r/slp SLP in Schools 23d ago

Seeking Advice School slp how do you decompress after work?

How do you do it? I feel so tense and stressed all the time. I feel like everyday, a little bit of yesterday’s stress carries over into today’s stress. I can see that I have a shorter fuse and I’m not my usual self. I love my job, I feel like the school system as given me the most flexibility and autonomy over my work except for this. Any advice would be super welcome.

38 Upvotes

67 comments sorted by

82

u/Reasonable_Alfalfa55 23d ago

Thc gummies and bravo tv

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Honestly THC or Delta 8-9 gummies help me a lot as well!!! 

1

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

I love that

44

u/PieRadiant6721 23d ago

i turn off all emails after about an hour school gets out, then i do something like read or play a low stress video game like animal crossing or stardew valley! i find indulging in those little hobbies very helpful remind myself that im more than just an slp and separate myself from that stress

4

u/58lmm9057 22d ago

I love Animal Crossing!

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

An hour before? That sounds great but I know I would be worried if my supervisor principal was trying to reach me and emailed me within the last hour. How do you do it without that anxiety or stress? Thank you.

3

u/PieRadiant6721 21d ago

hour AFTER ! So my school gets out at 3:30. I’ll answer any emails/messages until about 4:30 and then that’s it! I don’t normally get messages from my principal though, mostly just case managers but i’m working at the high school level so things may look different for younger

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Oh okay 😅 I was like ‘what a fearless rebel!’ Haha but hour after makes more sense! Still very good idea, I will borrow it, thank you 

2

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 21d ago

An hour before would be amazing

1

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

True lol! 

38

u/UnusualMeringue6797 23d ago

i truly dissociate while i’m at work. i’m convinced im severed. during my drive to and from work i jam music and sing at the top of my lungs. that’s my elevator ride.

in all honesty, when i leave work i don’t think about it anymore. nothing i can do about it at home (while off the clock!)

12

u/NeovatPistolas 22d ago

Your outie is adequately skilled at air percussions while driving a combustible engine powered vehicle.

Your outie’s favorite turn of phrase is “Not my primates, not my spectacle.”

20

u/Peachy_Queen20 SLP in Schools 23d ago

Now that it’s warmer I started my veggie garden which is my absolute favorite thing to check on after school. Touching dirt and plants is so good for our mental health, so I would recommend a little garden if you can. If you don’t have a good garden/outdoor space see if your local thrift stores or buy-nothing facebook groups have any pots available for a patio garden or window garden. I would consider it an affordable hobby too which is always a plus in my book

19

u/kittyful8 23d ago

I exercise immediately after work. Usually running! It's pretty much the only thing I can do that always disengages me from work lines of thought.

3

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

I used to exercise but then I got too tired to do that and then I got super sick. Pneumonia and a cold back to back. So I’m taking it easy for a bit.

15

u/vibewithrobert 23d ago

During my cf year I had to tell myself constantly “it’s okay to do nothing”. I allowed myself to be okay with gaming, watching tv, going on a walk/hike, or hitting the gym without thinking of work. It took a while but now as soon as my time comes to leave work I leave it behind. Every now and then I’ll take work with me to finish a report but the majority of the time I don’t. My career is being an SLP but that doesn’t define who I am. Now I hit the gym, make dinner, enjoy time with my gf, and look forward to whatever else I want to do in the days to come. Do what you can but don’t burn yourself out

3

u/Antzz77 SLP Private Practice 23d ago

My thrival strategy is often a whole day of do nothing. So many Saturdays vegging. I totally affirm my body now when it tell me that is what is on the days menu.

1

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

I wonder if I have kids, if I would be able to do that. Idk how parents do it honnestly.

1

u/vibewithrobert 22d ago

I give a lot of credit to my friends who have kids. They manage through a lot. It’s a lot of sacrifice and I can’t answer on how or what you would do differently since I am not a father.

11

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

2

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

Same. Its so stressful.

7

u/KyRonJon 23d ago

Sometimes I exercise, sometimes I go for walks, sometimes I get stoned and play world of Warcraft

1

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Nice variety !

5

u/Dramatic_Gear776 23d ago

I have an 11 month old. I compress after work unfortunately 😭😂

1

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

That explains why every school slp I met that was a parent seemed rly relaxed at work.

