Falling behind in self care during finals

As many students could probably relate, the past couple of weeks have been more about survival and meeting deadlines instead of focusing on self-care or doing any learning for pleasure. My learning project has allowed me to explore the pleasure of reading, but also learn more about my inability to slow down. Talking to family and friends who are in the education world, I find this to be typical among teachers and Educational Assistants. My colleagues who are EAs often have multiple jobs and hobbies, plus children and their extracurricular activities and hobbies. Many of my colleagues and I joke that we are “best in chaos”. Reading in bed is not chaos at all, but watching a TV show, a YouTube video, and TikTok as well as listening to music at the same time is chaos.

This week I was able to complete some reading but found myself easily distracted by my ‘to-do’ list, my dogs, the fact my house could use a clean, or my friend is calling, or an email from work just came in, or overall just slowing down give my brain the time to panic on all that needs to be done by the end of the weekend. I have however, found that listening to music helps a great deal to help me concentrate. I have recently found a new love for exploring music and creating a catalog on my phone of all the songs I like, and only the songs I like. I have over this semester added and deleted hundreds of songs to my phone, made playlists, shared them, made some for my friends, and even went to a concert for the first time since high school –  and I got floor seats. I found myself looking for activities I could do so I can listen to music, like folding laundry, walking my dogs, doing the dishes, and reading. Despite this learning project being full of ups and downs, I have, without a doubt, learned how to slow down and be present in the world. I may have only read a headful of chapters this week, but I have been able to do that as well as all my other duties around the house and at work, and that is a major accomplishment for me, even if it isn’t the expected one.

Being ADHD, the process of learning to slow down isn’t just a one-semester challenge, but one I will likely struggle with for most of my life, but the focus I have put into it this semester has without a doubt granted me many skills as well and new joys in the ‘boring’ parts of life. I am grateful for the opportunity this project has given me, despite it being a great challenge for me, and one that is very different from the other challenges I have been offered in post-secondary.