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Finding it hard to switch off?!


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Is anyone else like this? I wake up early in the morning mulling work things over...go set up (pack away setting)..work as in ratio..kids manic..focus activities not done...parent inductions..clear it all away and clean hall....evaluate... come home answer emails/niggles from parents...call other professionals...think about admissions for next term...thinking about next steps for my key children..stratedgies for behaviour/sen support...the funding forms for sen children having tried to do the OBS...parents eve to sort..reports to do...planning for next week..staff supervisions...sharing info with other settings who ignore you...its never ending...have tea..sit down..glass of wine..sleep...start again...half term next week....NEED TO SWITCH OFF...easier said than done....

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YES YES YES!! Most nights I wake up 2 or 3 times but the last week I have woken up around 3am every morning because of 'issues' with staff and children, trying to complete forms I've never done before such as EHCP, speech referals etc and once awake I just CANNOT get back to sleep as my mind suddenly comes alive........

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A yes from me as well!!! Exactly what is happening to you marley and mrsbat. I wake up and think all those things - plus will Ofsted come tomorrow? I try to go back to sleep but my mind has become so active. I get to work at 7.35 (pack away setting) and usually after I finish and all is away, I have the things to do that you described marley. It is my own business so all of it comes with the territory but it doesn't get any easier!!!! I am so looking forward to half term, although there will lots of paperwork to do but time to have a lie in and see friends I hope.

V

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Yes..exactly that...I'm a newish manager of just over a year and still can't get to grips with pathways..ehafs not cafs..now got behavioural pathway..mash which is safeguarding for us...Camhs..jat..ehcp..nursery funding..dcatch funding..sen provision mapping..new code of pràctice...early help and intervention..never mind language leads..tracking...the list is endless and mind boggling...is it any wonder we can't sleep .....:-P ...plus the physios, OT, salt professionals coming in and saying we would like you to do x,y,z with these children....but when there are only two of us trying to do that àt the moment on a quick 1:1 is impossible as you try to stop the boys running inside, playdough from being trampled into the rented hall carpet...the powder paint and glitter from being thrown around...sorting out the spilt milk at the snack table..turning taps on and then off..mopping up near misses on the toilet...etc etc...I am exhausted .....

Edited by marley
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I have been awake since 5am this morning, done a full days work and paperwork when I got home. now I'm on here and there's no signs of me being sleepy at all!!!! If I go to bed now I probably wont sleep for ages as I start to think of things as I lay there. I am going to print off some copies of policies and then turn the laptop off. Good night.

V

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Yes..exactly that...I'm a newish manager of just over a year and still can't get to grips with pathways..ehafs not cafs..now got behavioural pathway..mash which is safeguarding for us...Camhs..jat..ehcp..nursery funding..dcatch funding..sen provision mapping..new code of pràctice...early help and intervention..never mind language leads..tracking...the list is endless and mind boggling...is it any wonder we can't sleep .....:-P ...plus the physios, OT, salt professionals coming in and saying we would like you to do x,y,z with these children....but when there are only two of us trying to do that àt the moment on a quick 1:1 is impossible as you try to stop the boys running inside, playdough from being trampled into the rented hall carpet...the powder paint and glitter from being thrown around...sorting out the spilt milk at the snack table..turning taps on and then off..mopping up near misses on the toilet...etc etc...I am exhausted .....

You mirror my day....have the children become less respectful.....adding to the problem ?....owner/practitioner..I worry about everything...staff do not ...must be easy to be an employee....Kookaburra and Wombat got lost last week..after a note in diary from me to staff to count in Roo's friends and count back when put away(This was an expensive resource but loved by the children)...I was away.....what happened in my absence....they went walkabout....staff 'too busy 'to bother about it.....but there I was cleaning the toilets at the end of another busy day and who did I find lurking behind the sinks playing hooky...you guessed.Kookaburra and Wombat.Duck- billed platypus still on the run.......

Do i ever stop worrying no....up from 4am this morning..doing wages,checking emails,apprentice or not for September...the list is endless...oh to be an employee,,,,

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Ha ha the joys of DIY. I'm a newbie so probably haven't even discovered all the things I'm not doing. Like you it's pretty full on my to do list never gets shorter. By the time I've sorted my own kids out and done my chores I'm usually settling down to start work at 22.00. I struggle to keep my eyes open then usually about 23.00, I get my second wind then before I know it its 01.00 or 02.00 in the morning. Then of course I can't wake up.

 

We have to pack away two or three times a week and the staff grumble endlessly despite my saying 'could be worse... Could be everyday'. So hard to keep positive in the face of such gloom.

 

A rest needed methinks.

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We have just taken on new member of staff finally and was worrying that her lack of experience but much needed qualification would mean more work for me but she has been a god send , so I joked that she would need to read my mind , understand what I meant when I said the thingymabob. Or ooh ja ma flarby , she remarked that she knew I was keen on recycling , other staff had warned her and I said that I moan if things are not. done to my liking.

