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18Aug

Small Changes to Create Big Shifts

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Stress Management
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small changes to create big shifts

Recently (solidly over the last 6 months) I started running again. A few times a week, I lug my 2 kids to a nearby trail, load up with snacks (them, not me), and plop them into the running stroller. I put on some music and we start down the trail, 2 miles in a loop. By the end, I am sweaty (even in 30 something degree F weather, and definitely when it’s 90+F) and feel tired but energized. 

It might sound not so fun, but we all really do have a fun time on our runs. 

The thing is, when I started, it was really, really hard to do. 

  • My knee hurt for a month or so the first time I started running again (back in March 2020, so I took a break until the Fall).
  • My feet hurt.
  • I had shin splints for a few weeks. 
  • My legs would ache when I started to run.
  • I would barely get through 2 miles.

Eventually, it started to get a little better – with the help of some new shoes and building up some strength. But, it could have also been really easy for me to feel defeated and not continue. I was running 2 miles, and feeling like I couldn’t go any further, when I used to be able to run half marathons. What was taking me nearly 30 minutes, and a lot of breaks, was something I used to be able to do in 20 minutes or less. 

It was incredibly frustrating at times, but it also gave me a place to work from. 

I could have been mad about a lot of things:

  • My pace was slower
  • My body felt heavier
  • My legs were achy
  • I couldn’t sprint without my legs hurting (and I LOVE sprinting right at the end)
  • I was taking breaks. So many breaks in so short of a time.
  • I was pushing nearly 70-80 lbs of kids and stroller

But I also remembered a few things:

  • It had been 6 years since I had a steady running practice
  • I had 2 kids since then
  • I lived in a place with hills, not Florida or the South Carolina Lowcountry
  • My shoes were really old, and my new shoes need to be broken in
  • I was, well, older…

If I expected myself to be able to get out and run 13.1 miles, or even 4 or 6 miles, then, yes, I was going to be disappointed. It was unrealistic. And, if I set my expectations, or goals, to reach this really big amount of mileage, say in the next month or even year, I might also be really disappointed, or, more likely, I would feel defeated and probably want to give up.

But…if I set my goal at the smaller point, and kept reassessing it as I progressed, I would not only have a lot of wins along the way, I would also increase the chances that I would in fact reach that goal and more.

And that changes EVERYTHING.

Now, I notice how much stronger I feel and how I can really push it to go further or faster. Some days I’m slow and some days I’m fast – especially with the stroller 80 lbs now). But I know that I am always, steadily and slowly, creating small changes and they have led to big shifts.

What does this mean for you? It’s not really about “running” at all. It’s about the goals. 

Setting a monstrous goal does not always work, even if that is where you want to go. It is better to set a small goal, or make a small shift, and continue to make small shifts on top of those, if you want to stay active in reaching those bigger goals. It’s what we do for our students and clients, but we forget to do for ourselves. The simpler the goal, and sometimes more scaled back, the easier it will be to reach and then keep building from there. You can aim for the big goal (say, “r” at the conversational level or running another half marathon), but you don’t reach for that yet. You start with the first steps (“r” in isolation, or running 1-2 miles without stopping), and then work towards mastering those. 

Instead of focusing on the big goal of being able to run the way I used to or to run another Half Marathon, I focused on increasing where I was. I could work towards 2 miles with no breaks, then maybe 3 or 4 miles, eventually 6, and continuing from there. 

This way, I am making realistic goals (like the ones we set for our own students and clients) and creating big shifts from there, instead of looking at where I am and where I wish I was, and not feeling like it could ever be possible.

When you are looking at your own goals, especially towards stress management, incorporating mindfulness, and/or personal development, you might be expecting it to be “fixed” and no longer an issuerightnow. Or at least within the next week or month, and then not have to worry about it anymore. Or not have stress still be prevalent. But it takes small changes first, built up over time, to create those big shifts, and to help those big shifts not be an overhaul that fails after a few weeks, but become a gradual part of your lifestyle. 

You need to find your starting point. Then, you move forward from there. 

Take a moment right now to work through some of these questions/prompts and create your starting point:

  • What is your main goal with your daily stress?
  • Where are you with it right now?
  • Is your main goal achievable and realistic for right now?
  • If not, how can you break it down to the smaller, but very important, starting place? Example: You want to meditate to manage your stress for 30 minutes a day. You currently have tried meditation once for 3 minutes on an app. Jumping into that HUGE goal would be a lot right now, and, most likely, not feasible. How can you break it down? Start with meditating for 3-5 minutes 3-5 days a week. Once that is solid and not even something you think much about, build it up (if you even need to or still want to).
  • What is your action step or plan to make it happen? From The example above: download a meditation app and figure out what time during the day will be consistent and easiest to start doing. 

