Dear Dartmouth,

We’ve been focusing on the importance of taking time to replenish and recharge for your wellbeing this month. We are hopeful that you were able to use at least part of the break to step back from the hamster wheel of busy-ness and productivity and offer yourself a chance to rest. It has been a year of varying degrees of challenge and loss for everyone in our community, and it is not realistic to expect your energy to be a bottomless resource. When we’re offered opportunities to pause and restore ourselves, it’s really important to take full advantage.

That said, it can feel very difficult to “shift gears” from being in full-on productivity mode to genuine relaxation, and then back again. This is even more true in an environment that reinforces your desire to achieve or produce in order to gain external validation. At Dartmouth, this has likely contributed to what some call the “work hard play hard” culture. In this culture EVERY activity including the things you do for fun over your weekends and breaks can either produce feelings of guilt, or FOMO, or simply become new opportunities to go all out – pushing your own limits in the hopes of some recognition that may or may not come your way.

With all of that in mind, as we head into S21 we want to encourage you to consider experimenting with a new mindset for how you approach both your on-time and your down-time as a way to sustain your energy and your wellbeing over the course of a term. One example of this mindset comes from the work of Greg McKeown on what he has termed “Essentialism,” or the “disciplined pursuit of less.”

McKeown suggests that the word “priority” entered the English language in the 15th century but was never used in the plural (i.e. “priorities”) until the 20th century. This insistence on the singular makes a lot of sense, given that while there can be many important things, only one can be the most important at any given moment. But we have strayed further and further from this recognition, creating a world where concepts like “multitasking” have become the norm. And all of this can make it harder than ever to sort out what matters most at any given point in time.

As such, many of our lives can look or feel more like the image on the left at the top of this post. Our energy – an exhaustible resource – becomes diluted across a number of different activities, each demanding a certain amount of attention and focus. Moreover, the cognitive demands of switching from task to task further depletes us, draining our ability to do our best work and obscuring our ability to perceive where we need to put our attention as urgency begins to outweigh importance.

As a result, you may find that the characteristics in the “non-essentialist” column below better describe your life than those that make up the “essentialist” list:

If you’re ready to try something new, McKeown’s process for embracing essentialism is simple and powerful:

1. Explore: Determine which activities will carry you furthest toward your goals
2. Eliminate: Let go of as many non-essential tasks or activities as possible
3. Execute: Put your energy into what matters most (see the image on the right at the top of this post)!

You can implement this process several ways. It can be a daily or weekly reflection where you consider all the things you want to accomplish in a certain time frame and rank them according to priority. Once you have them ranked, cross off everything except the ACTUAL priority at the top of the list, and schedule some concentrated, focused time into your planner to advance that priority before considering any of your other demands.

It could also be a larger process that you undertake prior to launching into each new term (or for those of you about to graduate, whatever will come next). Consider what is most important to you this Spring (i.e. where you want to put your energy) and what is siphoning off your energy needlessly (i.e. where you no longer want to put your energy) and then plan your involvement accordingly.

In either case, this might involve learning how to say “no” or establishing some boundaries which can feel risky or awkward at first, especially if some expectations have been established regarding your responsiveness to the needs of others. There will always be external demands on your energy and attention, some of which will be things that you “have” to do, regardless of how much you may actually “want” to do them.

The goal, however, is for this process to be empowering for you. To quote McKeown, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” Ultimately, this is about more than time management, and even more than energy management. It’s about taking ownership of the life you want to create for yourself rather than following someone else’s lead.

Next month, our wellbeing theme will shift to “Purpose on Purpose,” and we’ll continue to explore this idea of a more intentional approach to both your daily life AND the life you want to be living in the future. We hope you’ll join us on this journey. And as always, we are here to support you along the way. Please explore what we have to offer, and don’t ever hesitate to reach out!

Take care and be well,
Todd

Dear Dartmouth,

March is an alliterative season here in the North Country: mud to some and maple syrup to others, but as much as our team values mindfulness, meaning, movement, and moments of connection, this March we’re tapping into the letter “R” for our monthly wellbeing theme of “Replenish and Recharge.”

My insightful colleague, LB, wrote the following about this theme:

“Replenish and Recharge…is all about considering the things that bring you a sense of peace, rest, and even playfulness (solitude, friends, music, dancing, nature, a good book) and allowing time and space to commit to things that are just for you. Simply put, it’s taking the time to recognize when things are tough, and to offer up care for yourself.”

I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty straightforward to recognize that things are tough right now. This month marks a year (A YEAR!!!) since the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered our lives here at Dartmouth. I don’t know if the thought even crossed my mind last March that so many of us would still be working and studying remotely. And even as we put our hope in the vaccines that show promise for new possibilities in how we live, we are simultaneously dealing with the challenge of effectively managing an escalation in positive cases among our campus community.

In short – no matter who you are, it’s been a lot. Were we to able to fully take in and grasp the enormity of the impact of COVID on our day to day routines, our economy and the professional opportunities available in our workforce, our health and wellbeing, and on the many families who have lost loved ones over the past year – it could send us reeling.

This seems like a good time, then, to pause, notice how this has all affected you, and identify ways to replenish and recharge for all that lies ahead.

In fact, perhaps this very moment would be a good time to STOP and check in with yourself. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. If that feels good or helpful, take a few more. What’s going on for you right now, in this present moment? Without passing any judgment on yourself, notice what you’re thinking, feeling, worrying, grieving, or feeling grateful for today. And from this space of awareness, reflect on any or all of the following questions. It might be helpful to capture this in writing, pen to paper, as swiftly as possible. Resist the urge to edit or craft your words – just let them flow:

• What challenges are you facing right now?
• How do you know when it’s time to take a break from the demands and distractions of life and extend some genuine care toward yourself?
• Where have you found peace in the past year?
• What fortifies you and bolsters your resilience?
• And what do you need most right now?

March is a complex month. We know that you have a lot on your plate right now. It’s the end of the term, which means exams, papers and projects, and for some of you, moves to or from campus, all in addition to the demands of each day. And yet there is also Spring Break – a chance to step back from the busyness of the term and seek out opportunities to rest and reconnect. It might be helpful to check in with yourself throughout the month, as your needs might change dramatically over time.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to check in and also connect with others, we are excited to announce a Spring Break retreat that will be available to all Dartmouth students, wherever you are. And we’ll be here throughout the month as well, ready to support you however we can.

Please explore what we have to offer, and don’t ever hesitate to reach out!

Take care and be well,
Todd