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December 9, 2024 20 mins

*Join the School for School Counselors Mastermind today for the techniques, support, and confidence you need to handle whatever this semester throws your way.*

In this episode of the School for School Counselors podcast, host Steph Johnson addresses the common issue of school counselors feeling unprepared, whether broadly from grad school or specifically day-to-day. She offers actionable tips to prepare for the new semester, emphasizing the importance of decluttering both physical and digital spaces, setting up efficient systems, and planning for self-care. Steph also highlights the significance of tracking program data and creating templates for repetitive tasks to save time. Finally, she encourages a simple return plan and shares the benefits of the School for School Counselors Mastermind community.

00:00 Introduction: The Challenge of Feeling Unprepared

01:02 Welcome to the School for School Counselors Podcast

01:44 Preparing for the New Semester: Decluttering

05:43 Digital Organization: Reducing Cognitive Load

06:54 Setting Up Systems for Success

12:02 Self-Care Plans for the Spring Semester

14:40 Creating a Simple Return Plan

17:46 Final Thoughts and Encouragement


**********************************


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the things that bothers school counselors
the most, in my opinion, is notfeeling like they're prepared,
whether that's in a larger, moreglobal sense of not being
prepared for school counselingfrom their grad school programs,
or whether it's something moretargeted like I wasn't prepared

(00:20):
for my day, I wasn't prepared tohave to handle that crisis.
Not feeling prepared leaves usfeeling at loose ends.
It makes us question thedecisions that we make in real
time, and it's just not a goodfeeling.
So in this episode, I want totake a very quick look at how we

(00:40):
can get ourselves primed forthe new semester, and I promise
you this one's gonna be fast,because, as we head toward the
end of December and our winterbreaks, I know you don't have a
lot of extra time on your hands,so let's make the most of it,
shall we?
Before we do, I wanna welcomeyou back to the School for

(01:04):
School Counselors podcast.
I'm Steph Johnson, your host, afull-time school counselor just
like you, on a mission to makeschool counseling more
sustainable and more enjoyable.
Through our School for SchoolCounselors community and things
like this podcast, I want tobridge the gap between what grad

(01:25):
school taught you and what'sactually going on on your campus
, because my goal is to make youfeel competent, connected,
inspired and empowered to make adifference, even if you're
working in a super challengingschool.
Working in a super challengingschool.
So let's think about coming backfrom winter break.

(01:47):
Oh, it can't come soon enough,can it?
It's time.
It's time for all of us to geta little space and distance from
school, to be able to refreshour outlooks and reinvigorate
ourselves.
But think about coming backfrom that awesomeness to a messy
desk, an email inbox that isoverflowing, a calendar that

(02:11):
doesn't yet quite containeverything it needs to.
This is going to contribute, orperhaps perpetuate, the
feelings of burnout and stressyou might have been building
throughout the fall semester.
But if we're intentional in ourefforts, if we can be very

(02:49):
organized and really lay downthe foundation for a productive
return to school counseling,we're going to feel calm and
prepared and feel more empoweredin starting the new semester
than like we're just jumpingright back into the dumpster
fire we just left right.
So by the end of this episode,I want you to feel like you have
a clear, actionable plan forwrapping up the fall semester
cleanly and confidently.
So let's talk about some quickthings you can do to make that
happen.
Number one we've got todeclutter Y'all.

(03:14):
I've seen the pictures of someof your offices and I'm here to
tell you it's not pretty.
And that's not me throwingstones, because I am in the same
boat.
We start working, we startmoving things around, we get
flustered, we get busy and allof a sudden we have these little
piles of papers or these littlecollections of things deposited
all over our offices.
And we know where things are.

