Let’s be honest – who isn’t feeling overwhelmed these days? With the current surge of Covid cases, teacher and workforce shortages, absent students, lack of substitutes, quarantines… not to mention the stress of the job… it can feel like the weight of the world on our shoulders. With no end in sight. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

When we are in this place, all the self-care tips in the world can fall flat. Who has time for self-care when you don’t even have a few minutes in the day for a bathroom break? We hear you. So today, we want to offer just one tiny little trick that might help for those days when it all feels like too much.

Think of one thing you are looking forward to.

That’s it!

Just think about one thing you are excited about for the future. It might be something fun you have planned in a couple of weeks. It might be the next episode of your favorite TV show. And it might just be the simple feeling of climbing into bed at the end of a long day. It doesn’t have to be anything big. It just needs to be something that you are looking forward to.

Now, picture this thing. Hold on to this image in your mind. Don’t allow yourself to tarnish this image by thinking negative thoughts, like “it may never happen” or by adding stress to it, like “I can’t wait to climb into my bed tonight BUT there are about 5,000 things I have to do first.” Just hold this tiny image of something you are looking forward to in your mind and treat it as a sacred treasure.

It might help to write it on a sticky note or print off a picture that reminds you of this thought. What is important is that you have some way of recalling this thought when you encounter stress. It won’t magically make the stress disappear and it won’t necessarily make the weight of the world feel any less. But what it can do is give you just a tiny glimmer of hope… a crack of light you can walk towards as you fumble your way through the dark cave.