Continued from Controlling Stress as an Online Instructor {Part 2}
5. Social Support
Because of the nature of being an online instructor – working from home and not having a colleague down the hall that I can commiserate with, it’s been very important for me to establish social support in a few different realms. As an online instructor there is often a chat room or forum of some type for instructors to discuss classroom concerns. I have found these types of forums very beneficial and helpful as I deal with stressful situations within the classroom.
I have also worked to establish a strong social support system within my own family and friend groups. When I first started teaching online I did not feel like I had this support as many people did not fully understand the concept but now I feel like my husband is much more supportive. I have also established a tight-knit group of friends who I can reach out to when I’m having a particularly stressful day. Perhaps they will bring lunch to my house and make me laugh or we can take our kids to the park for a break from the normal routine. Having these social support systems is a stress reliever for me as it allows me to obtain some much needed work-life balance and have someone to talk to which is an aspect of telecommuting that is often quite isolating.
6. Establishing Set Work Hours
Before I was a full-time online instructor, my day was a mish-mash of trying to accomplish work related tasks while simultaneously caring for my three children. I quickly found this to be an arduous task and found myself becoming quite stressed because it felt like I was always working. When I thought I had 5 minutes, I’d login to my classroom – and then I would become distracted by making lunch or some other task – and it felt like I was always working. It was quite stressful for me. Eventually, I found that establishing the hours I would be online – both for myself and for my students, was significantly less stressful than trying to cram bits of work into the cracks in my day. Eventually, my children started preschool and I could work uninterrupted during that time which also helped to reduce my stress-levels.
Currently, I have set work hours for my online instructor position of 10 am to 4 pm each day. The other two hours per day are at my discretion, but I have found that planning my day, hour-by-hour, truly does help me to feel less stress and more present in all aspects of my life. For example, since my children are in school, I do not login to my classrooms until after they have been dropped off at 8:30. Also, after my work hours end at 4 pm, I do not log back into the computer until after they are in bed and then I typically work another hour or two in the evening, depending on how productive my day has been. Knowing that I am not going to work from 4 pm to 8 pm allows me to shut off my “work brain” and focus on the tasks at hand – homework, dinner, cleanup, baths, and being with my children.
How do you manage your stress levels as an online instructor? What other techniques or strategies do you utilize that could be beneficial to others trying to manage stress in this position?
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
