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Imagine its 3:00 AM in the 
morning, you've had a few hours 

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sleep and you wake up thinking I
haven't put my minutes on the 

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system. 
That was me years ago when I 

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found it difficult to switch off
and anything that was on my To 

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Do List would pop into my mind 
late at night or even wake me up

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from my sleep. 
I want to talk to you today 

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about switching off and how to 
do that effectively so you 

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regain back some of your time 
and minimise that cortisol, that

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stress hormone that keeps rising
up as you're thinking about all 

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the things that you need to do. 
Let's talk. 

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Very soon I am going to be 
releasing my brand new social 

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work coaching online hub where 
you can access audios, videos 

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and downloadables to support you
with your personal and 

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professional development. 
We're going to be starting a 

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brand new community and I want 
you to be part of it. 

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So stay tuned to future episodes
where I'll share more about 

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that. 
And of course, as always, check 

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out the links in the podcast 
notes. 

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Isn't it amazing how as the 
social workers can multitask 

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until the cows come home? 
That's a saying over here in the

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UK and essentially means we can 
do that over and over and over 

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again and multitask next to 
multitasking, have all these 

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tabs open on our computers and 
in our minds and still keep 

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going. 
As a result of that, though, 

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it's difficult to switch off. 
I can name countless times I've 

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woken up in the middle of the 
night thinking of all the things

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that I needed to do, should have
done, or needed to call someone 

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back. 
One of the most difficult things

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I found as a social worker was 
getting to a place where I 

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accepted everything that I want 
to do can't be completed that 

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day or that week. 
There's an element of acceptance

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that needs to happen as you 
enter into the world of social 

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work because there's always 
going to be something to do with

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crisis intervention and with all
the different things that 

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happened in the day or the 
changes that happened in the 

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day. 
Coming to a place of acceptance 

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around what you cannot achieve 
is part of the process. 

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So when we talk about switching 
off from work, we first of all 

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have to consider what the 
benefits are. 

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And I know most of this is 
inferred, but I'm going to tell 

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you anyway. 
Improve mental health and 

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physical health. 
When you switch those tabs off 

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in your mind, you actually get 
to do the one thing you need 

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most in this job, which is to 
rest. 

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Rest is going to give you that 
enhanced productivity and focus 

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you need when you're at work. 
And of course, it's going to 

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serve the relationships you have
personally and professionally. 

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It's going to serve them well. 
I want to share a quote here. 

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Almost everything will work 
again if you unplug it for a few

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minutes, including you. 
I love that quote. 

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But somehow in our minds, if we 
just keep going, we'll somehow 

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get everything done in that day.
And we know it won't. 

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But we somehow make up in our 
minds that that's exactly what's

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going to happen if you just keep
going. 

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But what we do know is just 
keeping going can actually be 

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ineffective. 
Now, I know there's challenges 

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in attempting to find ways to 
switch off and simply just going

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out with friends or turning on 
some music, it may not do it for

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you. 
Let's keep it real. 

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We're all individuals. 
We all have different 

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responsibility, personal 
responsibilities, our minds and 

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our bodies work differently to 
each other. 

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So this is not a blanket 
approach. 

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I'm just giving you some food 
for thought that may spark an 

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idea for you that's going to 
work for you. 

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But in the midst of thinking 
about what it is you could do, 

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we've also got to consider the 
challenges in making that 

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happen. 
And I'm not talking about, oh, 

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you end up working more 
overtime. 

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I'm talking about what you can 
do. 

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What are your relaxation 
techniques? 

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Now, I know there is a lot of 
research around managing your 

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nervous system. 
And when your nervous system 

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becomes attuned to a certain 
level of stress and pace, that 

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high pace that's required to, to
keep up in social work and 

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support your families 
effectively, it can continually 

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seek that cycle, therefore 
making it familiarity. 

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And this familiarity then 
becomes a cycle. 

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And if we're not careful, it can
become a hidden cycle. 

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And therefore you will struggle 
to find ways to calm down 

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because your nervous system is 
used to a particular pattern. 

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And there are ways you can calm 
your nervous system down and 

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really begin to work on yourself
internally to create that 

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disconnect between work and your
time and your personal life. 

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And one way that you can do that
is through breathing techniques.

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There's several apps out there 
which will support you in 

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finding good solid time 
effective. 

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Because I know as social 
workers, we are all strapped for

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time breathing techniques. 
That's going to help you. 

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That's going to help calm down 
your nervous system. 

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There's exercises that can help 
with that, doing stretches and 

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deep breathing or meditation as 
some may call it. 

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I know there is an app at the 
moment called Balance. 

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I haven't used it and I'm not 
endorsing them. 

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I don't know how it works, but 
I've seen an advertisement that 

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is encouraging people to join 
free for a whole year to access 

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their services, which will 
support in managing stress, 

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overwhelm, etcetera, etcetera. 
There's headspace. 

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I definitely have used that 
before. 

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I'm not endorsing or advertising
them, but I've used that years 

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ago and that was a massive help 
to me at the time. 

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So perhaps headspace might be 
worth. 

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There's ways in which you're 
resourceful. 

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We're all social workers. 
Find the resource that works for

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you. 
Take 10 minutes and do a little 

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bit of research on social media 
or on on the Internet and find a

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way, find a resource that's 
going to help you with this. 

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Because social work, there's no 
deep breathing in social work. 

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You must be joking. 
You've got to get your Cape on 

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and be flying out that door 
sharpish to support your 

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children and families and make 
things happen. 

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That's keeping your nervous 
system right up there. 