(03:34):
We can see them in our mind'seye, we know how to locate them,
but they're not organized.
They're not streamlined and,believe it or not, organized.
They're not streamlined, andbelieve it or not.
Research says that that isgoing to destroy your sense of
clarity when you're movingquickly and you're making
moment-by-moment decisions, oryou're sitting in front of a

(03:56):
student and you're doing themental gymnastics that it takes
to be able to facilitate acounseling session.
You don't need thosedistractions.
We need to make sure we haveeverything ready to go.
So, looking through those pilesof paper, maybe refreshing our
supplies, getting themreorganized again, taking away

(04:18):
materials that are maybe misused, worn out or that we just don't
need anymore we can file themaway somewhere else, put them in
a closet, not worry about them,but let's get our space clean
and streamlined.
Let's also get all of thosedocuments filed away.
We want to make sure that we'reable to put our hands on them

(04:41):
and retrieve them quickly whenthe spring semester comes around
, but we also don't want toleave for winter break with all
that stuff laying around, right?
So get them filed, put them ina binder if you are a binder
person get them scanned andplaced online.
However it is that you handleyour paperwork and documentation

(05:01):
.
Make sure you have that undercontrol as well your paperwork
and documentation.
Make sure you have that undercontrol as well.
And then keep a small filefolder with the few things that
you're going to need for thestart of the spring semester.
Some of those things.
If you're like me, it's out ofsight, out of mind, and if I
file them away but I know I'mgoing to need them at the start
of the spring semester I'llforget about them and then all

(05:24):
of a sudden, I'll realize I needthem and I'll have sort of a
little panic attack.
Oh, my goodness, where did thatgo?
I know I need to put my handson that.
I'd prefer to have it ready togo.
So create that one file folderwith the tasks that need your
immediate attention once youreturn from winter break and
have them ready to go.
Digital organization also canserve to reduce your cognitive

(05:48):
load.
So what are your unused files?
How many icons do you have onyour desktop right now?
Be honest, it's easy to throwthings in there.
How many things do you have ina random downloads folder?
Go find that stuff and move itquickly to where it actually
needs to live.
You might look through youremail inbox.

(06:11):
Do you need to create somefolders for different types of
emails Student concerns, parentcommunications, student support
team, those kinds of things andsee if you can't hit zero inbox
by the time you leave for winterbreak.
Oh, I guarantee that inbox isgoing to fill up again while

(06:33):
you're sleeping in and bingingNetflix.
But if you start from emailinbox zero when you get back in
January, it's not going to feelnearly as intimidating.
So that's our first goal, right?
Just organizing our physicalspaces as well as our digital
spaces.

(06:54):
Next, we want to set up somesystems so that we are all
systems go upon our return.
We were just talking about thisfirst system in our School for
School Counselors Mastermindsession.
We hold a data discussionssession every single month where
we talk about how we areutilizing and capturing school

(07:16):
counseling program data, and oneof the things we were talking
about is re-evaluating ourtracking tools.
What are we using to capturethe information we need to know
about our program, and are thosetools working for us?
Are they getting the job done?
Do they feel tedious?
Do we avoid them because wedon't like them, or are they

(07:39):
knocking it out of the park?
Really, really important totake a minute and think through
those things.
As I told my Mastermind members,we had several folks last year
who faced some concerningchanges in their roles at the
end of the school year, andabout half of them had been
collecting data and had beenvery intentional with it and

(08:00):
were able to advocate from aposition of strength.
And then others had not donesuch a great job with collecting
any data and they were leftjust kind of standing there
having to take whatever thecampus and the district wanted
to dish out, and I never want mycolleagues and friends to be in
that situation.
I always want you to beprepared and feeling proactive.

(08:22):
So if you don't have a trackingtool yet, find one.
There are some inexpensivetracking tools out there for
sure, and again, we talk aboutthis in our mastermind every
single month.
So if you want some guidanceand direction from folks who do
what you do every single day,come join us
schoolforschoolcounselorscom.
Slash mastermind.

