Balancing Work and Family

1. Balancing Work and Family Organizational Skills to Increase Effectiveness and Reduce Stress.

2. Student teacher

3. Class Size in Utah Schools A report published by AAFCS (American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) indicates that on a national level we are teaching about 5 million students a year in FACS programs. This equates to class sizes of as high as 35+ students in FACS programs.

4. Household chores: Then & Now Dr. Chris Moore, UAFCS Chair, Family Economics and Home Management reports 1976 - Over 41% of students reported they worked almost every day around the house, yard, or garden. 1999 � Only 24% of students made the same claim. K. Kelly (March, 2001)

5. Household chores are becoming extinct! In today�s society, children may very well reach adulthood without knowing what it takes to maintain and manage a household. Teaching these concepts and life skills is now even more vitally important in FACS curriculum planning and instruction than ever before.

6. FACS teacher in 2007 (today)

7. Compelling evidence demonstrates that reducing class size, has a positive effect on student achievement overall, but this takes $$$. As a result of the growth and expansion of both the population and duties of public education, FACS teachers experience a continual need to incorporate tools to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the classroom and at the same time maintain a positive personal life.

8. . . . Youth today need to learn how to do household chores and develop these life skills to prepare for the real world. FACS teachers can model how to maintain and take proper care of facilities and classrooms; principles which transfer to running an organized household or business.

9. FACS teachers under pressure? Clutter, unsanitary and messy rooms, and broken equipment stacked in corners only serve to reinforce the idea that daily tasks are not important. How do we teach these critical life skills and be organized and stress free all at the same time?

11. Purpose of workshop Shared in this session will be ideas to create success, balance and happiness every day, suggestions to organize the classroom and home while at the same time maintaining balance with work and family, and tools to eliminate chaos, prevent clutter and manage stress.

13. Don�t let it pile up�

14. Work Smarter� Not Harder

15. You know those file drawers and closets that are so full, they won�t quite close? It turns out they could be bad for your health: Every time you look around and feel anxious that the mess is getting out of hand, your body releases cortisol, one of the classic stress hormones. - Steven Maier, PhD, a neuroscience professor at the University of Colorado.

16. The 4 E�s of Effectiveness EVALUATE What can you change? ENVISION Make a plan EXECUTE Take action Be consistent ENERGIZE Be enthusiastic

17. Chaos

19. vs. Organization

21. An organized office improves attitudes, efficiency, and accessibility.

22. Organization and Cleaning Tips Organization is an ever-changing process; it�s a journey, not a destination. Every minute of every day a new approach is being thought up. Everyone is different in temperament, attitude, build, energy, and ambition; every situation requires a different style of organization to get the job done. The secret isn�t in how you get organized � it�s in wanting to be organized and committing yourself to do it.

24. Involve your students! Students need to take an active part in helping to maintain the facilities in which they learn and work. Chores can be as valuable as other activities that have made them (chores) extinct. Tasks teach self discipline, teamwork, help teens feel connected, and help them prepare for work and life.

25. Your system of organization should fit you personally. It should be tailored to your style, your schedule and your motivation. However, you need to remember that you don�t work in a bubble. Your teaching assistants, student teachers and students in your classroom need to be able to both find things and also put them away. Create a usable, understandable filing key so that everyone can help with the organization process.

26. Making space Here�s how you can change your life through organization. Julie Morgenstern, �Organizing from the Inside Out� provides a simple way to remember how to take control of any SPACE. Sort: Identify what�s important to you and group similar items Purge: Decide what you can live without and get rid of it. (donate it, sell it, store it, toss it.) Assign: Decide where the items you keep will go. Remember, make it logical, accessible, and safe. Containerize: Make sure they�re sturdy, easy to handle, the right size, and that they look good. The art of containerizing is to do it last, not first. Equalize: Spend 15 minutes a day to maintain what you�ve done.

28. Tips from Daryl Daryl Hoole also gives some organizational ideas that may work for you. Always leave the house/classroom orderly before retiring/leaving for the night. Do a 10 minute sweep. As a team whether at home or at school, everyone takes an area or two and picks up. When morning comes you are already ahead. Work ahead of yourself, not behind.