You can go through these on your own in a journal or notebook, or you can download the guided “Small Changes to Create Big Shifts Workbook” available in the SLP Stress Management Shop.

For more resources, like FREE meditations and movement audios as well as exclusive discounts on courses, make sure to sign up for the FREE SLP Toolbox. A resource library full of tools to help you, as an SLP and human, reduce and manage your stress better. You can subscribe below.

What is your small shift? Leave it in the comments below to help share and solidify it!

Much Love, 

Jessi

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11Jun

The Reality of Work-Life Balance for SLPs: SLP Stress Management Podcast

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Podcast Reduce Stress
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work-life balance as an SLP

Please note this was recorded pre-COVID-19. There are many additional stressors that throw life off balance currently, and these can also help in our current times and situations.

As SLPs, there is a tendency to go all in on the things that matter to us – our work, our families, our students/clients, our interests in the field and research, and our causes we fight for. It is an intensity which drives so much of what we do and how we live. This intensity is what got many of us into the field, and it is also what can cause many of us to leave, feeling burned out, stressed out and overwhelmed by a lack of balance in life.

This lack of work-life balance as an SLP is in no way your fault. It is part of the way your brain is set up to respond to stress. It is part of a survival mechanism that does not always work in day-to-day life. Instead, it can leave you feeling stressed out constantly, guilty about not spending enough tome at work or at home, and “off balance”. It feels as if there is no way to dedicate the correct, even amount of time to each part of life, especially when you feel so passionate and intensely about each part.

The truth is, it will never be even or completely balanced 50/50. Work-life balance in this way is really a myth or not realistic. But, it can exist in a different way.

In episode 12 of the SLP Stress Management Podcast, I’ll share why work-life balance as an SLP, as you typically think about it, sets you up for failure, as well as how it works in reality (and how you can make it work for you as an SLP).

You can check out the episode below, and on any of you podcast apps. All episodes are also available to listen to here: SLP Stress Management Podcast.


Like what you heard? You can check out even more SLP Stress Management tools and insights in the Professional Development webinars here: SLP PD


And be sure to sign up for the FREE resource library, SLP Toolbox, for stress management audios, templates, guides and more created for SLPs by an SLP. It also gets you on the list to be the first to hear about the SLP Stress Management Online Course when it launches in late June 2020! Sign up below.



Much Love,

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11May

How to Have a Better Morning as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Reduce Stress Self Care
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Morning routine

You may have heard of morning routines before, and felt that either they would be awesome to have, you absolutely love having one, or you in no way saw that happening for you and it’s not important anyway, or somewhere in between.

I am someone that dreams of having a morning routine – I wake up before the kids, do some quiet time (like meditation, stretching or journaling) with my coffee, and then get a little bit of writing and creating done before the kids are awake.

In my mind, I am up before anyone else in the house for an hour or so and then everyone slowly wakes up to a productive, put together, and awake mom. And then I am ready to take on the day and rock it as an SLP, without having to worry about fitting in coffee, moving, getting dressed, journals, etc.

Right now, it is more like, roll out of bed when the baby wakes up or the kiddo comes in to my room. Sleepily try to get breakfast, feed a baby, make coffee and then get dressed mid-morning and squeeze all my work into small windows throughout the day, eventually just working at night.

It’s less than desirable. And each day I plan to make it different, but usually end up in the same routine. Change is hard, especially when things are this uncertain (at the time of publication, there is a global pandemic going on).

But on a recent morning, I woke up 10 minutes earlier – not on purpose. I did a quick meditation, got dressed and had more time to get everyone else ready. It wasn’t my ideal, dream morning routine, but it ended up giving me MUCH more time throughout the day, and I could use my energy to do things I wanted, instead of feel overwhelmed, stressed and constantly “behind” (on what, I’m not sure).

I hope to keep this small shift going, and slowly lead to bigger shifts and changes in my morning as I can.

Morning routines are important, even though they sound a little fluffy and superficial, because they can set the tone for your day – either rushed and lacking energy or calm and energizing – and help you to have those small moments to check in, set up your day, and see what you have going on (or do something for yourself), without feeling pulled in a million directions immediately upon waking up.

