​

For many of us, a welcome break is approaching. I have often thought of our work as educators as an intense OB experience - being pregnant, giving birth, and caring for an infant all at the same time. 👩🏽‍🍼

We are in a constant state of planning and preparing. We move between organizing for the upcoming semester and teaching a current class. We have a meeting about the overall program curriculum, then discuss the newest tech implementation from the university, and then move on to course evaluations from current cohorts before turning our discussion to passing rates of former students. It can be challenging to be in all three phases at once.

But as a slower season approaches, I hope this pause can give you time to reflect and revive your energy. If it is still busy and hectic, that is ok too. But when there is space for pause, lean away from the guilt and into the peace. We are not meant to bloom (or birth!) during every season. 🌺

​

Current Series 🏗️

This week, I want to continue the "Behind the Build" series and discuss two mental tools I use to overcome the initial overwhelm of a big project. In case you missed the first three emails, you can find them here.

• Week 1 - Introduction and Ideas​
• Week 2 - Planning Process​
• Week 3 - Early Edits​

At this point, I have set up a planning process and developed a storyline for the new decks. Thank you to everyone who has contributed your ideas and thoughtful direction on these decks so far! 🙏

Now, it's time to get into the actual "doing."

​

Like any large project, some of the toughest challenges are getting over the mental hurdles. This week, I will discuss two techniques that help me overcome and stay focused on the work.

Focused sprint mentality 🏃‍♀️

I like to work in sprints. To do this, I will designate a certain amount of time (usually 4-5 days) and work almost exclusively on one project. Then, I take a break.

I think that one of the struggles that we have as nurse educators is that we are constantly switching tasks (think wild OB experience above). We go from teaching a theory course, to answering emails for a different class, to grading care plans for clinical, to professional development activities - all in the same day. And this constant change in direction can be detrimental to our progress.

Think of a few ways you can implement short sprints into your workload. For example, maybe Thursdays are for assignment review. Instead of correcting them as they come in throughout the week, you will turn off your email, put on some study music, and do the task all at once.

Email is another opportunity to decrease switching costs. Assign certain times of the day for checking and responding to emails. Dr. Tese Stephens does an excellent job communicating this to anyone who emails her with these automated reminders.

​
​

If you enjoy tech tools to help you create a sprint mentality, one that I use every day is called Sumsana. This tool integrates with my Google Calendar and Notion, which is fantastic!

I have a few sprint days coming up, and they are scheduled into my calendar. I will dedicate deep work time to the creative part of this process. And then, when they are with the illustrator, I will take a break.

Remember, breaks can take many forms and lengths. They are as unique as you!

Permission to start messy 🎨

"Being a beginner is beautiful" is my new mantra. Being "new" at something, not understanding it completely, and needing help are all vulnerable states. But I am learning to embrace this feeling because I recognize that it does not last long. When I build these case studies, they start increadibly messy. They are nowhere near fully developed, a hodge-podge of clip art images and fragmented thoughts. But instead of being discouraged, I look at these early sketches with love.

Here are a few images of my decks that started messy.

If you feel this way about a teaching idea, try to shift the lens to recognizing it as your beginner stage and trust that it will grow into what you imagine. If you haven't defined each step of instructions, if you haven't fully developed the rubric, or determined the best way for students to share their work, it's ok. We can keep beautiful learning experiences from the light because we feel that every detail needs to be figured out before we try. So start messy!

I hope that these techniques are helpful for you on your teaching journey or when you are overwhelmed by a big project. Our work has great variety, which keeps things interesting, but also presents challenges. These techniques have helped me to find balance and fulfillment in my role while learning to balance the constant demands on my time.

Do you incorporate any versions of these ideas into your work? Just reply to this email and let me know. I love to connect with other educators who have had similar experiences.

​

Next week will be the final email of this Behind the Build series. Effective Nurse Educators will return to your inbox after the winter break refreshed for the start of the spring semester.