Back to school: Tips for managing your mental health - Part one

Back to school: Tips for managing your mental health - part one 

It’s time to go back to school as the new year has started and for SBMs this means a very hectic time of planning, organising, and getting back into the flow of working. Many SBMs find that work must come first, especially in the crucial time of the new school year. However, GLS are here to remind you of the importance of having time to yourself and managing your mental health.  

We have provided a few tips for managing your mental health to implement now school has begun. Use our tips to help you get through the start of the new school year, as well as throughout the whole year.

Create boundaries between home and school  

For SBMs, work is on the brain constantly and it can seem like it is impossible to switch off. A perfect way to stop work consuming all your spare time, is by setting boundaries between home life and school. To do this, set times for when you leave school to go home and find a way to stick to it.  

Another method to use to set boundaries is to try and turn off the SBM mindset. This can be done in any way you choose such as finding something to take your mind off work. To help you achieve this develop an end-of-the-day routine. This can be as simple as taking a walk or seeing friends and family.

Have regular sleep every night  

Having regular sleep can do a lot of good for your wellbeing and is the heart of managing your mental health. It is imperative to get eight hours of sleep every night to be focused and refreshed. It can be very hard to stick to a sleep routine especially for SBMs due to a heavy workload and stress. This can lead to a lack of sleep and therefore affect the performance of work. It can also be difficult as the new school year has started, after late nights and more sleep than usual during the summer break.  

To help combat this, create a routine that you enjoy for night-time this can include: reading a book an hour before bedtime, having a bath, listening to soothing music, or doing a night skincare routine. These will help your body unwind after the working day and shift your mind from work to preparing to sleep.  

Doing yoga at home before bed can help to relieve stress and prepare the mind to switch off for sleep. Use a yoga activity book to help you start up yoga. This book is great for grownups as well as kids. Yoga is also perfect for the morning time too to start your day off right.  

To ensure you stick to the same sleeping time every night use a sleeping app or set your bedtime and waking up time using the alarm app on your phone. 

Build new relationships/connections 

Going back to school is the perfect time to start building more connections and relationships with students, staff and parents. Doing this is crucial for SBMs wellbeing as the role can feel lonely sometimes and few interactions are made. To ensure your wellbeing doesn’t deteriorate, build as many connections as possible and make some free time in your days to communicate with others. 

Reach out to staff and welcome them back upon their return; you can do this by holding a welcome meeting. This will allow you to create relationships with your staff and have people to go to during your working day leading to better wellbeing.  

Productively manage stress  

There is a plethora of ways in which SBMs can manage stress productively. It can be done through activities you like to do such as walking, meeting regularly with friends or family, or enjoying a book.  

Another way to manage stress productively is by changing your mentality when it comes to work. It is important to shift your view on certain tasks and to not pressurise yourself with tight deadlines. Some tasks may be out of your control, and you must remind yourself of this fact; otherwise, more stress builds up. The mindset needs to rationally think through what is stressful and think of solutions to it. This can be hard at the beginning of a new school year due to how busy it is. However, make some time to rationally think about reducing stress for yourself and remember if it’s out of your control, only plan for reacting to it (you can’t solve everything sometimes and that's okay).  

On the days when stress gets too much, try having something to squeeze and take it out on to relieve it. Our fitness eggs are perfect for relieving tension whilst exercising your arm muscles. 

Begin the start of the school year in the right mind frame and work on these four tips throughout the year. Start managing your mental health and put yourself first. We know it is hard, but it is perfectly okay to think about yourself and take the time out to stabilise your brain.  

To further assist with managing your mental health, read our part two blog now.