Here are a few ways to create a morning routine:

  1. Wake up just a few minutes earlier, and then build on it.You don;t have to go all out right now. That amount of overwhelm can set you up for a pass/fail mindset, where you feel like if you don;t do it exactly, then it isn’t worth it at all. INstead, keep building up on small changes that will make it happen easier.
  2. Use the time to check in with yourself. See how you are doing that day, before you have demands from work, family and life floating in. Are you feeling good, tired, stressed, overwhelmed, energized, motivated, etc? From there, you can see what you need from your day and what you can expect from yourself. (it is ok to not be 100%).
  3. Do a little self-care. Move, meditate, journal, create, anything goes here. You could even sit in silence with a cup of coffee or go for a walk in your neighborhood (if it is safe to do so where you live).
  4. Set an intention. You could think of this as a to-do for the day. This gives you a little extra motivation and awareness as you move though, so everything you do can be in alignment with that intention and purpose for your day. 
  5. Get some sleep. I know this sounds counterintuitive to telling you to get up a little earlier. Make sure you are still getting sleep. If needed, go to bed a few minutes earlier. You could maybe set an alarm when it’s time to start getting ready for bed, or decide to watch just 1 or 2 shows in the evening.

Even just doing one of these morning routines can start to create that small shift that leads to you taking charge of your day, instead of feeling like the day is taking charge of you. It can help to better manage your stress and bring you more balance during your day. Start trying them and see what works best for you. Change isn’t easy, but this shift is worth it.

Looking for more resources? Try the SLP Toolbox. It is a FREE resource library full of useful tips and tools, perfect for morning routines, such as meditation and movement audios, journal templates, self-care guides, and daily “must-do” checklists, designed to help you reduce the stress you feel as an SLP.

You can sign up below.

If you are looking to check out more SLP Stress Management, make sure to check out theses courses: SLP PD

Much Love,

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20Jan

Dear SLPs, Please Don’t Cry In Your Car

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice New SLP Reduce Stress Self Care
8 Comments

stress management

You may or may not have seen the recent article in the ASHA Leader Magazine, that talked about things like Emotional Intelligence and overwhelm and other things, including Stress Management. First, thank you to ASHA for publishing a piece that talks to stress in our field. No matter how you or I may feel about this piece, it IS good that this type of thing is starting to be talked about and we are able to have conversations about our stress and what to do about it. Awareness is the first step after all.

But, secondly, there were a few things here that really missed the mark. In the Stress Management paragraph, there was talk of breathing exercises and exercise/movement, which is GREAT advice for managing stress. These things have been studied and show that they can help to reduce the stress response in the brain and body, and in turn help you to manage stress. Other things, such as bubble baths and aromatherapy were also listed. These don’t necessarily go deep enough to help with truly managing stress, but they can be relaxing and this is a start.

However, there was also another suggestion for stress management that was just not quite ok, and really missed the mark. This was the suggestion that as SLPs, needing to manage our stress, we go ahead and cry in our cars.

While I think (or hope) this was meant as crying once in awhile for a release (or better yet, was a joke that didn’t translate well when read), this is in no way true stress management. It might help in the short term, but doing this day after day is not realistic and would end up feeling awful. And unfortunately, there are some SLPs who know this first hand.

I do believe that this article was well intentioned, but it just simply backfired and does not really give us tools we need, as stressed out and overwhelmed SLPs, to manage stress and prevent Burn Out.

Here’s the deal, as SLPs, most of us are really freaking stressed out and heading towards burn out, if we aren’t already there. You may be experiencing this or may be close to it yourself. I’ve been there, and I ended up quitting for several years.

It took me many years to work through this before I could make my way back into the field. And during that time, I studied things like yoga, mindfulness, meditation, wellness coaching and mind-body fitness – all things that are actually good for reducing and managing stress.

Now, I work with other SLPs to help manage and reduce their stress through Stress management coaching, webinars, articles, resources, presentations, speaking, etc.

With all of this, there is one thing I know for certain:

Crying in your car is NOT a technique, its a sign of chronic stress and burn out left unmanaged.

Bubble baths and aromatherapy are relaxing, sure, but true stress management goes much deeper. It seems as though this article meant to approach it, but didn’t quite get to what SLPs really need and how much stress there is for many of us each day. We need DEEP knowledge about stress and tools that pertain to us.

Instead, we need to try less distractions (binge watching to ignore our feelings) and fluff (bubble baths) and do deeper self-care work, like mindfulness, meditation, movement, journaling, etc that have been studied and help you both reduce the stress response thats been triggered and shift your mindset so the stress doesnt continue to affect you as deeply (because unfortunately some of the things that suck wont be going away anytime soon). We need articles and courses that teach us these and share info on them, even if we already know that they will be helpful or have heard about them before.

