I don’t know about all of you, but March’s wild weather swings often had me standing outside my office staring out the window at the beautiful  weather, wishing that I was outside one day and feeling like I wanted to curl up on my cozy couch instead of going to work another day. This time of year, when the workload feels daunting as we try to wrap up the school year or make our admissions class, we still need to prioritize ourselves. When you are feeling overwhelmed or ready for a break, but you don’t really have time, it’s helpful to have a few activities planned to help you reset. Below, I have listed 5 things you can do in your office to take you away from the stressful workday.

• Laugh - Laughter not only promotes positive emotional responses, but it also improves physical health symptoms, like better cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune system outcomes (Lyle, L., 2023). To infuse some laughter in your day, find a video series or your favorite comedian on YouTube and watch a short video. You could even send your favorite to a friend for a fun way to connect. I recommend checking out “Between Two Ferns” from Funny or Die, Nate Bargatze (for some clean comedy), or Leanne Morgan.

• Movement - NPR partnered with Columbia University a couple of years ago to conduct a study to find out the impact of integrating regular movement breaks throughout the day. They found that committing to 5-minute breaks every half hour resulted in lower fatigue and higher positive emotion. The movement breaks don’t have to be high intensity: take a quick break to refill your water bottle, walk around the outside of your building, or walk up a couple of flights of stairs and back to your office. You could even do a few stretches or walk in place if you can’t leave your office.

• Mindfulness - Sometimes we need to just shut off our brains to all of the noise. This can be really difficult and takes a lot of practice, but we can start by turning off or lowering the lights in your office, logging out of your computer, and sitting in silence. In order to help reduce the “noise” in your mind, it can help to count your breaths or do a progressive muscle relaxation exercise to focus your mind elsewhere. If you are in a K-12 school, you can get Headspace for free, which has a library of videos and meditation exercises to help with your practice. 

• Connection/Relationships - We went into this work because we enjoy working with people - students specifically. However, sometimes, you need other adults to connect with at work. Instead of sending that quick email or IM, walk to the person’s office to connect. This usually takes me more than 5 minutes, but just dropping in to say hello and share an anecdote with a peer can help energize you enough to continue your day.

• Practice Gratitude - The University of Iowa recently started an initiative called “Hawkeye High Five” that allows employees to recognize their co-workers for a great job. This is a low-cost initiative that creates a huge impact, but you don’t have to have an online system to implement this in your day-to-day work. Each week, plan to send at least one note of gratitude to someone in your life. You could send a quick email, but I encourage you to send a handwritten note instead. My bulletin board behind my desk includes many handwritten notes from colleagues that help remind me that I am appreciated. 

Another way to practice gratitude is to nominate your colleagues for an Iowa ACAC award! Check out our awards and link to the nomination form at https://www.iowaacac.org/recognition-awards. Deadline is April 17!

If you have other ideas on how to reset your day, feel free to share them in the comments section below! 

Good luck as you finish up this very busy season!