My motto for every school year is “harmony.” Every year I work on organizing myself and determining my non-negotiables. Let’s walk into next school year knowing that your boundaries will give you peace of mind in the chaos of a school psych’s life! If you want to watch a replay of the live recording where I discuss this topic, please click here.
Let’s Reflect on Organization!
Summer is an excellent time for reflection. What did you notice about your current organizational strategies? Were you trying to implement strategies that fell apart? Take some time to discuss this topic with your supervisor and soak up their knowledge and experience so you can apply it in your career! Here are some of my go-to organizational strategies:
- Start your morning by writing down the day’s most important tasks and putting them in order of importance.
- It’s okay to cross a couple of easy tasks off your list, but leaving the more challenging tasks for later in the day can end up causing you more stress in the end!
- Look at your schedule for the day and note when you have breaks between meetings. Refer back to your ordered list and take advantage of your downtime (no matter how short it may be)!
Determine Your Non-Negotiables!
This may be my new favorite term! Non-negotiables can encompass many things, such as boundaries and mental and physical health. To determine your non-negotiables, you need to ask yourself what needs to happen for me to function as a well-rounded, healthy person.
Between responding to referrals, finishing IEP meetings, and tying up a million other loose ends, May is a busy time for school psychs. And the more demands placed on us, the quicker our non-negotiables go out the window. Let’s change that and decide what our non-negotiables are. Here are a few of mine for inspiration:
- I always make time for lunch.
- I do not respond to work-related communication after work (unless it’s a crisis).
- My laptop is shut off every evening so I can focus on my personal time.
Your Mental Health Matters
When we think about self-care activities, we tend to think big, like getting a massage or getting away for an entire weekend to relax. Unfortunately, those things won’t happen as often as we may like! But there are other ways to support your mental health, and I like to separate them into three categories: micro-moments, moments, and mega-moments.
Micro-moments can include taking a deep breath or engaging in positive self-talk. Activities in the moments category can be as simple as standing in the shower for an extra couple of minutes or finishing listening to a great song on your drive home. And then, of course, we have mega-moments like having a spa day or enjoying a mani-pedi!
Take a few moments this summer to create a list of your self-care activities. Referring back to this list during the school year is a simple reminder that you are worth taking time for.



Our 4th annual Summer Boot Camp registration is OPEN! We have two entire sessions dedicated to sharing exclusive organization tips and setting reasonable boundaries created just for school psychologists.
If you sign up for Summer Boot Camp TODAY, you will get FREE access to replays from our 2022 Summer Boot Camp, where we discussed behavior, bilingual evaluations, and more! But don’t wait because access to this FREE bonus ends May 31st at midnight PST!
Take time for yourself this summer to experience a sense of community and learn with other like-minded psychologists who desire to grow together professionally. Click the button below to learn more about Summer Boot Camp! We will see you there!