Because knowing is one thing, but doing is another and it is MUCH more difficult.

For the last 3 years, I have been working to share resources and info on this topic. In recent months and weeks, I’ve been wondering how much I really had to offer or if I should really continue to share about stress management for SLPs. Let me tell you something, this has lit a fire within me. In this next year, I plan to have even more opportunities to help you and other SLPs to manage and reduce their stress, so we no longer have to resort to crying in our cars.

For now, try things that can actually help:

  • Meditate: It helps your brain rewire
  • Journal: It can help to let go of stress and build in more positivity/gratitude
  • Move your body: it lessens the stress response
  • Breathe deeply: it’s simple but signals to your nervous system that you are ok, and reduces the stress response you can be stuck in

If you want more resources, please check out my current have articles, podcast episodes, a free resource library, and links to CEU courses here on my site http://jessiandricks.com. These are updated regularly, with more podcast and resources each month, and new webinars throughout the year.

This year I plan to expand the reach and community, so we can all work on this together, making it easy to not only know but to put it into action. This will include expanding and reopening online and private SLP Stress Management Coaching.

I know it’s not for everyone, but hope it helps those who need it.

For now, you can sign up for resources below:

You can also reach out to me at any time with questions, collaborations or to learn more about SLP Stress Management Coaching via email: jessi@jessiandricks.com

Much Love,

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4Jun

Do SLPs Suffer from Chronic Stress?

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out New SLP Reduce Stress
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SLP Chronic Stress Pinterest (1)If you are an SLP and starting to feel like you are constantly stressed, and that it just seems to keep building, you might be suffering from chronic stress.

While it would be great to say that SLPs do not suffer from chronic stress, that would be far from the truth for many SLPs, practicing and non. Being an SLP is a wonderful profession and career choice, but it also carries with it a lot of responsibilities each day; ever-changing paperwork, caseloads, and protocols; and requires you to give more of yourself than you might expect to give.

What are the causes of Chronic Stress for an SLP?

Chronic stress is what happens when the daily stressors you face, whether big or small, are left unmanaged over time. They begin to build, until your body and brain are stuck in a “cycle of stress” that has you feeling the constant pulls of stress, as an SLP and outside of work as well. When left unchecked, this chronic stress can grow and eventually turn into full-blown burn out.

It happened to me.

In undergrad, I was absolutely obsessed with what I was learning in my CSD program. Life was good, I had little outside stress and I thoroughly enjoyed my course work. When I went to graduate school, there was a very different vibe – it was much more competitive, while undergrad had a vibe of sharing knowledge. I was also living in a new city, my fiance was preparing to leave the country on a deployment for 8 months, and I was working 5 nights/days a week. I lived alone and was responsible for all of my own household “duties” and errands. I had little to no time for “fun” or going out with friends, or just enjoying the beautiful city I lived in.

Stress started to sink in, rapidly. I felt really disconnected, had little to no passion for my work, and never quite felt like I was achieving or doing anything, especially after years of pushing to get my degree. In the years to come, I never got out of the stress cycle, even when I had more freedom to decide how I ran my days,  and eventually became completely burned out in my third year as an SLP.

I really thought I had chosen the wrong career. No one else I knew seemed to feel this way. Around me, SLPs seemed to be thriving and really “into” their work – staying late and coming in early. I felt alone and isolated, which only fueled my stress more. If I had been able to recognize that I was becoming chronically stressed, I might have been able to prevent burn out and reduce my overall stress levels, breaking out of the cycle of stress.

The thing is, it is really hard to recognize chronic stress for what it is when you are in it, and it can be even harder to explain it to non-SLPs close to you (friends, family, partners, etc), because you feel like they just won’t “get it”. This makes it difficult to work through and to reduce, but once you do recognize it, you can work through it, manage it, and feel that you are finally in control of the stress.

What does chronic stress for an SLP look like?

