Are we going to carry on as we are, or are we going to change things? Aiming for the best is in our nature, but we need to identify what is "best" and for whom. Surrounded by family and friends, the New Year break is an opportunity to reflect on this. When we return in January, we'll pick up where we left off, hopefully with our motivation fully restored.
The operations of any organism, whether biological or social, are graduated into four levels of activity: basal, normal, intense and emergency. In basal mode, nothing is produced; this is minimal functioning: hibernation, sleep, relaxation, waiting, recovery. We can't always stay in this state, so we generally prefer to operate in normal activity mode, where we do what we need to do, including training and development. This is the state where everything is under control and "production" is at its best, with pleasure. Real life.
In intense mode, a number of non-essential activities are postponed. The work consists in completing the activity, project or situation with satisfaction, and then returning to normal mode. You can carry on working as long as you need to, especially if you're enthusiastic, but not indefinitely. In emergency mode, it's a different matter. Whether 30 injured people arrive at the same time in a hospital, part of a school is flooded, a student is in crisis or we're ill, all resources will be mobilized to deal with the situation and restore operations to a bearable level. Unlike other modes, you can't stay in emergency mode for very long.
How can you become exhausted or lose all pleasure in your activity? Most of the time, it's a question of an "intense" situation that persists, with no conclusion and no hope of returning to "normal". Whether for students, teachers or administrators, the preferred solutions and organizations are to aim for a sustainable level of activity and, preferably, enjoyment. Many ways of achieving this are proposed, and all of them require a pause for reflection... it's time to take stock.
Happy New Year
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Ri Butov on Pixabay
