"Weekends shouldn't be time to recover. They should be time to rejoice. Burnout cultures exhaust us through the week and force us to recharge on the weekends. Healthy cultures provide daily space to refuel." -- Adam Grant
It's the end of the school year. My fellow teacher friends and I are beyond excited about summer vacation. Everyone in education sees a proverbial finish line right in front of them. Crossing that finish line brings an overwhelming sense of relief.
But I don't think it's good for us to want so badly to cross that finish line and feel relief. Because next school year will be here before we know it, and we'll be back in the race toward that finish line once again.
It's similar to how most of us look at the work week. We're all working toward and working for the weekend. We say things like, "Happy Friday!" with excitement because we made it to the end of the week. Saturday brings with it a sense of relief. But Sunday brings with it the knowledge that Monday starts a new work week.
What can we do to make every day feel like Saturday?
I don't have a definitive answer to this question. But I'm thinking about the question a lot.
How do we design our lives to make work days feel more like weekends? And how do we make weekends less filled with relief and more filled with rejoicing?
I think it starts with the way we talk about days, weeks, school years, and seasons. It starts with consciously treating every day that ends in Y with the respect it deserves. Every day is a blank canvas. And as John Wooden said, every day is a new chance to paint our masterpiece.
We may never create that actual masterpiece, but every day brings with it the opportunity to do so...as long as we bring enthusiasm and excitement and appreciation into each day.
Make it a great day!
Coach Chris