You can’t fill from an empty cup, managing wellbeing starts with the leader?

If you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed by the pressures being heaped upon the Early Years sector at this present time this blog is for you.

You know the expression. You can’t fill from an empty cup.

As early years leaders or self employed childminders, you are responsible to consider your own wellbeing.

We often hear it said that others are responsible for our wellbeing and there is truth that those who have the power to impact another’s wellbeing should consider their actions and how it will impact someone else. However, those people will not be paying for you to access professional therapy to manage your anxiety.

It is therefore our responsibility to consider our own wellbeing.

So where does this start.

The recent guidance on funding agreements has caused real worry across the sector, provider agreements are being shared the length and breadth of England. Some LEA’s have said when their agreements will come out, others are saying nothing. Some have said sign by 1st April, others there is nothing to sign.

It wouldn’t be over emphasing to say that the Early Years sector is preparing for battle.

We have fabulous provider groups springing up for each local authority, Here motivated and courageous providers are prepared to stand up for others, collectively wanting the LEA to hear their voice and concerns. We also have community groups on social media such as Early Years Voice who aim to be a collective for the sector.

So here’s my first piece of advice.

Just say no. It’s OK.

Just because others are saying join this group, attend this meeting, sign up to this Facebook community. You don’t have to.

For some providers, you will negatively impact your own wellbeing if you do.

We are all different. Our lives have different things going on. These are not always obvious to others, and nor should they be if we don’t want that.

We don’t all have the mental capacity to be able to be ‘present’ in all of this at this time. That’s OK. You can support in other ways. Perhaps you write to your MP, you can support financially, you do what you can with the mental capacity you have and you don’t feel guilty.

Be conscious to Compassion Fatigue and “Empathic Distress”

This is where we feel stressed by what’s happening to others—it’s often referred to as vicarious stress or empathic distress. In caring professions, it’s also known as compassion fatigue. Early years providers tend to be empathetic, community-minded individuals, so they do absorb the stress of their peers, especially when seeing colleagues or nearby settings struggle.

Even if their own numbers look stable, they might feel:

1. Guilty for being “ok” while others aren’t
2. Anxious about what might happen next
3. Overwhelmed by news or policy changes impacting their peers
4. Helpless or fatigued from constant firefighting in the sector

Be aware of these feelings and acknowledge them. It’s OK to be OK. You don’t need to apologise and you shouldn’t be made to feel bad.

What if you are feeling that your wellbeing is being impacted and you want to do something about it?

What practical ways can those feeling their wellbeing is being impacted, help themselves. Here’s my 6 top tips.

1. Create Safe Spaces for Peer Support

• Get involved in physical or virtual provider support groups where providers can talk openly about what’s going on.
• Sometimes just being able to say “this is hard” and be heard is a huge relief.
• Not feeling alone is incredibly powerful. Community is essential in difficult times. No room for competition here just compassion.

2. Acknowledge Collective Stress

• When handling any situation, whether it be waiting on a provider for information or responding to a request. Acknowledge collective stress. That provider who emailed in a short, curt way, may not be feeling their normal self today, don’t see it as throwing a grenade on a lighter fueled situation.

3. Signpost to Professional Help

• Normalise getting professional help. I have had extensive therapy. There I said it. I am not ashamed that I have needed professional help. I am grateful for the therapists I have worked with, without whom I would probably not be writing this today. If you had a painful foot you’d see a podiatrist, therefore when you have an pain in your heart and head, you see a therapist.

4. Promote Small Acts of Self-Care

• Encourage simple, achievable steps: regular breaks, talking to someone trusted, or setting boundaries with work (e.g., not answering emails late at night). Taking yourself away at the weekend. Removing Facebook groups from phones and devices. Switching off. Book that Spa day. Book that comedy night. Go for a walk in nature. Take Forest School. Replace a colleague and put yourself on the rota. You deserve it.
• Ring someone up who you know how operates a Early Years setting and ask them “How they are?” Can you imagine, an actual phone call. Not a text, or social media message a call. Agree a time that you will check in with each other on a weekly basis. It’s free, it’s human connection.

5. Get Knowledge

• Some stress can come from confusion and lack of answers to our questions. We can’t control what is happening but we can be informed as to what it all means. We can get stressed by the unknown and the unexplained.
• Can we up our knowledge levels through attendance at Webinars, joining Q&A’s having access to professionals who are able to explain it to us in words we understand.
• Don’t forget productivity is self care. Grace Beverley talks about this a lot, don’t allow others to tell you that spending time being productive is the opposite of self care. It’s not all about hot baths and facemasks!

6. Join a social group

• Whilst you are busy helping others who is filling your cup? Can you sing (or not sing) join a choir? These are meant to be amazing for stress release. Rock Choir is a national organisation that has has local choirs. Love knitting and crochet join a Stitch & Bitch group. Pottery your thing, you can book a paint a pot night in many local towns and go with a friend who will talk rubbish with you for 2 hours.

Finally we have Employee Assistance Programmes or EAP. Whilst these are not free and, their monthly cost is far less than the support you and your teams can receive. EAP’s start immediately too. If you’d like a price for an EAP for your setting drop us an email to info@redwing-solutions.co.uk with your number of employees and we can take care of this for you.

If we here at Redwing can reduce any of your stress by supporting your setting, please reach out and book a Discovery Call using this link.

Love, Imogen x