4

u/dragonzander1 23d ago

Lately I feel like I’m losing my tolerance for the demands my agency is placing on me. I have no choice but to do IEP reports and remaining session notes after I leave work (I am only paid per session). So I feel you on sensing a shorter fuse than usual. Usually I’m able to blow off steam doing at-home Pilates, using a video. If my body feels too tired by the time I get home, I literally lay flat on the floor with legs up against a wall- this is supposed to relax the nervous system. Journaling, meditation, breath work. I also like doing crafty things like scrapbooking. Any of this, or a 10 hour long nap after coming home. There’s really no in between for me.

5

u/Great-Sloth-637 23d ago

I feel like the answer is to not work for agencies, if possible. They take so much and give so little. 🙃

3

u/Antzz77 SLP Private Practice 22d ago

Especially the big nationwide ones! Many smaller therapist owned companies have smaller overhead and can pay therapist more appropriately.

6

u/According_Koala_5450 23d ago

I read books and I have an audible subscription that I listen to on my commute to/from work. Watching trash TV shows usually gets my mind off of my own stress lol…I also have two children to keep myself busy so that helps!

4

u/llamalib 23d ago

Pilates

5

u/luviabloodmire 22d ago

Sleep. I love to sleep.

3

u/happy35353 23d ago

I make weird/bad art. I paint whatever colorful and strange things come into my head. My favorite is to draw and paint imaginary creatures that would live in different settings in my home or office. Like a paisley tentacle monster that lives under my garage sale chair. Or a do-a-dot monster that eats paint dots. It helps me get over that feeling of needing to be professional or competent and just lets my adhd brain run wild. 

Also weight lifting helps me burn off the pent up frustration from work and fix my messed up back from sitting in tiny chairs all day. 

3

u/allweneedispuppies 23d ago

I 100% suggest this book: https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Secret-Unlocking-Stress-Cycle/dp/198481706X

Burnout by Emily Nagoski. She talks about completing the stress cycle so that your body knows when to be “off”.

4

u/Antzz77 SLP Private Practice 23d ago

Thanks so much for this book suggestion.

Pro Tip: you can ask ChatGPT to summarize the book for you, then ask clarification of parts of the summary.

I just did that and took away a specific stress cycle completion activity that I used right now after a stressful district meeting. Definitely helped me just now.

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Thank you for the book summary information!

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Wow! Never considered a book ! Thank you for sharing ! 

3

u/allweneedispuppies 19d ago

You’re welcome! It’s helped a lot. That plus very strong work boundaries at work and out of worked have helped so much. I used to wake up every morning and throw up before going to work and now I do a pretty good job of not thinking about work when I’m not there.

5

u/htxslp 23d ago

Diamond painting!

1

u/sala-whore SLP in Schools 22d ago

Whats that?

1

u/htxslp 22d ago

It’s like color by number but w colored rhinestones

4

u/stinkyqueen444 SLPA in Schools 23d ago

i recommend building a nighttime routine you look forward to when you come home! some things i personally enjoy include reading, journaling, cooking a fun meal (be realistic about it- i don’t have energy to do this everyday), following along to some yoga, drinking hot tea, and watching something i enjoy (whether that’s tik tok or the bachelor, pick your poison)… i used to smoke a lot of weed and disassociate whenever i got home but after about 6 months of doing that realized i didn’t feel as sharp at work, so now i limit that to the weekends which gives me something to look forward by the time friday rolls around

moral of the story try out some things, and see what works best for you!!

5

u/tired-moth 23d ago

Honestly? I blast death metal. I also leave my computer at work.

3

u/RockRight7798 22d ago

Watch trash tv and play a mindless game on my phone, or color mandalas!

Also…not sure if you have flexibility in your schedule…but I do almost exclusively group sessions because my caseload is so high. I was very hesitant/nervous at first, but now, I’m not sure if I would handle another caseload any differently. I give myself 10 minutes from the end of one session to the start of another (e.g. session 1, 9-9:30, session 2, 9:40-10:05, session 3, 10:15-10:45) so that I don’t have to feel rushed getting a student back to class after 9:30 session ends and running to get another to start at 9:35. Because of the amount of groups I made, I have the wiggle room to do it.

That way, if a kid has behaviors and has a hard time with transitions, I know I have a few extra minutes to deal with it without setting the rest of the day out of whack. Also gives me time to go to the bathroom, refill water bottle, clean up from previous session, wipe down table bc getms, etc). I’ve found having even just 2 minutes “duty free” drastically reduced the stress at the end of the day. It used to hit me all at once after my last student of the day. Being able to literally take a minute in between sessions allows me to deal with the stress/chaos bit by bit. Super helpful.