  • Lack of passion: If you were once really passionate and interested in learning about your career (or future career), but now feel like you don’t want much to do with it, you might be suffering from chronic stress. Chronic stress for an SLP, especially when it is starting to lead to burn out, can make you feel a bit apathetic or disconnected from your work, and often appears as boredom. This can be one of the telling signs that something is off in your work or day, and that stress may be to blame. If you are feeling this lack of passion, try 2 things. First, find some outside hobbies to help you feel engaged in something during your week. This will help some of the stress fade and help you feel more balanced. Once it does, then you can look at your work itself. Second, sign up for some new courses or ask to take on a project that you are interested in at work, in order to start to feel more connected and passionate again. 
  • Pushing through: Chronic stress for an SLP can often time make you have frantic, nervous, hyper energy that keeps you feeling like you need to push through to finish your work. This might look like working up until the point of exhaustion or beyond to get an IEP done or taking on every last patient you can in one day (even if it’s 100% ok to wait until tomorrow). This energy pushed you, but it is not in a sustainable way, and leaves you feeling drained and depleted once you do finish your day. It could also look like showing up early or staying late to finish work, which could lead to feelings of resentment towards your work, or that you’ll “never get it finished”, or just really throw your life out of balance.  If you are feeling this way, make sure to set timers to give you breaks when you are working on projects. Also, set a firm time to leave work (not too late or too long after the end of the day), so you are leaving on time and leaving work at work. 
  • Feelings of isolation: Sometimes, when you know you are feeling stressed, it can make it seem like you are alone. Even though it seems this way, the majority of SLPs, sadly enough, are feeling stressed by their work and the imbalance in their lives. This is true for most other Helping Professionals as well, whether in the education or medical setting. So even though you feel alone and isolated, you most likely are not. To help feel less isolated when you are stressed, reach out to a fellow SLP friend or another colleague and set up a break or coffee date or some kind to talk about your stress. use this as more than just a venting sessions (although that can be helpful to start) and come up with some ways to help each other or to be accountable for each other. Just having someone who understands can be incredibly helpful. And if you are the ONLY SLP at your work, and this leaves you isolated, set up some dinner dates or weekend self-care dates with other SLP friends or people in your area. 
  • Lack of competence and confidence: There are times when you won’t know exactly what to do with a client or student, but those times are rare. Most likely, you’ll need a refresher or to go research something quickly, and be able to treat the patient or refer them to someone else. And if you are the only person they can see, chances are, you do know more than you realize, or you can find the info, to help treat them. SLPs are resourceful. However, chronic stress for an SLP can make it feel like you don’t know what you are doing when faced with a case you are less familiar with, and this stress can continue to grow until it makes you feel like you mist not be a very good SLP. Chronic stress for an SLP can also make it harder to problem solve ad figure out a solution, because stress hijacks some of the problem solving parts of the brain, making it more difficult to work though problems. If you are feeling this way, there are a few thing to do. First, remind yourself that you know more than you think and you are capable of learning even more. Find mantra or have a motto to help you through times like this. Then, you can reach out to a colleague, look through references, or even sign up for some courses to help you learn even more and continue to grow as a clinician. 
  • Changes in your mood: One of the biggest ways chronic stress for an SLP shows up is in your overall mood. When you are stressed, you might notice you feel more annoyed or irritated, you have less patience and you overall have a more cynical attitude or approach to work – or home. Or it might feel like anger, uncertainty or even nervousness, or really any type of change. This is usually one of the first things that people notice when they are starting to wonder about stress. It is also one of the biggest things that seeps out of your work zone and into your family and daily life. If you are noticing that you feel irritated, less patient, annoyed, etc, the best things for you to do are to bring more balance into your life through self-care. Things like meditation, journaling, mindful movement, and reflecting will give you time to take a break from work, shift your focus, and turn your attention inward to work through the feelings and stress that is there. 

Chronic stress for an SLP is something that most SLPs are facing, but it doesn’t have to be something that sticks with you, or that you have to experience as an SLP. Below you can sign up for (FREE) resources designed specifically to help SLPs work through their stress:

For even more insights in to chronic stress for an SLP and what you can do to help manage it, check out these online CEU/CMH courses available now: 

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

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24Apr

How to Improve Work-Life Balance as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice New SLP Reduce Stress Self Care
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SLP Work-Life Balance PinterestFinding work-life balance as an SLP can be one of the hardest parts of the job. As an SLP, you have loads of paperwork and admin tasks, are often paid per hour or client, and might feel like you can never quite catch up. It means you end up bringing work home with you most nights (and even on breaks), constantly think about all you have to do (even when you are with your family or alone at home), and might even feel guilt about not working on your time outside the office.

For me, at the height of my stress and burn out, I often felt like my mind was on work, instead of being present at home, and it would leave me exhausted, drained and with an overall feeling of dissatisfaction in my day.

If you are finding that you are struggling between getting your work done and enjoying your time out of the office, here are a few ways you can start to find more work-life balance as an SLP.

Leave work at work.

This seems simple enough, to physically leave your work at work, but it is far from simple. If you are bringing your work home with you, it is most likely because you don’t feel like you have enough time to get it all completed by the end of the day. This alone can make you feel anxious and off balance, but the thought of leaving it at work can heighten this feeling.