(08:44):
But also remember that as you'retrying to track student
progress or track program data,simplicity wins the day.
You don't have to track all thecategories and all the
subcategories and all the thingsthat you might have seen in
trackers elsewhere.
Sometimes it's best to startsimple and then, once you get

(09:08):
those fundamentals under yourbelt, once you're feeling great
about them and once you'vedeveloped habits regarding that
tracking style, then you'll beready to get a little bit more
intentional and nuanced withyour data collection.
But there's no shame instarting in a simple manner,
because anything that encouragesyou along that data journey is

(09:32):
going to be a win.
Secondly, look at yourdocumentation processes.
What are some of the thingsthat you find yourself doing
over and over again and you'rekind of reinventing the wheel
every time over again?
And you're kind of reinventingthe wheel every time.

(09:52):
I used to have a releaseconsent form that I would fill
out for students every time Ineeded to request a release of
information from an outsideentity, and every single time I
would print that form out, Iwould fill out all the
information and then I wouldscan it back into my computer.
One day I realized a lot ofthis information is repeated
from request to request rightThings like the campus name and

(10:15):
the campus phone number, thosekinds of things.
I didn't have an electroniccopy of that form to be able to
just enter it in, so I createdone, and now when I need one of
those releases, I just pull upthe file on my computer, type in
the student name and birth dateand I'm ready to go.
So what are some templates thatyou can create for similar

(10:36):
things?
Behavior interventions, parentemails, student support
initiatives those things allcome to mind.
Just take a few minutes andthink through your documentation
processes.
Where are the blips and burpsand how can you address them?
And then, third, in yoursystems, look at your calendar.

(10:57):
Go back and reverse engineeryour spring semester in your
calendar, whether that be aGoogle calendar, an Outlook
calendar or maybe anold-fashioned paper planner like
the one we provide for freethrough School for School
Counselors.
Set up your non-negotiabledates, set up reminders and

(11:19):
timelines to the deadlines.
Really reverse engineer thatsemester so that nothing comes
up and surprises you when you'rein the thick of behavior
intervention and all theinterpersonal concerns that seem
to really kick off in thespring semester.
You'll be prepared, you'll knowwhat's coming next and you're
not constantly playing catch upwith yourself.

(11:42):
All right, so we've set thosesystems up for success.
We've organized our physicaland our digital space, and now
we need to do something that Ithink a lot of people overlook
or think that that's really notimportant.
I'll know when I need to dothis.
Do you have any guesses on whatit might be?
If you're thinking aboutsetting up plans for self-care,

(12:06):
you would be right.
It seems so cliche, right Insuch a tired way, to talk about
wellness in our work, but it'simportant.
We need to walk through and listour non-negotiables for the
spring semester.
What are the things that weabsolutely want to accomplish?
What are our non-negotiablesfor ourselves?

(12:29):
What are maybe some breakswe're going to schedule in for
ourselves, some personal days wemight like to take, or what are
some boundaries that we'd liketo install in the spring
semester?
This doesn't mean you have tocompletely overhaul your
professional life.
It doesn't mean that you haveto create boundaries that are
going to anger people around you, but it does mean that we need

(12:51):
to be thoughtful and intentionalabout where those lines are
going to be drawn in the springsemester.
If there are some places thatyou could stand to become a
little bit healthier, go aheadand just write it down.
It doesn't mean it has tohappen, but jot it down because
again you don't want to comeback from winter break, jump

(13:12):
into everything full steam aheadand then months later realize,
oh, I meant to do that, I meantto give that some thought or I
meant to schedule that personalday.
You'll have it all written downand ready to go, and this seems
kind of funny too.
But I think it's important toschedule some check-ins for
ourselves.

(13:32):
You could do that through acalendar reminder for journaling
or reflection once a month oronce a week in it at the end of
each month to assess yourwellness.
Or you could invest in someprofessional consultation and

(13:52):
support, like we run through ourSchool for School Counselors
Mastermind.
A large part of what we dothere is checking in with each
other week to week to see howthings are going, what things
are weighing us down and how canwe build better systems and
create better outlooks forourselves in our professional
lives.
So schedule those check-ins.

