5 Tips for Teletherapists to Relieve Stress
As a teletherapist, you’re probably all too familiar with feeling stressed by your workload. Each student is different; therefore, your therapy methods and communication will also look different for each session. Managing your schedule and jumping from task to task can also be challenging, especially in a virtual environment. Here are five tips for relieving stress as a teletherapist:
- Start Your Day with Your Most Challenging Task
If there is a task that you are treading most, then do it first. Maybe it’s paperwork? Or billing? Start your day by crossing it off your to-do list. Also, try to eliminate multitasking and switching your brain from task to task during the day. For example, plan time to focus on administrative tasks vs. student development tasks – it will give you more mental energy in the long run!
- Plan Ahead
Planning is critical in teletherapy. It’s important to map out big dates such as IEPs, progress reports, and evaluations and spread them out, so not everything is falling on one week. This protects your schedule and gives you more capacity!
- Take Breaks
One of the top ways to avoid burnout is to take breaks. It can be easy to get sucked into work and forget to take a lunch break or get up and move around, especially in a remote environment, but it is critical to your overall well-being and stress management. A few ways to implement taking breaks throughout your day are:
- Get outside and go for a walk for 10-15 minutes
- Take 1-5 minutes to step away from work and practice breathing exercises
- Take a lunch break (even if it’s just for 15 minutes out of your day)
- Write down 3 things you are grateful for
- Create Boundaries
Working virtually can come with so many benefits, but there are also challenges. Creating boundaries between work and your personal life is one of the biggest challenges that many teletherapists face. A few ways that you can create work-life balance and boundaries are:
- Set work hours and stick to them – that means closing the laptop completely!
- Create a physical workspace to create boundaries within your home
- Get out of your home and change up your workspace environment
- Connect with a Teletherapist Community
Having a community that does what you do and can understand the same stressors that you face is extremely helpful. Through VocoVision you can connect with a community of teletherapists who are working from all across the country, view our job openings here.
For additional teletherapy resources and tips, visit our blog here.