Category Archives: culture shock

ELT teachers need to understand and utilise their natural rhythms

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As ELT teachers we operate best when we allow our bodies and minds time to recover after intense periods of effort. If we try to operate at high levels of intensity for prolonged periods of time without allowing time for rest, we become mental and emotional flat liners. Our minds and bodies simply break down and we stop functioning optimally.

Our minds and bodies function best when we operate using a work rest ratio that was designed over 1800 years ago by a Greek named Flavius Philostratus. He drew up a set of training manuals for Greek athletes, carefully detailing the work rest ratios that would allow the athletes to deliver their best performances. His theories were resurrected in the early 1960′s by the Russian Olympic team. They enjoyed an unprecedented level of success at the Olympic Games that year. This really effective theory, simply states that every period of intense activity, must be followed by a period of rest. This allows the mind and body to replenish and recover.

There are two ways you can negatively affect your performance

  • Operating at high levels of intensity for prolonged periods without adequate rest. (Over Stressing Your System)
  • Not training or working hard enough (Insufficient Stress)

Over training or over exerting your mind or body for prolonged periods causes injury, soreness, break down of the immune system, anxiety, negativeness, loss of passion and mental and emotional staleness. Training or operating at high intensity without adequate rest allows toxins to build up in our bodies. This leads to burnout and the breakdown of our performance.

If we want to improve, grow stronger and build muscle. We must place our muscles under stress and then allow them adequate time to recover before we stress them again. It is during recovery that our muscles rebuild and become stronger. If we keep placing our muscles under stress and we do not allow adequate time for them to recover, we will see our performance drop off.

If you work at extremely high levels of performance for prolonged periods, without allowing adequate time for recovery, you will see your performance steadily drop.

The same is true about your mental performance and your ability to be creative an effective every day. If you work at extremely high levels of performance for prolonged periods, without allowing adequate time for recovery, you will see your performance steadily drop. You must build recovery time into your daily, weekly, quarterly and annual schedules. Without adequate recovery time planned and built into your schedule you will stunt your growth and damage your performance.

Break your year up into 4 equal parts of 90 days each. Ensure that you get crystal clear focus around exactly what you want to achieve. By prioritizing and carefully selecting a theme for what you want to achieve during that quarter. Break the 90 days back even further and select specific projects that are aligned with this theme. Focus all your energy on accomplishing this single project for the next two weeks or 30 days.

Apply my code of personal achievement, by selecting five daily activities that are aligned with achieving this project and carry out these activities every day. Your head must not hit the pillow before you have carried out these actions.

For example: If it was January and I wanted to improve my health and lose weight by the end of the year. I would break my year back into 4 equal parts of 90 days each. I would then choose a project that is aligned with this goal namely to loose 3 kg. I would break this back further into three periods of thirty days each. I would now only need to lose 1 kg over the next 30 days.

The code of personal achievement that I would choose could be the following:

  • Eat Six small meals a day
  • Exercise for 30 minutes each day
  • Only Choose low fat healthy foods
  • Drink 2 liters of water a day
  • Walk the stairs at work every day

These are actions I will take every day. They will be penned into my schedule every day. My head will not hit the pillow until I have carried out these actions.

Here is a recommended formula for success

  • Choose a theme each 90 days that is aligned with the overall outcome you are trying to achieve that year.
  • Break each 90 day period into shorter cycles. These cycles can be anything from a few days to six weeks each. Depending on the outcomes you are attempting to achieve.
  • Choose a code of personal achievement. Choose five activities that you will carry out every day. These activities must be congruent and aligned with the outcome you are attempting to achieve.
  • Invest the first few days of each cycle in really intense effort. Really get things going, launch your new project with gusto. Apply an intense amount of focused effort to each project.
  • Include time to rest every day, at the end of every week, after completing each cycle and most definitely at the end of each quarter and the end of each year.

