As the end of the academic year approaches, a variety of mixed feelings may arise in your son or daughter. Strong emotions such as excitement, stress, burnout, exhaustion, and anxiety can happen. To cope, students will likely divert to being hyper-focused on school or experience the opposite and begin to disengage from their work. For parents, it is essential to monitor these emotions and actions so you can help your children maintain balance. Balance is crucial to mitigate the effects of misallocated time. Maintaining balance allows students to remain motivated to finish strong while still attending to their mental and physical health. Here are three ways to support balance in your son or daughter’s life.
#1: Model It
Whether you work from home, in an office, are self-employed, or stay-at-home parent, consider differentiating work time and family/personal time. It may not always be feasible based on your profession. However, whenever possible, try to eliminate stressful work conversations and not check emails while at the dinner table. Ensure that you are also setting aside time to attend to your own mental and physical health, and make it known to your children that you are doing so. By demonstrating to your children that you have designated work-time and personal-time, it gives them a model to follow in their own lives to balance school.
#2: Encourage It
To encourage balance, start with helping your children identify what practices or activities bring them a sense of joy or peace. It can include going on a walk, exploring the outdoors, doing their favorite hobby or sport, listening to music, or exercising. Help younger children set up a schedule that establishes school time, personal time, and family time. Children thrive off of routine, so encourage them to follow one. For older, independent children, let them establish their schedule but encourage balance by instigating conversations about what they are doing to maintain their mental and physical health. Based on their feedback, identify where your children should invest more time and uplift them to do so.
#3: Reward It (but not in the way you may think)
Setting incentives is a classic method to motivate students. However, this can become counterproductive if it becomes their only reason for accomplishing goals or tasks. Instead, try to focus on intrinsically motivating your children to succeed in school and attend to their physical and mental health. It is a long and ongoing process, but you can begin by initiating discussions with your children about the ‘why’ behind their actions. Students can thrive more when they understand why school determination and their mental health matter. As your children start to establish their ‘why,’ they will feel automatic reward when they thrive at school and take the necessary steps to maintain self-care.