SWS: Slowing Down in Social Work
Change takes time, but so does adjustment
Hey there,
Each time someone subscribes to this Newsletter I get an email and over the last week or so, I seem to have acquired new subscribers on a daily basis. So if you are new here, welcome to the Social Work Survival newsletter.
In this newsletter, I share one reflection, one potential solution to a challenge and ask one question in a bid to help guide you to feeling confident about your role in Social Work and enable you to gain a sense of joy.
A Reflection
I’ll be honest, there haven’t been any updates recently. Life has been a bit strange. I have needed space and time to reflect on things and haven’t known what to write, or how to structure these words. Autumn has welcomed us with open arms and is encouraging us to get comfy while Mother Nature gives the world around us time to rest and recharge in preparation for winter and then the joy of spring.
I am currently sat in my conservatory enjoying some additional space as I have sold a table and chairs. I can hear the crows above the hum of my freezer and it is not lost on me how even the simplest of lifes pleasures are a luxury compared to the experiences of families and people I have worked with over the last 14 years. Yet, I still find myself wanting “more” (whatever more is) which has influenced this edition of the newsletter.
This is a pattern I have seen mirrored within workplaces over my career. The idea of restructure, of change, of growth. It is as if the basic premise is that things haven’t been good enough. That we can, and should, do things better. Social Workers seem to be laden with the responsibility of doing more with less as a standard setting.
To some extent, I agree with the notion that as a profession we need to be open to the idea of doing things different. Society changes and it is important that we adapt and change too. That is how we will be able to support vulnerable people. Things like Artificial Intelligence (AI) didn’t exist in the public mainstream conscious 10 years ago. Now children are being bombarded with messages about how important AI will be for our future, and media which has been created by AI resulting in them not being able to see truth from false.
There is a sense of fear about how AI will eventually replace so much of what is done by people (often low pay, poor condition work) and when you couple that with the misguided and deliberately false mainstream Trumptopian media message that people arriving on our shores fleeing violence and abuse are also taking “our” jobs, it is easy to understand why we need to educate ourselves about these new tools.
But, do we need to change as fast? Change is difficult and when it comes to work, we develop a sense of security in the mundane and routine. That security helps us have faith in how we are making a difference. It takes time to adjust to change but something we also need to understand that there is a process before we accept the need to change, the pre-contemplation stage of change.
Anybody who has worked with people who have addictions can attest that this is a very real stage. As Social Workers we often spend an extortionate amount of time supporting people who have something that needs to change in their life in this stage of the journey. This is where the skill of practitioners becomes really evident.
The ability of a Social Worker to sit with someone in the pre-contemplation stage of change, and use their skill to reflect, empower and educate someone about how change will benefit them is unquantifiable.
In my opinion, this doesn’t happen at a systemic structural level. People with huge amounts of power wield it to make suggestions without first helping the profession or workforce understand what the benefits will be. Expecting people to move along that journey without question.
Listening is such an underrated skill. After all, if we don’t hear what someone is saying, how can we know what the next step on the journey should be?
A Solution to a Challenge
When we have an excessive amount of stuff on our ‘to do’ list, life at work can easily start to feel overwhelming and this overwhelm can spill into our personal lives. It can feel like we need to develop superhuman abilities to plan, schedule and complete those tasks. Yet the flow of work doesn’t let up and we fall into a trap of “must do more”.
The problem isn’t that you aren’t doing enough.
The problem isn’t that you aren’t good enough.
You are more than good enough.
You have the ability to overcome this difficulty. Yes there will always be more work than there is time. But there is one thing we can do which is within our control.
Create a boundary.
This is a problem I struggle with on a day to day and week to week basis. I let my own workload boundaries get moved or erased. One moment I have a space in my diary to complete a certain task and the next moment, I find myself being drawn into something else. Fundamentally, it is because I am a people pleaser, I want to help. But helping prevents me from completing the things I need to do.
So, try finding a space in your day which will be solely for one activity. It could be sorting your emails, writing a report, reviewing an action log. It doesn’t have to be long, even 30mins. I am confident that if you look at your diary for next week, you will be able to find a free 30min which you could ring fence and dedicate to one activity.
This week I decided that I am going to develop a cognitive bias towards showing up for my goals. In simple terms, that means that I am going to start developing a habit of consistently taking action. I believe that if I can start showing up by being prepared to take action, I will overcome the challenges before me. And I think this is just as true for work as well as in my personal life.
A Question
What is the one thing that you have been putting off that is preventing you from moving forward?
Incase nobody told you this recently, you are enough. You make a difference to people in ways in which you will never know but this world is so much better because of you and your dedication to supporting people.
Until next week.
Take care x
Anthony.
p.s please do reply if you want to reach out and have a conversation.