So she did something and said oh that's how She likes it meaning me , and I said great , model member of staff and going to be employee of the month. We don't have this is in place but it's made for a lots of laughs amongst us all, a nice bit of healthy competition and banter , so I think it may just be worth introducing it !

Edited by lashes2508
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I have recently become room leader from practitioner, and my days are exactly the same! I lie awake thinking of how i can make the setting look better, stimulate children, wow ofsted etc etc and often wake during the night worrying! So god knows how you lot as managers cope with so much more responsibilty, well done i bet you are all doing fab jobs x

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Yep - this is me! I finish work, pick my kids up, go home, put kids to bed, do planning, look for ideas on the internet, check ofsted reports, new guidelines etc whilst watching TV in the evening, worry about impending ofsted inspection all night, get up, go to work! I need to learn to leave work at work - it just is not worth this much worry for the money I get....

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' No room for Baby Roo ' Storysack.....

Yep - this is me! I finish work, pick my kids up, go home, put kids to bed, do planning, look for ideas on the internet, check ofsted reports, new guidelines etc whilst watching TV in the evening, worry about impending ofsted inspection all night, get up, go to work! I need to learn to leave work at work - it just is not worth this much worry for the money I get....

May have mutiny at work ....staff with ever increasing pressures...HARD group of children this term at

Nursery......talk of working at Sainsburys..for much same wages,bu no stress....what to do..?

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Guest sn0wdr0p

I realised I was not on my own when I joined this forum and found that I was not the only member logged on in the early hours of the morning. In the end my husband strongly suggested that I avoid talking about work after 9pm. I also watched a programme about insomnia which suggested that when trying to go to sleep you should concentrate on the here and now so rather than letting your mind wander to thinking about Ofsted, funding, rota, SEN (yes I know it is very difficult) think about the feel of the covers on you, the smells around you and the sounds around you. It worked for me.

I must admit that since taking my very very very early retirement last month I sleep right through the night.

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I find since retirement that I do sleep better, there are fewer times that I'm up in the night for a glass of port to aid sleep. (It works) but I do still stress about things left at work.

You all have my total sympathies

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I am 'employed' as the manager but still worry about everything, and often in the middle of the night, I think it's because it's the only time no one and nothing else is putting demands on you and it all floods in :(

Same here, if your like me- I worry about things that are out of my control :( Things that need to be done are considered 'unimportant' the owner :(

Even the staff who have been very good up till now are getting fed up with being taken for granted. No-one wants to put in unpaid hours when it's not appreciated let along getting thanks for it :huh: :(:(

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I want to "like" all your comments made but thats not really the feeling thatI am after!???...I agree with you all and will be thinking that I am not so much alone now when I am awake at 4 am in the morning!

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I sleep a lot better now I'm not waiting for Ofsted - that really kept me awake and was my biggest stress. It's not that we're doing anything differently but just not waiting for the phone to ring feels much better.

It is such a stressful job with so many small people needing so much attention that grown-ups really do need to be pulling their weight, and if their not those niggles get under other people's skin very quickly.

We do try to have a 'team laugh' at the end of the day, so people go home feeling OK, but as the leader you know that there are still a zillion and one things to sort out - it really isn't fun. I just try to have some unstructured time with children each day, preferably outside, to keep things in proportion. There's nothing like building a den or seeing whose boat floats furthest etc to blow the niggles away!

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Your not on your own. I do this all the time constantly thinking of things to do, how we can make changes etc. I get up and write it down but still doesn't help. I'm always sending emails as well. I'm always getting comments about the hours I work when emails are sent at stupid o clock at night!!!!

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It's a running joke at my setting that I don't stop working. I'm constantly looking for ideas, researching and reading. Whenever I have holiday booked, the last thing said to me as I walk out of the door is "and make sure you take a break". ^_^

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Was a switching off thing too. Went back to bed at 3 and sang Sound of Music songs to myself to try to switch brain thoughts off, but it didn't work. Finally dropped off at 5! For goodness sake! Dawn chorus starts at 6.30!!!

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Was a switching off thing too. Went back to bed at 3 and sang Sound of Music songs to myself to try to switch brain thoughts off, but it didn't work. Finally dropped off at 5! For goodness sake! Dawn chorus starts at 6.30!!!

Only just seen this! - I could have joined you last night too. (Went for 'quiet reading' as apposed to screen time xD )

Have either (or anyone) tried the 4-7-8 breathing method? I tired it and felt like I could remember how to breath properly!

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Only just seen this! - I could have joined you last night too. (Went for 'quiet reading' as apposed to screen time xD )

Have either (or anyone) tried the 4-7-8 breathing method? I tired it and felt like I could remember how to breath properly!

No, never heard of it but I'm intrigued...

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