About the Author

Hi my name is Andrew Horton; I am an inspirational Speaker, Master Teacher, Radio and TV Host, Global Traveler and Author. My area of focus is in the field of human behavior, expanded awareness and enlightenment. I travel the planet constantly researching, learning and seeking ways to unlock the mysteries of the human mind. I delve into the inner workings of the universe, always looking for ways to understand my role in making things better and contributing to the improvement of the human experience. Please visit my website to sign up for a daily inspirational message by following this link Daily Inspirational Message. This is your daily call to action, a reminder to do things better each day. Visit my website at http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

 

How to Overcome Procrastination in ELT

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Procrastination is unfortunately something that many of us ELT teachers suffer from regularly, whether it’s just an occasional ‘put off ‘til tomorrow’ or a recurrent lack of drive and motivation. Procrastination can often hold us back from what we really want in life, and unfortunately, it’s something that can crop up at any time of life, no matter who you are. A lot of people often assume that procrastination is simply being lazy, but this isn’t always the case. Often, feelings of tiredness, hopelessness, panic or even depression can cause us to put things off and avoid reality completely.

Procrastination is a trap, and once we’ve fallen in it can be very difficult to get back out, so why do we do it? Well for many people, procrastination is simply a way of coping with emotions and physical symptoms that often come with depression, often caused by panic. The unfortunate truth is that often, a ‘snowballing’ effect can happen, you may be stressed and under pressure at work, then causing you to panic, which may then trigger depression which in turn can make thing very difficult for you to do. However it happened, it’s important you get out of it, otherwise you may find that nothing will ever get done because you’re too miserable and negative to bring yourself to do it.

There are 5 main ‘style’s of procrastination, you may feel that you fall under one mains style, or a mixture.

  • Organization and keeping track of things is very difficult
  • You fear people disapprove of you, or fear disapproval itself
  • Important tasks seem futile, and so overwhelming it feels stupid to even attempt them
  • Hostile feelings towards someone, and punishing them by putting things off
  • Routines and Schedules cause you to feel rebellious

These styles of procrastination can often also overlap in one of four different themes: Self Doubt, Discomfort Dodging, Guilt Driven and Habitual. Self Doubt is people who feel that there are rigid standards about how certain things need to be done and often fear they will fail, they often second guess themselves and will delay taking action against procrastinating. Discomfort dodging is when a person will avoid activities that will cause them anxiety, discomfort or even distress, however, often by dodging the activity, feelings and tension don’t go away, and instead mount due to the avoidance. Guilt driven people often feel extreme guilt when tasks go done, but instead of acting on their guilt and working, they instead procrastinate, avoiding the issue and the guilt completely. And finally, Habitual people are people who have found procrastination to be an automatic response within their lives, they have put things off so often, that they feel it is just a part of them now, and there is nothing they can do to change it.

But there are things you can do to change it, and get out of your procrastination cycle once and for all. The first thing is a simple idea, but it works all the same – make a list! It sounds ridiculous, but it does actually work. Just go to your local stationary store and get yourself a large notebook, and make lists and plans for yourself to stick to, prioritize everything on your list in order of importance, and allocate times for these tasks to be done (1 hour, 2 hours etc). The key to battling procrastination is organization, by allocating specific times; you’re ensuring that you have enough time to do everything and get it done! If a task is particularly big, then split it up into manageable time slots, making sure that progress is steady, and you’re not giving yourself too much to do.

However, you also need to create some time for yourself, or ‘reward time’. Reward time gives you an incentive to get things done, because you know once it’s done you can have a break and reward yourself for your hard work. Procrastination is a tough mountain to climb, but once you reach the top you’re free to reap the rewards of an organized, healthy and happy lifestyle, as well as the true relief and satisfaction that comes with having nothing weighing you down!

 

About the Author:

Diana Samalot lives in Port Saint Lucie, Florida with the love of her life Jim, her 2 teenage twin daughters, Giselle and Gabriella, her 3 dogs Faith, Major and Roxie and her cat Shadow.

Diana is a Life and Success Coach and founder of DoItNowCoach.com. Her life experiences, dedication, understanding, patience and desire to help people makes her a compassionate coach for people who want to embark in the exciting journey of self discovery, self empowerment and growth. Diana helps people discover who they really are, the gifts and strengths that are within them but not yet discovered or developed to make possible the positive changes in their lives that they need not just to survive but to thrive and succeed; to overcome self limiting beliefs for those that have the strong desire to do so.

If you have a strong desire to make the positive changes in your life that you need and to overcome self limiting beliefs that are preventing you to succeed in your relationships, finances and/or health go to http://www.doitnowcoach.com/sq and subscribe to her Free newsletter.