29. What gets noticed �No matter how the windows might sparkle, or the floor might shine, your efforts won�t be noticed or appreciated if the table isn�t cleared or the desk is cluttered.�

30. First impressions �Clean Your House and Everything in It� Authors Eugenia Chapman and Jill C Major suggest the following: Begin every cleaning effort by attacking those areas that visitors will see first. It will give the impression that the rest of the home or office is in similar shape.

31. . . . If you keep your storm doors and front windows clean, visitors will assume all your windows are sparkling. It is the same with a classroom. Your teaching area should be clean and inviting. It will make people feel more comfortable and welcome.

33. Don Aslett�s five S�s of cleaning Sanitation � Staying alive and healthy is one very good reason to clean. Germs and bugs thrive in unclean conditions. Dust can cause breathing problems for those with asthma or allergies. Safety � Keeping things neat and orderly around your home and workplace will do more to prevent accidents and injuries than any other single thing.

34. . . . Scenery and Serenity � We�ll do anything to make ourselves feel good. Ultimately what makes us feel better than being clean, and living in a clean environment? Dirt and disarray rob you of space, freedom, health, respect, position, and production. Sloppy surroundings carry over into your thoughts and emotions and affect the way you feel, love, and perform at work and at home.

35. . . . Saving Money � dirty things depreciate faster. Neglected surfaces have to be repaired or replaced more often. Leaving things messy eventually takes more cleaning chemicals and cleaning efforts. It costs almost nothing to be neat, orderly, and clean.

37. USU Extension � Quick tips for clutter control Don�t procrastinate�get started. Stop making excuses for your clutter. Learn to let go� be a giver or throw it away. Limit the amount of storage taken up by clutter. Practice the in-and-out inventory rule�if something new comes in, something old goes out. Less clutter gives you more time, money and energy. Keep everything in its place. Don�t let perfectionism keep you from organizing�sometimes good is good enough.

39. Filing paperwork Organized papers means less anxiety, less clutter, and more control. Determine and keep what is critical. Decide what to keep instead of what to get rid of � change your mindset. Weed out the maybes. 80% of the stuff we file never gets looked at again.

40. . . . Ask yourself these questions: Are there tax/legal reasons to keep it? Will it help me complete a project I am currently working on? Do I have time to do anything with this piece of paper? If I ever needed it again, would it be hard to get from somewhere else (is it on the internet)? Is the information up-to-date (is it more than 10 years old)? Would my work/life change if I didn�t have it?

41. Establish a filing key Collect all your papers into one central location and sort them into file folders. Label and organize files by either: Traditional A-Z systems (can be confusing because related files often end up under different letters). Category Outline systems - ex: Foods and Nutrition Fruit Apples

42. Energize your filing system Color coding reduces misfiling and stimulates your thinking � whenever you see a green folder you might think of finance. Straight-line filing, with the tabs one behind the other, is not only easier on the eye but simpler to maintain than alternating tab positions. You can add more categories down the road.

43. Scheduling

44. The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

45. Scheduling Not every idea works for everyone. Find and use what works best for you and those who work with you. Some ideas Use notes and checklists Use a planner, appointment book, or calendar.

46. . . . Share your schedule so that everyone can coordinate. (Have a general classroom calendar as well as a personal one). PDA�s can synchronize with Outlook to keep you current on changes (yours and others). At your faculty meetings, have a time to coordinate schedules so that everyone knows what is going on and to help avoid scheduling conflicts.

47. There are only 24 hours in a day TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK! Choose to eat a few lunches per week in silence. Use it as a time to eat slowly and to be with yourself and your thoughts.

48. Managing Stress

49. Develop a method to handle stress No one lives a stress free life. Some days are worse than others, but we all have stress. Since it is always going to be there, how do we handle it? What methods work for you? If you are always feeling stress, seek a new method to handle stress since whatever you are doing now is not working.

50. Serenity Prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr: �God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.�

51. So how will you deal with stress? What works for some people doesn�t work for others. There are lots of ideas and resources out there but you won�t know what helps you unless you try some of them. The following are a few of the ideas that are out there.