To help lessen this stress, try two practices:

  1. Look for holes in your schedule where you are able to plug in some work. These might be small gaps that you didn’t realize you had, or it could be places where you are filling gaps with things to take your mind off of work (but ultimately leave you more stressed) such as scrolling through emails, FB or IG.
  2. Figure out the “Must-do” item for your week (the big report or IEP meeting that is due) and only take this work home, setting up a specific time to focus and get it done. You can find a template for this in the SLP Toolbox.

Remember, the work will never be caught up. It is continuous and constantly playing catch up will only leave you more exhausted.

Find a transition between work and home.

A lot of exhaustion comes from mental fatigue caused by stress. This is often due to constantly thinking about work, even when you are at home and you have left your physical work at the office. If your brain is constantly drifting back towards the work that you want to finish, the meeting you need to schedule and specific moments form your day, you are likely to feel exhausted and drained by the end of the day, and as if you can’t think clearly. And when you can’t think clearly, you aren’t present at home and you aren’t efficient at work, and your stress grows.

To help give your brain a shift out of work mode and into work mode, try having a transition at the end of the work day, before you head home. This gives you a clear break i your day, so you can start to leave work at work, physically and mentally. It can be any type of activity that you enjoy and that gives you a little boost of self-care in your day.

Try one of these:

  • Take a coffee/tea break on your way home
  • Stretch or go for a walk when you finish up
  • Hit the gym
  • Listen to your favorite podcast
  • Read a blog, book or magazine

Set up a Morning or Evening Routine:

Start and stop your day a moment for yourself.

Another way to help you feel find a little more work-life balance as an SLP, is to have a time of day that is routine and just for you. Often the mornings and/or evenings become rushed and are all about getting to work or preparing to head to work the next day. In order to bring in more work-life balance as an SLP, you can set up a morning or evening routine to help you ease into or our o f your day.

It gives you a moment of mindfulness and self-care, which are key to reducing stress, and sets you up for a more balanced day – either by starting on a positive and being in tune with how you are that day, or allowing you to let the day go so you can feel more physically and mentally well-rested.

They only have to take about 5 to 10 minutes. Here are a few to try:

  • Morning Routine: try a practice to help you build up some energy
    • Exercise or yoga
    • Meditation for focus or intentions
    • Journaling about your intentions and goals for the day, or 3 moments of gratitude
    • Starting the day with quiet (SLPs talk a lot and are surrounded by noise most days)
    • Go for a morning walk
  • Evening Routine: try something to help you unwind and let go of the day
    • Warm bath
    • Stretching or gentle yoga
    • Evening walk after dinner
    • Journal about 3 positives from your day
    • Meditation for sleep
    • 5 minutes of silence and a cup of tea
    • Read a book or magazine

While these can seem like a lot of things to add to an already busy day, they are key to finding more work-life balance as an SLP. They will take time to set up initially, and you might fond that some resonate with you more than others. Once you get going, they will help to reduce your feeling of being drained, exhausted and depleted by improving your overall stress, increasing your mental focus and clarity, and leaving you with a bit more energy.

If you are looking for more guidance, make sure to head over to the SLP Toolbox to grab meditations, journal templates and checklists that will help you get started on finding more work-life balance as an SLP today.

For even more resources to manage stress and reduce burn out, check out these CEU/CMH webinars, available now:

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

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19Mar

4 Ways to Find More Ease as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out Career Advice Gratitude Journal Techniques for SLPs Meditation Reduce Stress Self Care
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SLP Ease PinterestAs an SLP, you are probably more familiar than you want to be with feeling stretched a little too thin on a daily basis. You are trained in so many different aspects of communication (and swallowing), you probably have a pretty varied caseload (that is most likely way too big or way too small), and you are constantly between direct and indirect therapy services. Plus, you have become a pro at multi-tasking all day, every day.  All of this has become part of your routine (or soon will be if you are a student or CF), and it can, honestly, be quite exhausting at times. Or most of the time.

There are reasons for that.

Sometimes you might feel like you are loaded down with more work than there is time in the day. Other times you might get a new student or patient and feel like you just don’t have the skills or knowledge to fully treat them. And there will be times that you just feel run down and tired (or perhaps even sick), and you just don’t have the mental energy to do your work, but you still show up and do it anyway.

There is a ton of paperwork. Productivity levels change constantly in all settings. Caseloads are often out of your control. Multi-tasking causes you to do mental jumping jacks all day. You are physically and mentally exhausted. Add all of this together and you might notice that your outlook on your work, career and even your daily life might have shifted for the negative.

