It's all SUNSHINE and rainbows...

Recently I have taken on the task of the Sunshine Committee.

It's a little bit of a blur as to how it all started and ended with me, but I have to say I'm kind of excited!  I have a lot of support from teachers that have been part of the Sunshine Committee in the past.

With that being said...what's the point of this post in particular?

Yesterday, one of the teachers gave me a binder of stuff from the past years of Sunshine.  I barely know what to do with it.  Have things changed so much that a binder of papers overwhelms me?!

Apparently so.  

Granted I haven't done much, but everything I have done so far has been almost exclusively digital.
Let's run down the list.

Meeting Agendas: Google Doc
Cards (Get Well, Happy Birthday, etc): Word Swag app w/ Pixabay images
Ideas: Pinterest
Happy Hour Interest: Google Forms
Happy Hour Announcement: Word Swag app w/Pixabay images and email
"Binder" to keep everything: Google Drive

Granted, I'm not expanding to outside the digital box but so far what I have works...for me and my team.  I do have to keep in mind that not everyone at my school geeks out over tech like I do.  So of course I made flyers for the Happy Hour and I will print out agendas for meetings, etc.

But I feel more organized...and creative.

"Get Well" image that was made into a card for a teacher out for surgery

The image above was made with @wordswagapp (introduced to me by +Tony Vincent) and +Pixabay images that are found within the app. BONUS: Pixabay images are copyright free so they can be used without attribution.    

Challenges of Balances

This blog, while professional in nature, is done as part of my own personal love of writing and #edtech.

I haven't kept up with it recently because of "life".  There have been a lot of tasks to handle at work, another job creeps into the picture, planning large family events (weddings, parties, etc), maintaining a home, etc. all seem to take precedence.  I feel run down and tired.  I don't maintain some of the things that I do for me, for my own enjoyment.

I know that I am not the only person that this has ever happened to.  In fact, I know that teachers on a regular basis struggle with this specific dilemma.  I know this because at another point in time, I was that teacher struggling to find balance.  It has never been an easy thing for me to achieve, especially when I have so much on my plate.

So, I put this out there to the world.  How do you find your balance?  How do you juggle everything in your life, while still taking time to focus on yourself?  What do you do to focus on yourself?

A Step Away

For the last week, I've taken a step away from blogging, Twitter, Buffer, and anything work/social media related.  I should have but didn't take a step away from Facebook, but that is more of a personal social media than professional, so I felt justified in being able to chat with friends from all over the country and wish them a Merry Christmas.

In taking the time away from my professional world, I felt like it would give me a chance to reset. My brain was on overload and there was so much flying around in my head that I didn't know what to do next.  When I came back to work, I restarted and organization was my priority.  I started with a small Buffer list, then moved to my calendar, then last organized my emails.

I feel like I'm in a better place to move forward in an organized fashion.  Do you need to take a step away?