Posted on by hildaweisburg

Take A Walk

Self-care has got to be one of the most frequently given pieces of advice to help us manage stress. Unfortunately, as with much good advice, we nod in agreement and then don’t do anything about it because we are too busy. The irony is almost comical. We need self-care because we are all too busy and we’re too busy to start a self-care routine.

While many forms of self-care are suggested, from yoga to bubble baths, walking shows up probably more often than any other. There is a reason for that. It results in an array of positive results even when you don’t put much time into it, and it requires next to no equipment to get going.

Need a few more reasons or benefits to add more movement to your routine? JiJi Lee presents this list of Reasons to Get Outside and Move Around During Your Workday along with some ideas to actually implement it. Their suggestions are all about going outside, but if that’s not possible, indoor locations (or a treadmill) still provide a boost. The benefits include:

  • A Good Night’s Sleep – According to Lee, getting early sunlight can lead to a good night’s sleep as the early sunlight affects your circadian rhythms. For those who need coffee in the early afternoon because their eyes are closing, try a walk instead. The residual caffeine can affect your sleep at night.
  • Boost Your Creativity – A walk outside f you just can’t turn on your creative juices and a deadline is approaching, go for a walk outside. I have found it to be almost magical. As soon as I hit the fresh air, it’s as though my thoughts unlock. You don’t have to walk far, although Lee reports that Charles Dickens supposedly walked as much as 20 miles a day. As you walk, take in the scenery. Even if you take the same route every day, you will notice something new. Your eyes focus on distance rather than the close-up work of your desk or even the library.
  • Reduce Stress – We are well aware of the negative effects stress has on our professional and personal life. We are irritable with people for big and little things, which affect our relationships. There are medical effects including weight gain, high blood pressure, and anxiety/panic attacks. Walking lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. When you get outside, you can feel it flattening out.
  • Enhanced Productivity – We tend to think of going out for a walk as taking away valuable time, but in fact it results in more work getting done and frequently a higher quality. As Lee says, “it will help you reset, improve your attention and memory, and put you in a better headspace for your work”

So how to start this practice? Lee has the following recommendations:

  • Go for a walk in the morning – Get up a little earlier and head outside. It will start your day off right.
  • Schedule your breaks – Put breaks on your daily calendar or to-do list. Set an alarm. You know your schedule. Look for small chunks of time, even 10 minutes, to walk.
  • Have lunch outside – Do it alone or with a friend. Lee suggests pairing it with a gratitude journal. You get the benefit of some positive thoughts along with the benefits of fresh air.
  • Get off at an earlier stop – This works for those who take a bus. For those of you who don’t, park your car at a distance when you shop. Walk along the strip mall. Five minutes more won’t cause a problem – but it may prevent one later.
  • Walk around your floor – Don’t use inclement weather as an excuse. If the weather is bad, walk around your building. You will notice things differently. It’s not as good as going outside, but it’s better than staying inside your library.

I cannot say enough about how walking has benefited me. I’ve come up with book concepts, blog ideas, and made neighborhood friends because of this habit. Each day as I begin my walk, I feel the difference in my breathing, my stress, and my thinking. I urge you to find something like this for you (maybe it’s yoga, playing piano, or coloring). You will feel better for it and the benefits will spread beyond you.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Giving Compliments That Matter

In Creativity Inc., Ed Catmull, one of the cofounders of Pixar, writes about Good Notes which was how staff members were trained to give feedback in a way that could be heard and used. Compliments are much the same. Being complimented always makes us feel good. And while some linger with us for a long time, other we can’t recall. Knowing what makes the difference can contribute to the ongoing success of your library by strengthening your relationships.

It starts with being specific. “You look nice” doesn’t have the same impact as, “You’re new haircut is terrific.” If you start giving specific compliments, you will see a difference in how people respond. Commenting about the design of a teacher’s bulletin board and what stood out to you can open a channel to start a conversation about a future unit. When you complete a learning project with a teacher and say something about how well they prepared their class, they are apt to return with another project.