Being stressed and feeling stuck can cause your brain to start to work in overdrive to protect you. This is a beautiful and wonderful system that can keep you safe when you are in danger. But when you aren’t in danger, and life is just constantly feeling stressful, it only sets you up for more stress and more exhaustion each day. It stops you from being able to find more ease as an SLP, and leaves you feeling more and more stressed each day.

When you are chronically feeling stressed, your brain starts to stay on “high alert” to look out for threats and stress around you. If you have a stressful job, or lots of work piling up, stress is everywhere and your brain is constantly seeing it, signaling to your body to release hormones and keeping you in a state of anxiety and stress, which can eventually lead to burn out in your body (adrenal system), your energy (mental and physical) and your job.

To help shift out of this mode, you can do a few practices that help you to find more ease as an SLP, even when your day and schedule haven’t changed one bit. These practices are designed to help you calm the signals in your body that alert your brain to stress (deep breathing), help you to find space in your thoughts (movement), finding positive moments in your day (gratitude journal) and reducing the amount of task switching each day (no more multi-tasking).

Here are 4 ways to find more ease as an SLP, every day:

Gratitude Journal:

  • Helps you find some good in the day
  • Helps your brain to notice more good
  • Gives you a pause in the day
  • Write down 3 positive things from your day

Movement:

  • Clears your head
  • Blood and breath flowing
  • Energy lifts
  • Take 5-60 minutes to walk, stretch or move mindfully

Deep Breathing/Meditation:

  • Sends signal to bran and body to be calm
  • Decreases stress response
  • Gives you a break in your day
  • take 1-5 minutes to focus on your breath

Drop Multi-tasking:

  • More efficient work
  • More mental energy
  • Less strain on brain to constantly switching from task to task
  • Instead bulk like tasks together and check email at set times

When you incorporate one or all of these tings into your day, you’ll start to create new habit and patterns that help reduce stress, but also train your brain to be less affected by the stress that is around you each day. They teach you to manage stress better.

For more on stress management, make sure to check out the “SLP Toolbox” where you’ll find more strategies and tips to build ease in your day. You can sign up below for access.

Much Love,

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19Jan

How to Set Better Professional Goals as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Goal Setting
Comments Off on How to Set Better Professional Goals as an SLP

Set Better Professional GoalsGoals and dreaming big can become overwhelming and can make you feel as if you are stuck and they are impossible to achieve or reach. This can lead to more anxiety, stress and burn out, usually the exact opposite of why you created the goals in the first place, because they seem like so much work, or it feels as if they will never happen.

When you are stressed or looking to create a change, it often feels like it needs to happen quickly, and with a HUGE shift in our daily life, in order to make it happen and stick. You probably really want that goal to part of you life, sooner rather than later, so you push, feel frustrated when it take more time, and eventually feel as though it is not worth the effort.

The good news is, goals are more achievable when you take smaller steps (or smaller goals) in order to reach the bigger ones with time. This means – they don’t have to happen all at once and they can happen (and should happen) with smaller increments .

Take creating healthier eating habits aka dieting, for example. With dieting, people tend to want to make huge, drastic changes and overhaul their diet, and in return receive results immediately. However, it is often the people who make small changes that build over time who reach their goals and keep results for the long-term, more than the people who make big, sweeping changes at once (like New Years resolutions). This is because the huge, drastic changes are often harder to do in the short-term and even more difficult to keep up in the long-term. It’s where yo-yo dieting comes from. Smaller goals, that may not yield as big of results immediately but instead build up overtime, are easier to start and to maintain, because you are incorporating them into your current life and learning new habits along the way. It cuts through the overwhelm and give you something more sustainable. This is true for any goals that you are trying to reach or changes you are wishing to make.

Here is another example: Let’s say you are looking to reduce stress and overwhelm with some mindfulness practices. You have a friend who reduced their stress through daily meditation and you’d like to give it a try too. They are on Day 25, and are able to sit in a 20 minute meditation each day, without any issues with sitting, their mind wandering too much, or difficulty finding time to make it happen. You think this sounds like something you would enjoy, but the idea of sitting with your mind “blank” for 20 minutes seems overwhelming – you don’t have the time or stamina – so you decide it is too hard to do and not something that would fit your schedule. You share this with your friend, feeling upset that this goal won’t work for you.  Your friend let’s you know they didn’t start this way either. They started small and built up, until it became a regular part of their day, even though at first it seemed like it would be impossible.

