By making them happen, we need to overcome challenges. We need to manage change. We need to operate in teams to make anything worthwhile. We need to be fit and healthy. We need to find a work and life balance. We need to be caring, thoughtful and creative all at the same time.
The instructional activities we need to complete include design, development, communication, assessment, presentation and advising. Although the extent of these activities vary, as instructors, we are called upon to complete for the ongoing success of our students.
As an instructor, over the years, I have come to observe that this 'action' or behaviour can be shaped by actionable plans, but it often is initiated, maintained and fuelled by healthy habits. Our conscious self makes us creative, analytic and thoughtful, yet it is our unconscious self that informs our practice and compels us to do more.
In this vein, I have created an instructional routine to foster healthy instructor habits. Using various tools, my plan is to implement these routines and develop these habits.
The first step is to complete a set of activity categories for both work and home.
At first, I did not include home in my planning, not out of an attribution of less importance, but because I did not immediately see its connection. In the end, striking a balance is one of the most critical elements of completing the 'good' work. It is essential to making promises that we keep. It is monumental in keeping us human and fixed with what is purposeful.
These work and home categories I created include: communication, planning, development, delivery, assessment, research, networking, chores, daily activity, family activity, project work, daily prep, week plan, and weekly report. These categories are broad enough to include various work and home activities. I am able to plan for what I need and love. I am able to include myself and others. With these categories, I can make a basic and fluid plan for the week and the day so I do not feel lost and I can witness accomplishment. Certainly, with these categories, I am confident that I am not missing anything. When I schedule my activities to meet the onslaught, I know what I should do. I have the flexibility to rearrange, add, edit and delete. I experience less stress, leaving me with a open mind, a healthy mind and a positive disposition.
The second step is to identify healthy habits and track your progress in developing them. This step requires time. It requires experimentation and reflection. When choosing these habits, I pick ones that give me energy, that make my activity purposeful, and allow me to do good for others. The key is to pick habits that are achievable and set a frequency per week that you know is reasonable. For my 'taking vitamins' habit, I assign a frequency of daily. For my 'chores' habit, I assign a frequency of three times a week. In addition, I pick healthy habits that replace unhealthy ones. For example, I have included the 'daily activity' habit. This habit is an attempt to break the tendency I have to forget to look after myself. As well, I refer to my categories that I created earlier for another source of habit ideas.
The third step is to plan, schedule, track, and celebrate this habit development. I use Google Calendars to put down my categories down as recurring tasks. I use the Google Calendars so that I can view them on any device just about wherever I am. On the Sunday night, I carry out my weekly plan, during which I set three small habit improvement goals, such as a perfect record for daily activity. I schedule any appointments, meetings or other fixed events. I do a final pass to simplify my calendar leaving room for 'responsivity', down-time and relaxation. Once my categories are in place, I then add notes inside the Google Calendar events to outline any routines essential to the category and its related habit. For example, under communications, I list welcome messages, study plan emails, workshop notifications, study skills tips, follow up emails, and completion survey. These lists serve as options and reminders of what I can do. I need not complete them all. I have come to apply the maxim that if I complete one important activity in a day the day has been good. If I complete three, the day has been super. (I learned that maxim from my younger daughter and our mutual struggle to manage the day in a positive way.)
Once scheduled, you need an easy way to track your progress. This part can be the hardest. The initial problem for me was to set the time aside and find the right tools. I quickly learned that the time I spend tracking my progress and setting goals actually saved me hours lost in confusion and disheartenment. I use the LoseIt app available on my PC and devices to track my exercise and diet. I can participate in challenges with people from across the world and tweet my successes however small. I use the Coach Me app to track my habits overall establishing my weekly frequency. I can ask questions. Moreover, I can solicit coaching where needed. At this point, I must explain two trends: the first being that making habits social creates a motive and a personal accountability to move forward. This intrinsic and extrinsic reward is often the booster shot or the salve to keep us moving. The second pattern can be seen in the lifestyle nature of these habits. These habits are applicable to all aspects of our life from home to work to family. These habits are meaningful regardless of context. They are embedded in the places where we live and work. They are tied inextricably to the people we work with and the ones we love.
Once you begin tracking, you need to set aside time to reflect. You then need to reward your accomplishments and accept your stumbles. I begin my week knowing that developing habits will mean I will fall. I do not make this realization an excuse or rationalization; however, I try not to punish myself. I also end my week focusing on the positive. I find hope through looking at my accomplishments however small. I try to make my rewards positive ones that fit my habits. I go for a coffee or a walk with a friend or family member. I make sure I do not go eat fast food. Lastly, I go forth with humility trying to share this approach with colleagues, students, friends and family in what I say and do. I do so that others may benefit and so that I do not give up.
I must note there is an irony here. We are instructors. We teach people knowledge, skills and attitudes. We demonstrate, we detail and we guide learners. We assess and coach them. At the moment that the learner can do it independently or interdependently, when he or she can perform the task without extensive conscious thought and out of habit, we pronounce that they have learned. However, when we examine our behaviour, we often forget this same principle.
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