Refresher Playlist for the New Year

​Tips for out-of-school time staff to weather the moment
from Melina O'Grady, Quality Improvement Coach and Facilitator

Balance media consumption. You can stay informed and in balance. The barrage of negative news of all kinds can leave us feeling afraid, angry, helpless. It’s ok to take breaks, to tune down or tune out for short and longer stretches. Practice spending as much time creating, exercising, socializing, reflecting, being silent, singing, dancing, playing, sketching, and dreaming as you do catching up on the day’s news.

Add in daily doses of laughter. Laughter can be a great antidote to global pandemic stress! Find different ways to nurture your humorous side, and reach out to people who make you smile. Smiles are contagious!

​Build your brain. Taking care of your cognitive side can boost your esteem, help you make better decisions, give you more insight. Read and listen to things you’re interested in – science, technology, astronomy, deep oceans, dense rain forests, languages, cultures, your own ancestry, even the neurological impacts of stress.  STEAM habits of mind refers to this as the practice of “Stretch and explore.”  More on adolescent cognitive development here. More on learning how to manage secondary stress here. 

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