This goes for students as well. If you say “good job” they will appreciate the recognition. But talking about what you notice them accomplish lets them see you really understand and appreciate what was involved. The more substantive compliments you give students, the better they will respond to you. This will have an effect on their behavior in the library and make a difference in how they approach you and tasks in the future.

To take this process further, Steve Keating has these seven suggestions to practice in learning How to Give a Sincere Compliment:

  • Be Genuine – Mean it. Honesty is an important leadership quality. You should always say what you mean and mean what you say. Most people can tell if you are saying something nice only because a compliment seems called for. This is why specific is more meaningful.
  • Timing Matters – When is the person in the best position to hear it? Most often it’s in the moment. But sometimes too much is happening to say anything. Look for a time soon after and try not to wait.
  • Use Positive Language – Keating says instead of saying “You’re not as bad as others at this.” What is heard is “you’re not really good at it,” Instead, consider something like, “I appreciate all the work you’re doing to improve.” Keep the focus on what is working.
  • Body Language – Not only can people usually tell if you don’t mean what you are saying – they can see it. Your body language should align with your words. This is one of the reasons being honest is important – your body generally agrees with what you are thinking.
  • Avoid Backhanded Compliments – This is worse than not complimenting. Like not using positive language, it inevitably is demeaning. Keating’s example is “You’re surprisingly good at this.” The receiver is left wondering how bad he actually is.
  • Personalize the Compliment – For a compliment people really remember, raise the specificity of it. It tells them you see them for who they are and what they are accomplishing. The example in the post is, “I’ve noticed your attention to detail in your work. It really sets you apart.”
  • Be Mindful of Cultural Sensitivities – Keating means, depending on the culture, a compliment may not be appropriate. Understand the context and your audience. Melinda Reitz has a list of compliments from other cultures that sound like insults. And of course, beware of giving “compliments” that display inherent bias.

Compliments are a powerful communication tool. Used properly, they give us an opportunity to connect while acknowledging the growth and achievement of the people around us. World Compliment Day is coming on March 1st. If you start practicing now, you will be comfortable with this new skill by then. And who knows… maybe you’ll even receive some meaningful ones as well.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Starting Fresh

What if today was actually your first day? No, not your first day back, your first day at your current position. Sometimes the things we “know” get in the way of seeing things as they are. So, I’m going to ask you to do a little exercise with me.

Pretend you are just starting as the librarian in your library.

No matter how many years you’ve been at your job, taking as fresh look at your library will allow you to see new ways to proceed. Tomorrow, pause before entering the library. As you go through the doors, look at it as if you were seeing it for the first time. Then ask yourself: What do you like about it? What needs changing or updating? What draws you in or makes you curious? What catches your eye first? Is that what you want others to notice? What might be missing? What are you looking for that you don’t see? Next, think about the role of your library? If you were new on the job, what would you do to make the library stand out?

In Leader First Impressions, Bill Whipple, speaking to someone in the business world who has just begun a new job, has seven suggestions we can also use in our practice:

