1. Stress Triggers
Teaching online?

2. You’ve decided to take the plunge- start online teaching!
Can I offer a good deal?
Am I as good as my competition?
How do I find clients?
Is my site professional looking?
Do I want to share with others?
Will I be able to make it pay?
This all adds up to unnecessary STRESS

3. Is there anybody out there?
Teaching online can be lonely. It’s hard to talk to a screen and desperately wait for someone to communicate with you. Sometimes it feels like you are working in a bubble. You don’t have colleagues to bounce ideas off. You worry about bandwidth and working tech. And working from home is not always a great solution.

4. Areas to balance
Home Life
Family
Friends
Social obligations
Culture
Hobbies
Personal development

5. Work life Time management Finding your niche Training Organisation
Areas to balance
Work life
Time management
Finding your niche
Training
Organisation
Job satisfaction

6. And if the balance is wrong?

7. Mental overload!!!!! Aka STRESS!

8. Remember that it isn’t always a negative 
So, what is stress?
Stress is the mismatch between a perceived obstacle- and the resources we have available to cope with said obstacle (Lazarus and Launiger 1982)
A demand upon physical or mental energy (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
The physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain (Merriam Webster)
Remember that it isn’t always a negative 

9. You CAN be successful with stress
What is a diamond, but the result of a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.

10. Take a minute to think about your answers
I get stressed when…….
Stress factors

11. Take a minute to think about your answers
I create my own stress, because……
Stress Triggers

12. Take a minute to think about your answers
I get stressed, then I………
Stress reactions

13. What are your stress triggers?
If I fail it will be a disaster.
I need control
I want everyone to like me
I can’t delegate. I prefer to work on my own
I have to show that I can give 100%
I’ll never manage this

14. Stress factors Stress triggers Stress reactions Change Rethink Balance
We need to……….
Stress factors
Change
Stress triggers
Rethink
Stress reactions
Balance

15. The first thing is to do a primary appraisal of the situation.
What makes one person stressed, yet is seen as an opportunity by another?
You are invited to do an online presentation , something which is outside your comfort zone. How do you handle the request?
The first thing is to do a primary appraisal of the situation.

16. Primary Appraisal-Interpret the situation
Okay, I can do this.
It isn’t too important/ stressful.
Oh, my Goodness. What if I make a mess of it? Where will I get the ideas? How will I come up with the goods? I don’t know what I’m doing.
No, I haven’t got time for this.
Great. A new challenge.
This should be exciting.
I love trying out new things.

17. Which one sounds like your typical reaction?

18. Managing stress depends on how much there is.
If there isn’t enough- Boredom will set in. This means low productivity and lack of motivation.
When the stress levels are optimum, productivity is good and motivation is high.
If there is too much- Burnout may occur. Again the consequences may be low productivity or even analysis paralysis.

19. When we burnout, what happens?
Misplace our teaching material
Stop listening correctly to our students.
Lose the thread of conversations
Lose faith in our ability to do our job
Not want to get out of bed in the mornings.
Feel a failure
Feel angry
Suffer from depression
Have mental black-outs
Become incapable of work
Create friction at home
We cancel our sessions irrationally

20. What amplifies stress?
I want to be perfect: associated with a fear of failure
I want to be loved: associated with a fear of rejection
I want to be careful: associated with an aversion to taking risks
I want to be strong: associated with a fear of dependence on others
I am not able to do this: associated with stress

21. A secondary appraisal is needed

22. Secondary Appraisal- think about your own skill set
Can I do it?
Have I accomplished anything similar in the past?
So far I’ve thrived on new challenges, so what is the problem this time?
If I don’t know- I can learn
I don’t like all this pressure
I don’t know how to do it
I feel like excusing myself

23. How can we change our thinking?
Perfectionism causes stress
Carelessness causes stress
Accuracy and diligence are good
BUT: We need to develop a tolerance for error.

24. And… Ask for support from others when you need it
Don’t try to do everything by yourself
Show trust in colleagues
Have the courage to take risks
Take responsibility for your decisions
Be prepared to fight for your principles

25. Say Yes! Try new things Make mistakes and learn from them
Don’t overload yourself
Remember to love yourself

26. I saw a quote where someone replaced ‘I’m sorry’ with ‘thank you’.
Don’t say ‘sorry’!
I saw a quote where someone replaced ‘I’m sorry’ with ‘thank you’.
Instead of
‘Sorry I’m late’ try ‘Thanks for waiting for me’
Share gratitude instead of negativity

27. So, how are you going to handle this?
Can I offer a good deal?
Find some online training. Watch other people online. Learn from others- you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but you’ll find your niche if you are not feeling under stress.
Am I as good as my competition?
What competition? Just give your best to your students. They haven’t been eyeing up all the competition. If they keep coming back for more, they like you.

28. How are you going to handle this?
How do I find clients?
Use social media. Don’t go mad though, or people switch off.
Satisfied customers are a good bet. Word-of-mouth is free.
Is my site professional looking?
Ask for help from an expert if you feel it necessary. Ask a member of the family, or a friend, to try it out.
Will I be able to make it pay?
Be realistic. Don’t over or underprice yourself- check what the going rate is. If the competitors are equal it all comes down to professionalism.

29. When you feel stressed, remember….
We are just tiny cogs in a very large machine

30. Mindfulness
If we are mindful of the effect we have on the people around us, and on our teaching, we can do great things.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

32. Take time to smell the roses
Be mindful
Get enough sleep
Remember to ask for help if you need it
Learn your triggers and deal with them
Plan your week (but build in flexibility)
Remember to eat regularly

33. And finally… Relax Tomorrow is another day

34. Thank you all for being here.
I look forward to talking with anyone who would like to discuss this further.
You can find me on
Or Facebook.
All photos, unless my own, were C.C. unknown photographer
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA