Managing Stress during Covid Chapel Happy New Year and welcome back to school. I hope you are looking forward to seeing your bulldog funhouse teachers and classmates today. I am meeting with you today as your middle school counselor to touch base and check in to see how everyone is doing. Although we have had time to recharge and rest over the past couple of weeks, the reality of Covid is still with all of us every minute of every day. I want you to know that feeling tired, isolated, stressed, anxious, and unmotivated are completely normal. The sense of loss that we have all felt since March 2020 is real without a true end in sight. This is the time in your lives that you are supposed to figure out your interests and who you are as an individual. But, with so many restrictions and procedures due to Covid, and with spending so much time at home, the process of establishing your identity is interrupted. So, how can we all deal with the stressors and start the new semester on the right foot? How can you establish who you are as a student, athlete, artist, friend, and classmate? Instead of looking at what we CAN’T do, let’s focus on what we CAN do. Many people mistaken being busy with being productive, when in fact, that does just the opposite. Keeping busy without purpose can be exhausting. By being intentional with your time, you can actually reduce your stress and look for ways to figure out who you are. I want to encourage you to start working on ways to improve your self-care so that these actions become habits and your habits become part of who you are. NEXT SLIDE Some of the suggestions are pretty straight forward to take care of ourselves, such as eating well, getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. However, some of the other ideas have more layers and require more intentional attention. If you like to set goals, be SMART about them. Smart is an acronym that reminds you to make your goal specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-phased. For many, the most difficult aspect of self care to look in the eye is to eliminate time sucks. I am just as guilty with loving a good Netflix binge as anyone, but now that we are back in school, I need to set limits. Maybe you need to also look at what is a time suck for you… is it xbox, Netflix, snapchat, youtube? Start being intentional with your time. Control what you can to help reduce worry. If an upcoming quiz or test is stressing you out, make time to see your teacher to talk through the material. By establishing routines, you can make sure that you have time during the school day to take care of business and allow you to breathe and relax when you get home. NEXT SLIDE: I also want to let you know about a new way to contact me if you would like time to chat. We have added a link on the Middle School Canvas homepage. Simply fill out some quick information so I can find a common time for us to meet in person or over Zoom. As always, stopping by, sending me an email, finding me in the hallway are all good options, but I am hoping this will help since we are not always face to face. So, as you look at ways to help yourself find success in the new semester, remember the importance of routines, being connected to others, and limiting social media. Most importantly, be kind to yourself. I marvel at how you have handled the school year so far, and I look forward to our continued growth during the new semester. Thank you.