  1. Learn about the culture – Culture controls much that occurs in a school or district. How is education in general and the library in particular viewed in your district? How is discipline handled? Have there been changes? New principals and superintendents can alter the culture. Certainly, the political situation has done so as well. What does this mean for the library? Consider whether you need to frame your requests differently. Is there something you can/need to do to put your library in a better position?
  2. Establish rapport one on one – Take stock of your relationships throughout the school. No, you wouldn’t have these if you were just starting, so think honestly about whether they are where you want them to be. If not – how can you change or strengthen this? Showing interest is always the first step. Start with your principal or supervisor. Ask about their holiday, and actively listen to their answer. Next, check in with your colleagues with whom you already have good relationships. The contact will strengthen them. Then think about if there is someone new or relatively new on the staff. Make a point of getting to know them better. Create connection. Then you are in a position for the next step.
  3. Build trust as early as possible – Trust is the foundation of relationships. Build on your interest in others by following up based on what you learned. This may mean supplying teachers with a resource that connects to something they are working on or sending them an article relating to one of their interests. You can do this with your principal as well and consider creating a plan to keep them updated on the library’s programs so they can show their superiors. Be aware of what you learn as your connections deepen. Note things that are creating stress. When you do this, you will also find they have an interest in what’s happening for you. By doing this you will have the advocates you may need in times ahead.
  4. Avoid pushing ideas from a former job – In this particular situation, this would mean not assuming that a project that worked with one teacher will do the same for another. Teacher styles are different. Start with where they are and work from there. With principals the same goes. Don’t assume that what worked with previous administrators (from this district or others) will be welcome. This connects to the last two – build on what you know about this administrator in this position, then show how your work and goals supports theirs.
  5. Observe the informal organization and cliques – Don’t miss the opportunity to see teacher interactions with each other. Yes, this means taking lunch outside of the library. Have there been new friendships? If it’s across subject or grade level, it may be an opportunity to do a multi-discipline project. The teachers would enjoy working with each other. Stay aware of and do your best to identify the underlying power structure? It’s not just someone’s title. Sometimes the principal’s secretary holds more than most people realize. Be cognizant of it and use what you discover with integrity.
  6. Practice management by wandering around extensively until you are a known quantity –Take walks around the building. What’s on the walls? How often are they changed? Who’s doing what? You will get ideas about projects to propose. And there is a chance for serendipitous meetings while you are walking. Let yourself be seen and then the school population won’t only think of you when they need the library. You’ll be an available resource.
  7. Check your body language – Always! Your body speaks as much as you do. People react mostly without being aware that they are factoring it into what you are saying. Open posture, relaxed shoulders, appropriate smiles all go a long way to creating connections. At the same time, learn to consciously read the body language of others. It will tip you off about much that is going on with that person and if their open to or concerned about what you’re saying.

Make this month a new beginning. Taking a fresh look at your library and your school will help you as you move forward throughout the year. As you focus on new ways to reach teachers and your principal, you will find new ways to step into your role as the leader you are and need to be.

Here’s to a great second semester and continuing the school year stronger than ever.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Reflect, Renew, Plan

Happy New Year! You probably aren’t quite ready to think about heading back to school yet, but before your super-busy work schedule takes over your life, I thought I’d offer some ideas for how use the remaining time to get the year started in the best possible way.

When there is so much pulling at you and demanding your attention, it is all too easy to push forward without giving yourself time to think. That way leads only to rapid exhaustion with no sense of what you have accomplished or where you want to go. If you can’t do it before, schedule time on or after your first day back to anchor yourself, and you will be more productive and more likely to achieve the results you want by the end of the school year. Helen Tupper and Sandra Ellis offer a musically oriented 3-step approach in explaining How to Create Your Own “Year in Review.”

  1. Press Pause – Although January 1 is not the beginning of the school year for educators, the first half is broken up by many holidays. Learning tends to go into high gear after the winter break. Pause is such an important step before starting anything, and it’s a critical step now.

The authors say to use this time to answer key questions. Ones that can work for us include:

  • What was my biggest success?
    • What made it happen? What can improve it?
  • What didn’t work?
    • What did I learn from that?
  • What can I realistically achieve by the end of the school year? (Make sure it connects to your Mission and/or Vision.)

Take the time to write down your answers. This is an important step as helps you to focus.

2. Play it Back – This is where having a mentor really helps. If not a mentor, choose a librarian friend. Schedule a time when you can share your answers to further clarify your thinking. Did you minimize your successes? Miss a key success?

Add some questions. Among the authors’ suggestions are: What was most fulfilling? Most frustrating? You might also add:

  • Where was I afraid to step out of my comfort zone?
  • What was the most useful thing I learned from a print or digital source?
  • Who enjoyed working with me on a project?

3. Fast Forward –Review what you discovered in the first two steps. Use your results to create an action plan. Again, start with some questions. Two of the authors’ suggestions I like are: “What habit will I commit to? What is one mistake I won’t make again?”

I would add:

  • Who can I target for a cooperative project?
  • What do I need to do to inform stakeholders of what the library has accomplished?
  • What do I need to do to move the library’s vision closer to reality?
  • What’s my plan for it?

With the clarity this reflection gave you, you are now ready to start the last half of the school year. Be the leader your teachers and students need you to be, and I hope you have a great second semester.