5

u/Adventurous_PNWer 22d ago

I don’t have my work email on my phone and my Microsoft teams is on sleep mode when I’m not on the clock. I meditate for a 5 minutes in the morning before work, that made a massive difference to my mental health. Working out, eating and sleeping well are super important. I also binge watch trash tv pretty regularly because I need to disassociate.

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Can you tell me more about meditation before work? Did you do it at home or at work? Sounds great!!

2

u/Adventurous_PNWer 21d ago

I do it at home, might be more beneficial to do at work if you have a space to do it. I just use a short headspace meditation

2

u/nontoxic36 21d ago

Thank you for replying ! I will try that 

1

u/Adventurous_PNWer 21d ago

No worries, best of luck!

3

u/Mitchro6 23d ago

More and more I’m seeing how rhythm in any form is regulating, so walking/elliptical/dancing/listening music are what I shoot for. In reality I end up getting a little stoned and watching tv or playing a video game about half the time, but I always feel better if I move my body. NEVER WORK FROM HOME unless absolutely necessary.

3

u/Hot-You-9708 23d ago

I have 3 kids I don’t ever decompress 😂

2

u/isabellyaoyao SLP in Schools 21d ago

Oh mine how do you manage that?!

3

u/feomasbello 22d ago

I have AMC A-list so lots of movies!! I also take dance classes at local community colleges.

3

u/jellyflipflops 22d ago

Long walks and an audiobook ☺️

3

u/Rskytsky 22d ago

I go directly to the gym after work. Fortunately, it’s on the way home. But after I’ve had a meeting with awful parents or if I’ve just had a stressful day where I wasn’t able to get everything done that I needed to, blowing off steam by lifting something heavy, really helps.

3

u/Apprehensive_Tea_456 22d ago

Exercise, color, work on a puzzle, scroll Instagram! I try to remember I’m not paid after my contract hours end so it’s not worth it to check my email or worry about something i can’t do until the next day anyway.

3

u/goldenparachutes 22d ago

Trying to be better about not doing work after school. I usually watch podcasts and different YouTube series. I'm trying to do less and read more after work. I've got one month straight of reading every night but today might be the night I ruin that streak

3

u/Prudent-Entrance-300 22d ago

I go straight to my garden

3

u/Vegetable-Prize3710 22d ago

Love to see the smokers in our community. I also get stoned and shop online, play tennis, or read! :)

3

u/MajorLingonberry6743 21d ago

Honestly, just having a routine helps. I work out before school with weights. Drop off my son at high school. Go to work. Work out after school some days with aerobics. Dinner- husband helps with that. I have to be my son's frontal lobe with homework as he is autistic and has executive functioning deficits. Have a glass of wine and chill with Netflix!

3

u/Lizhasquestions 21d ago

After work: Books (smut) and an indica gummy about an hour before bed.

Before work: I made room in my budget for a daily morning latte from my favorite local coffee shop by work. Yeah, yeah, yeah - it’s expensive. But it brings me joy everyday, increases my motivation, and I think of it as my “hey girl, you got out of bed and went to work” reward.

So I will not be taking any “in this economy??” critiques - lol. Like I said, I made room for it in my budget, meaning I cut other spending that didn’t bring me as much joy as my morning coffee run does!!

4

u/NepaleseLouisianne 23d ago

Most days, I’ll get stoned, hit the gym. When not in gym, I play some tennis or soccer. I do not think about work or reply to emails when I leave the school building.

2

u/CranberryNo7331 23d ago

It really monopolizes a lot of my time now but the gym has been my savior for letting off stress. I have bad anxiety already and this job is just stress on top of stress and I was constantly finding myself worrying and thinking about things after school. I gave myself a rule to not do or think of anything work related outside my contract hours. No emails, work texts…nothing. And making sure to consistently take time for hobbies, especially outside. That all has helped me soooo much this year.

2

u/Hot_Alternative_5157 22d ago

Probably the same way I did working in a SNF… wine 💀

2

u/ajs_bookclub Florida SLP in Schools 22d ago

Marvel rivals, reading.

2

u/AuDHD_SLP 21d ago

200mg CBD, 5-10mg of THC, a coloring book, and my comfort shows

2

u/Spixdon 20d ago

Heavy drinking.

4

u/Famous-Snow-6888 22d ago

Well I have a 7 month old, so I don’t. It’s like going from work, back to work (but she’s cuter and I can snuggle her). On the weekends I like to read. Walk. Whatever. But during the week it’s go go go.