If you wish to start a regular meditation practice, you have to start small and build, so that is becomes a regular habit that grows and helps you meet your overall goal. Start meditating for 5 minutes a day (or most days) and then build up to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, as you start to make room for it and experience benefits from it. When doing it this way, you build up slowly, so the changes are easier to make and last longer than if you had started all at once.

With goals setting, it is not always about completing your goal quickly or overnight, but instead having an action plan to help you reach that goal as you grow. This will not only help you to reach your goal more effectively, but help you to keep going and evolve more once you reach your goal.

Let’s look at the common types of goal setting together:

  • SMART Goals:
    • These are the traditional type of goal setting, and are similar to the types of goals used for Speech Therapy clients.
    • SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.
    • These goals are made to be well-defined, measurable goals that are realistic and are able to complete in a certain amount of time.
    • They focus on the smaller details.
    • The good: They give you a guide to follow and a time-frame to get there.
    • The bad: They can be limiting, without a lot of flexibility, and often don’t give you anywhere to grow once you reach your goal
    • Example: “I want to get certified in _ therapy technique within the next 2 years”.
  • Goals with “Soul” or Purpose:
    • These are more non-traditional, holistic ways to set your goals
    • A shift in how you look at your goals and the reasons behind setting them.
    • They focus on the bigger picture of your life, instead of the smaller details
    • They often work with how you want to feel, rather than focusing on what you should do or what you want
    • The good: They offer a lot of growth for creating your daily life and after you reach your goal.They are ever evolving.
    • The bad: They can be difficult to follow, without set steps or actions to take. They don;y always have a timeline or trajectory for how to incorporate them
    • Example: “I want to feel more freedom and passion within my work day”.

Both of these are great ways to set your goals, but they both also have faults that will make it difficult to pursue your goals, or to feel fully satisfied once you achieve them. In order to make better goals, you need to combine the two types to create a bigger picture and have an action plan. When you put the two together, you get to look at the bigger goals of how you want your work and life to feel – how you want to experience it – by setting smaller goals that can take you there and continue to evolve once you reach them.

Let’s set some goals: Start with the bigger picture and work you way down to create a step-by-step process of reaching your goals, and growing with them.

  • Start with the bigger picture – What is your overall goal?
    • What do you want to feel?
    • Find your core values/feelings/words that will help bring that to you
    • Examples: abundance, freedom, grounded/security, thriving, flourishing
  • Set a time-frame:
    • When do you see this happening (reasonably)? 5 years, 1 year, etc.
  • Plan it out: Decide how to make it happen in small steps
    • If your goal is 5 years – What do you wish to achieve by then?
      • What can you do this year, and each continuing year, to bring you closer to it
    • At 1 year – What piece of your 5 year goal do you want to reach by this time?
      • How can you start to move forward from your 6 months?
    • At 6 months – How will this help you reach your 1 year goal?
      • What more can you do to start to get to your year mark?
    • At 90 days  – How does this continue the month goals you have set?
      • How can you expand upon what you have done, to create more?
    • At 30 days: Where does this take the weekly goals you have made?
      • What can you do this month, and each month, to reach this goal?
    • At 1 week: How does this build upon each day?
      • What can you do each week to reach your monthly goal?
    • Today: How can you begin?
      • Where can you start today to get you there?

Example: You want to have more freedom in your life, through less financial struggle. You decide pay off your student loans in 5 years, through a side hustle. In the first year, you need to make _ amount to help you pay for that, growing it by X each year through various streams of revenue. In the first 6 months, you need to be making X amount through a few of the revenue streams, so you market them to new sources. In the first 90 days, you have 2 steady streams of income, that will grow over time. In the first 30 days, you start selling your first product. In the first week, you start creating your first product. In the first day (today!), you decide what type of products you are going to create. 

*This is just an example and not a fool-proof plan. Your real plan will have more details and factors, most likely. 

Now go to your calendar or planner: If it’s not written down, it is more likely to NOT happen. You need to write it down and put it into your calendar/planner BEFORE you begin.  This way, you can see what to do each day or week to help you reach your goals. It also helps you to reduce some of the stress and anxiety that can come with setting goals, because you are taking it out of your head and putting it somewhere else. This allows you to examine it a little better, and also takes some of the responsibility of remembering it off of you.

Remember, goals that are worth doing, and that are most achievable, are ones that look at the smaller details to help you get to the bigger picture of your life.

What are your goals for your SLP life and what steps are you taking to create them?

You can download this entire post, as well as a free workbook for Goal Setting in the SLP Toolbox. If you are a member, look for the “Goal Setting Guide” in the SLP Toolbox. Not a member? You can sign up (it’s always free!) below.

Much Love,

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