52. Limit your daily interruptions If you have a flexible work schedule come in an hour before everyone else to get through your emails and phone messages. Then you won�t have trouble getting to them throughout the day.

53. . . . Set one or two times a day to deal with your email and phone messages � and stick to them. Don�t constantly check your emails or answer each one as it comes in � unless you are expecting them or they are urgent. This distracts you from your daily goals.

54. . . . Go through your inbox and take care of everything you possibly can as you come to it. Setting it aside will just create piles that you will be tempted to procrastinate taking care of.

55. . . . Be friendly, but don�t start conversations that are liable to snowball into long chitchats. Stay focused and get on with your work.

56. . . . If you are busy, let your faculty, staff and students know. This is not rude. People will understand that you are busy and need to get your tasks accomplished.

57. Some new (and old) ideas to relieve stress. Stay away from overly competitive people. Focus on the solution- not the problem. Associate with positive, upbeat people. Accept that everyone has peculiarities. Be content with what you have. Avoid the supermarket on Saturday afternoons. Play games with friends and family. Only make promises you can keep. Cherish your family.

58. Family

59. Family Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

60. Balancing Work and Family Where does your family fit into all of this? Many of us believe that �family comes first� � how can that be true if we put all of our time and energy into work? That leaves nothing left for our family.

61. . . . If you have a significant other and/or kids at home, you need to have some positive energy left for them at the end of the day. Schedule family time and activities into your planner.

62. Transition from school & family At school, we are �professional�, so it�s usually the family that receives the brunt of our stress as we tend to �vent� at home! Reduce stress between school and family Use drive time to mentally transition Sit quietly and meditate, or even walk Change out of work clothes, transition to next �role�. Say hello to each family member, center yourself at home . . .and vice a versa!

63. FACS teachers can capitalize Transfer principles of classroom organization and student involvement to managing your own household and family tasks. Ideas that don�t work Ideas that work

64. Goals to help you get organized Slow down Imagine doing less Make time for loved ones Practice patience Learn to gently say no Increase your quiet time Follow your heart Yield to Life, Peace, Joy SIMPLIFY

65. If you don�t set your own goals � Someone else will set them for you.

66. So what are you going to do about it? Change Process Where do I want to be? (You can�t change what you don�t acknowledge). What are the barriers to get where I want to be? (Don�t give your power away to someone else to control your attitude).

67. . . . What must I do to get where I want to be? (If you always do what you�ve always done, you�ll always get what you�ve always got). What is my timeline to get there? (The difference between a dream and a goal is a timeline!)

68. Life before planning and action

69. Remember the 4 E�s of Effectiveness EVALUATE ENVISION EXECUTE ENERGIZE

70. And Remember . . . CHOCOLATE . . . ALWAYS . . . RELIEVES . . . . . . . . . . . STRESS!

71. Now here�s a happy FACS teacher

72. Bibliography Aslett, D. (1993). The cleaning encyclopedia. New York: Dell Publishing. Chapman, E. & Major, J.C. (1991). Clean your house and everything in it. New York: Perigee Books. Dixon, Maria. (March 2007). Limit your daily interruptions. Retrieved February 28, 2007 from, Healthy Utah.Org Stress Management Monthly Article. Website: http://www.healthyutah.org/home/hltharticles/stressarticle.html Hoole, D.V. (1975). The joys of homemaking. Utah: Deseret Book Company. Kelly, K. (Mar. 2001). Making kids do chores can be a labor of love. U.S. News and World Report. Maier, Steven F. (Guest). (January 2007). Urge to purge. Oprah Show. Memmott, M.P. (2007). Extension Agent. Utah State University Extension. Juab County. Moore, C. (2007). Are Household Chores Extinct? Utah Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Morgenstern, J. (2004). Organizing from the inside out. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. Selzer, S.M. (1993). Life�s little relaxation book: over 300 ways to r-e-l-a-x. S.P.I. Books. Shuster, C. Extension Agent. Ohio State University Extension. Perry County.