28 Nov 2022
Researcher and best-selling author Oliver Burkeman has identified the need to move away from being able to do everything, be everything and go everywhere. Basically, find JOY in missing out. That we have a finite time to live our lives and that we should choose one thing to focus on or go to or one person to be with. This is particularly evident with some of our students, trying to squeeze in too much, working long hours in part time jobs, committing to social events with people who are not their favourites, and too often, completing schoolwork as a last minute thing, and missing the point that school is the one thing that will never be repeated. School life only happens once. It is a time to fully engage in the life of school and all the opportunities that are on offer. Nothing concerns me more, than when I see students spending their hard-earned money on mobile phone credit, and then their time, which in turn is wasted. In this world of ‘time poor’, I challenge students to focus on one thing at one time. Dig deep, and struggle toward mastery or completion. Then move onto the next ‘thing’. A student told me this week, they found Trigonometry really hard, but they told me, they decided to really focus, gave it the time it needed, asked for help, and now confessed that they love ‘Trig’! My challenge is for students to make that hard decision to focus on one thing at one time and see how that goes. #Focus #SustainedEffort #makesprogress.