and that the scale isn’t always balanced.  This one was a hard one for me to accept.  I used to tell my husband that I always felt like I was failing at something-when I was a great School Psychologist, I felt like a terrible wife, or when I was a great Mom, I felt overwhelmed and burned out at work, for example.  I’ve finally come to realize that the perfect version of any of those wasn’t healthy for me.  Now, I roll with it, and accept that the balance of being a working parent ebbs and flows.  Most weeks, I’m 100% present with my kids and I work my butt off at work, but there are also times when Mom writes evaluations on Saturday morning while the kids watch Frozen and build Magnatiles.  I no longer judge myself for being either one of those people.

I plan ahead.  If you’ve read any other post on this blog, you probably know then that I am a planner, almost to a fault.  It can get me into trouble, but in the School Psychology world, it serves me well.  I plan ahead for every.thing.  I spend a bit of time every summer planning and organizing to make my working life easier.  (See my organization camp posts here.)

Develop systems and routines.  I realize not everyone has the love of planning that I do, but even if you don’t have the organization bug, develop routines and systems for yourself.  Maybe you turn on your computer every morning first thing to check your email, or you clear your desk before leaving.  It’s a routine.  A teacher hands you back a BASC-do you have a place it goes immediately?  You should.  It will make things so much easier.  To really figure out my routines I thought about:

What do I spend most of my hours as a School Psych doing?  (Counseling, Testing and Report writing for me)

What do I do that’s the same for these all of the time? (Plan weekly sessions & take data, send out protocols & test, write about the same tests over and over)

How can I streamline my routines of these to make them more automatic?

Counseling:  Every Thursday I plan sessions for the next week.  I have a big binder of all my kids goals and weekly data  I can pull out easily.

Testing:  I created forms for testing folders, interviews and observations, and made copies to store in my filing cabinet.  I blocked out the begging of the day for testing and end hour for paperwork and report writing

Report Writing:  I put a big chunk of time into my monster report template.  Every summer I go through and update/add any new tests.

I advocate for myself.  Again, I realize that my geographic location and my position are lucky to allow for this, but I have always advocated for myself in my position.  I have a rule I’ve made for myself.  The first year I’m in a new position/school, I take that time to learn the ropes, and do what’s asked of me.  The second year and beyond, I start advocating for myself when needed.  You are your best advocate and you deserve to at least try!  When there are things that I believe are beyond my scope of work, I advocate for assistance, and when there are mundane tasks that take up a bunch of time but others can possibly do better, I advocate.  I try to pick the things that have the biggest impact on my role, or those that can be easily changed, and start from there.

So what works for you?  What doesn’t?