I have a love-hate relationship with my work environment.

I love that, at any given moment, there’s always so much going on. I hate that, at any given moment, there’s always so much going on.

Each and every day, I’m surprised by all the new adventures [read: meltdowns] that unfold. For example, yesterday, a kiddo decided to rip off the cover of a beanbag and then dump out all the beans all over the carpet. Which threw me off the grid for a few hours as I de-escalated him, helped him make repairs, and re-start his day.

I’m, often times, faced with a fussy copy machine that forces me to do some on-the-spot teaching for a guided reading lesson that day.

Or I’ll walk down the hallway to deliver something to a teacher and I’ll get distracted by a million and one things in between my office and their classroom. When I do, finally, return to my office, I find myself with the object-to-be-delivered still in my hand, along with 5 newly collected things. My keys are usually lost at this point, my hair undone, and I’m trying to remember what an admin mentioned to me in the hallway so I can quickly grab a post-it note and write it down.

One of the many facets of my job is to develop accommodations for kiddos who are really struggling in the classroom. I level out the playing field for them. I think of things that will help them be more successful. Some of the kids I work with have some challenges with executive functioning. This means that they struggle with planning, prioritizing, organization, and working memory. Like all skills, executive memory can be developed. However, in order to ensure they have access to the content in the classroom in a clean, organized way, we provide accommodations for them. For these kiddos, visual checklists and a visual schedule are great ways to keep them on track.

DING-DING-DING-DING. (<—- that’s the sound of all the lightbulbs going off in my brain)

Yesterday, for the first time, I thought of ways that this could support ME in being more successful in an ever-changing, always-chaotic environment.

Yes, my friends. I created a visual task list for myself. 

I had the small task of picking up some envelopes from the front office, dropping something off with a teacher, and a few other ‘errands’ around school. Before I left MY office, I grabbed a post-it note and wrote down the five things that needed to get done and carried it with me, along with a pencil, on my journey across the campus.

I was approached by a few people – one of which needed me to e-mail them a resource, another needing me to send out a Google Calendar invite for a meeting.

No big deal.

Grabbed my pencil out of my back pocket, scribbled that reminder on my post-it note, and then continued along my merry way to gather some envelopes and shred some papers in the front office.

Only 10 MINUTES LATER, I walked back into my office, all tasks completed, and my brain a little less all-over-the-place because I didn’t need to keep chanting to myself, “Send Betsy the resource. Send the team a calendar invite. Send Betsy the resource. Send the team a calendar invite.”

I almost cried out of excitement. No trip out of the office has ever been so successful.

This is what children must feel like each time they get through each activity. It’s exhilarating. And it makes me want to do it all over again.

Self-advocacy. For the things that we need to help us be successful.

Post-it notes.

Who would have thought?