Do you know how many times I shared a post on my website last month? Once. Just my month professional development list. Do you know how many posts I have sitting in my draft folder, either fully written, half formed or in the ideas stage? 111. That’s oddly neat. And kind of sad. What stops me from posting? Obviously there is the eternal overthinking, imposter syndrome, and self doubt. Why should I share that? Everyone’s already doing that or won’t want to know about that. Who am I to write about that anyway? And then there is the general sense of overwhelm with all the things I want to write about and yet am not sure where to start. I’m overwhelmed by opportunities.
It’s the same in my school library. So many incredible opportunities. Updating the poetry collection, organising an author visit, hosting department afternoon teas, scheduling makerspace afternoon drop-in sessions, running staff professional development morning sessions, planning reading challenges, updating our digital signage, running whole-cohort information literacy sessions…the list goes on (and on and on). There are so many things I want to do and achieve, so many things that get me excited and so many things that I know I probably should be doing. And I end up overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the opportunities.
So what do I do in these situations? Write a whole lot of posts and never share them? Make epic do-to lists and get distracted by the time-sensitive requests and emails and daily grind and never get around to those longer term goals? Get scared that it won’t be received well, crawl back into my shell and keep my head down? Well, maybe a little bit of all of that. But I’m also trying to set realistic goals that reflect my visions (both professionally and for the school library) and work on projects that help me achieve goals, making sure I schedule time for them so they don’t get lost in the overwhelm.
Do you feel the same way? Overwhelmed by opportunities, with too many things to do and achieve in the school library? How do you get around that? What do you do to get past the overwhelm?
This is when I remind myself to return to my vision and my goals, to refocus, and, yes, to write that to-do list, but not an overwhelming long one. Instead, I try to write one that is achievable, just a few things to focus on that help step me towards those goals. And this is a list I need to return to multiple times a week, month and term, to ensure I remain on track and not distracted by things that pop-up. And then I try to reflect on these at the end of each term. I find the holiday break a good time to distance myself from the mad rush and find some time to stop and reflect. Sometimes I am happy to discover that I have indeed made steps towards my goals. And other times, there are things I need to refocus on for next term. It’s a work in progress and something that I find does help with the overwhelm. Of course, I still have that sense of having so much I want to achieve. But I have to remind myself I can’t do it all and don’t need to. I also have to remind myself to be brave enough. To actually share my writing, to put that post up, to try that initiative, to stick my head up a little bit. It’s all about balance – which I’m still working on – and being more strategic and focused. And sharing this is one step towards that.
What works for you when faced with all the opportunities?