(14:13):
Make sure you're not justtrying to power through it alone
all semester long, because thisApril, may and even June roll
around you're going to start tofeel the weight of all of these
unaddressed needs.
Last, after we've organized ourphysical and our digital spaces,
we've set up some systems forsuccess and we've created a plan

(14:38):
to take care of ourselves.
We need to create just a simplereturn plan, and I hesitate to
even call it a plan because it'snot even a plan.
It's just a quick and dirty,bulleted list of the absolute
essentials that we need toaddress once we return.
Make it no more than four orfive things, small things, right

(15:01):
.
Not overhaul my data collectionsystem that would not be a
small thing but select a fewtasks that you know are going to
be really pertinent once youreturn from winter break.
One of mine will be gradereviews and failure report
evaluations.
I want to see where everybody'sstanding after the first

(15:23):
semester, so that'll be one itemof action on my return plan and
then freshen up the resourcesthat you know you use all the
time Around.
Here we call that our schoolcounseling jump file, and it
contains all of the essentialresources that we know we use on
the regular, things likesuicide screeners and protocols,

(15:46):
community resource information,things that you find yourself
either needing to print out orhand out on the regular.
We want to create a file withthose things ready to go so that
we don't have to spend any timetrying to access them or print
them out.
They're already ready to rock.
So, between our return plansticky note and ourto-go

(16:11):
resources, inside of that littlefolder we talked about, you
should come back being able topick up right where you left off
, without feeling stress,without feeling overwhelmed and
without feeling like, oh mygoodness, how am I going to get
through this spring semester?
Organizing your spaces, settingup your systems, prioritizing

(16:34):
your own well-being and creatinga plan for your return are
going to give you such a hugepayoff come January.
And it may feel right now, aswe're in the thick of the
holiday goings-on on ourcampuses and the end-of-semester
requirements, that we don'thave time to do any of these

(16:54):
things, that there's absolutelyno way we can get all of this
done without staying late beforethe winter break arrives.
But I'm here to tell you Ireally do think you could
probably get all of these thingsdone in 45 minutes or less.
So take the challenge, see ifyou can do it.

(17:15):
Make your list of the thingsyou need to do Organizing your
spaces, setting up your systemsfor return, scheduling your
self-care and creating yourreturn plan and then go post in
our School for School CounselorsFacebook group and let me know
Were you able to do it in 45minutes or am I just completely

(17:36):
full of baloney?
I want to know what you think.
So go post in our Facebookgroup and let me know if this
worked for you.
All right, my friend, it is myultimate goal, as always, to
empower you and to help you feelcompetent in your work as well
as connected to your fellowschool counseling colleagues.

(17:58):
And you have no greater ally inbeginning the new semester than
in the School for SchoolCounselors Mastermind.
I promise you I'm noticing lotsof other little memberships and
things.
Folks who'd openly criticizedme on the mastermind model and
what we were seeking toaccomplish in that are now

(18:20):
trying to emulate it, and that'sthe nicest way I can think of
to say copy it, because it'sshowing phenomenal impacts for
school counselors.
So go with the original.
We've got this down.
We enjoy weekly support andconsultation with one another
every Tuesday night at 8 pmEastern, and we also hold some

(18:41):
master classes and additionalexperiences, like the data
discussions I just talked abouton Sunday afternoons.
We try to make it as convenientas possible for you with our
timing, as well as our replaysand our wonderful community,
which we have moved off ofsocial media.
We are focusing on what needsfocus and we're eliminating the

(19:04):
distractions in our professionalpursuits, and we would love for
you to join us.
You can find out moreinformation at
schoolforschoolcounselorscom.
Slash mastermind.
All right, my friend, I hopeyou have a great couple of weeks
coming up.
It's going to be wild, it'sgoing to be busy, it's going to

(19:25):
be crazy.
Don't forget to take a fewminutes to soak up the goodness
and the joy in some of yourstudents' hearts as you navigate
through this season.
Don't forget to sit and holdspace for those who aren't so
excited about the upcomingbreaks, and then take that 45
minutes to set yourself up forsuccess as you return from the

(19:47):
holidays.
I'll be back soon with anotherepisode of the School for School
Counselors podcast.
In the meantime, I hope youhave the best week.
Take care, my friend.
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