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And This is why I'm inviting you
now to think of ways to calm 

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yourself down. 
There's a quote by Plato who 

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says the greatest wealth is to 
live content with little. 

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It's an interesting quote, I 
would say, given that the task 

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of social worker is by far not 
little. 

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But in order to disconnect from 
your work you have to minimise 

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and simplify. 
Let's now think of some 

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actionable steps that you can 
take to switch off starting 

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today. 
You've got no excuse. 

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It's Monday, right? 
So you're starting it today. 

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OK, for those who can, and I 
can't shout, so I'm saying it in

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capital letters. 
For those who can set a specific

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end of the daytime, your 
preferable time. 

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Now what I used to do was build 
in overtime to that end time. 

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So my end time when I was 
working one of my last jobs was 

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let me think 5:00 or was it 530?
I can't remember one of the two.

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So what I would do is build in 
30 minutes overtime and I would 

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have an alarm that goes off 30 
minutes after the end of the 

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day. 
And the alarm had a message. 

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I'm going to share the message 
with you now. 

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And I want you to think perhaps 
of, of including this in your 

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end of day routine. 
The message said, be there for 

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me now. 
And I put loads of pretty emojis

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next to it. 
So it was really stark when it 

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came up on my screen. 
And it made me feel joy. 

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It made me feel happy. 
And it made me feel like, OK, 

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come on, Liz, it's time to close
the laptop and have your time. 

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Have your personal time. 
Because rest is just as 

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important as showing up. 
So think of a message that you 

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can send to yourself, that an 
alarm that you can set that has 

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a specific inspirational 
message. 

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Maybe it's a quote, maybe it's 
something you want to tell 

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yourself. 
Maybe it's something to increase

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your confidence, whatever it may
be. 

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But I want you to think of that 
message. 

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Get that alarm set or get that 
e-mail sent. 

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Get it on a schedule and set the
time 30 minutes, 45 minutes 

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after your end time. 
That means your contract end 

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time and try your very best at a
minimum of two to three times a 

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week to make that happen. 
If you can only manage once a 

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week where you finish on time 
where that alarm goes off, that 

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is still progress. 
Don't take those moments for 

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granted. 
What is your activity after 

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work? 
I want you to think of that now.

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You may have children who think 
me time. 

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The only me time I get is once 
they're in the bath and they've 

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had bedtime and then I crash on 
the sofa. 

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That might be the case. 
So perhaps for you on your way 

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home before you drive or when 
you park up at your at your 

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drive when you get home, perhaps
that's when you put on that 

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two-minute meditation app that 
I've referred to wherever you 

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can find the time. 
We haven't even talked about 

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lunch breaks yet. 
Let's bring that into the mix. 

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And don't laugh at me, lunch 
breaks do exist. 

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Not that I had them that often. 
So I'm not speaking to you from 

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a place where I had it every 
day, but I set myself a plan and

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I made a decision. 
Three times this week, minimum, 

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I'm having a lunch break. 
Whether it's 3 o'clock, 4:00 or 

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12:00, it's happening. 
Whether it's 30 minutes, 40 

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minutes, or I have my full hour,
it is happening. 

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Think about small pockets of 
time. 

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If you can't take the hour out 
for the day, 30 minutes. 

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If you can't do that, 15. 
If you can't do that, 10. 

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Whatever it is, make sure you're
building in that time that is 

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for you. 
That enables you to disconnect. 

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Now, I know in general, social 
work requires so much of you 

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that some of the things I'm 
talking about like ending on 

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time and having lunch breaks. 
We know it's inferred that is 

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unlikely to happen every single 
day of every week for the year. 

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But what you can do is work with
what you have. 

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Work with what is considered a 
minimum for you. 

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A minimum of one lunch break a 
week, A minimum of 15 minutes 

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away from the computer per day, 
A minimum of leaving on time 

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once a week. 
So then you're not building 

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yourself up to fail because we 
know lunch breaks and ending on 

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time is unlikely every single 
day of the week. 

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So what can we do with what we 
have? 

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Link that to what is your need, 
what do you need? 

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What's going to work for you? 
Don't forget, this is your 

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responsibility, right? 
We know organisations have a 

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responsibility to us and our 
well-being, but you're the one 

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who has to take the action. 
You're the one who may have to 

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raise something in supervision 
to say that you're too stressed 

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right now. 
You need support. 

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Communicating your boundaries to
yourself and to others. 

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It's a skill and it's something 
you'll have to continue. 

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Work at fail, work at win, work 
at fail, and just keep going 

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until you've got the right 
boundaries in place that support

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you to thrive in the job that 
you're in. 

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And lastly, don't forget to take
your holidays. 

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I'm going to tell you this very 
brief story. 

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When I started my first two 
years in social work, I did not 

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have a break until year 2. 
And just as we were entering 

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into year two, my manager said 
to me, you haven't had a break. 

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And by the time the next annual 
leave comes around, I'm going to

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demand I'm commanding you to 
make sure you've had two weeks 

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by the time that happens. 
She literally begged me and I 

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tell you something, it hadn't 
even entered my mind to have a 

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break. 
I had a day off here and there. 

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Of course I had bank holidays. 
I'd have two days off here or 

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three days off there, but not a 
full 2 weeks to disconnect. 

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And from that moment, I made a 
conscious effort to do so. 

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I want you to be thinking about 
these things because this is 

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what's going to help maintain, 
help maintain you and of course,

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maintain the relationships 
professionally and personally. 

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Because if you don't pour into 
you, who else is going to do it?

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That you have enough left to 
pour out for someone else. 

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I trust this has been useful for
you and I will see you next 

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week. 
God bless.