So its been a while. I have been absent for a long time and am beginning to get back into the swing of things. Where have you been, you may ask? Well, I have been suffering from burn out and am beginning to find my way back to myself.
Burn out is essentially exhaustion and emotional fatigue from a period of stress. Its something that is more and more common amongst teachers and is something I know I am not alone in struggling with. The thing I am finding difficult is that it isn’t an easy fix!
In my case, anxiety and depression were the main factors that led me to finally stop and seek help and which I am working on each day. The biggest decision I made during this time was to step away from my job. The job and the various strains were without a doubt the biggest contributing factor to all of these things and I couldn’t see myself making any progress with the thought of going back to work hanging over my head. This in turn has presented some challenges. But the main thing is that I have an amazing support network around me, and I am beginning to make progress to better health.
What has really helped so far, is the support I have had from planner friends and the planner community. I think there are many people out there who use planning to support long term conditions as well as day to day life. Many comments and messages of support have led me to try different things to help and using my planners really has helped.
Where I am now, is taking each day as it comes, working on my tracking to really help me understand myself a little more, and planning each day in quite fine detail to help me build up positive habits. Its helping. But there is an element of me that is getting a little twitchy, suggesting I am starting to get back to being myself. Social media has become a little outlet for a lot of this, so I hope you will follow my journey and perhaps take some inspiration along the way.
My Life Planned Out 