Because my job involves so many admin tasks and meetings, I feel that my life energy is being zapped doing busy work that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. To make myself feel fulfilled, I try to write about something first thing in the morning. Or create a Canva poster for my students during the day.

When I was young, I used to pride myself on having many interesting things. These days, I feel great if I can throw away stuff I don’t need so that my eyes can luxuriate in space. I find that if I stay on top of my physical mess, I will have more energy to deal with my mental load.

Yesterday, my big thing was to meet with my boss to discuss how to improve the curriculum for next year. Today, my big thing was to settle the seating arrangement of the boisterous boys and girls in my class. Once I accomplish this big thing, I leave the workplace at my designated timing with no regrets and no mental hangovers about what I should have done more. Nope, I switch to me mode the moment I step out of school.

I used to fear imposing on others when I sought clarification for my doubts too often. Not anymore. I now know that people are often too happy to share what they know and help others along. So I ask questions so that I can plug my gaps and develop my knowledge. I find that I am able to draw wildly random connections between different things, so I aim to know a little bit of everything!