This is a test blog to see whether I can still write blogs following the four weeks and four days since I last wrote a blog. The last two weeks of Term 2 were very busy as I’m sure they were for you too. There was no chance my brain could process a blog, it could hardly think of the last couple of words to the sentences I was uttering in meetings I was in. However, I’ve had two weeks on holiday. My Christmas hibernation has worked. I’m feeling rested, I’ve got a cold of course (see previous blog Endoftermitus). I hadn’t declared a withdrawal from social media, it kind of just happened. I stumbled across the bit on my phone which tells me how long I spend each day on it. I was horrified. So horrified I’m not even going to share with you the figures! So, each day I have tried to use it less, I like a challenge and its working. I might have circumnavigated the issue at times by opening up my home laptop which of course is far too kind to point out how much time I am spending on it. The ultimate test was resisting the temptation to check my school emails, although I know I will do this before I head back to work on Monday.
This year sees my boys completing their A-Levels and GCSEs. Cannot wait…not. This will be a challenging time for all of us at home as we navigate our way through the volume and variation of procrastination, I expect we will discover when they’re supposed to be revising. Challenges include me not exploding when discovering revision taking place at the same time as catching up on Netflix; me having to bite my tongue when instead of revising they cook tea for me to eat on my return from work; me having to grin on the outside when they go for a run to clear their head; me acknowledging to myself I also rewrote my revision timetable many times rather than actually do the revision….honestly parents deserve a certificate for “patience and perseverance” presented to them in August when its results day.
So the self-control I have exerted over Christmas to put down my phone and “do something else less boring instead” (Yes for people of a certain age, I am referring to cult children’s TV show “Why don’t you?…” ) will I be able to continue to use into Term 3? Surely if I’m asking my boys to maintain self -control for the next 6 months, I need to too? No, I am not going to be sitting any public exams, but I will be tested in different ways at work and at home, as no doubt will you. So, whatever tests you face in 2019, I hope you face them supported, you find the self -control and humour to deal with them effectively and have limited but positive procrastination. Enjoy 2019!
Helen Burge
Academy Business Leader
Waffles of a School Business Leader 