Saturday, May 28, 2022
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
Dimensions' Students
  • Home
  • Study Guides & Quizzes
    • Courses & Quizzes
    • Study Guides
    • My Profile
  • Categories
    • Browse All
    • Access to Care
    • Anesthesia
    • Antimicrobials
    • Career Path
    • Caries
    • Ergonomics
    • Esthetic Dentistry
    • Ethics
    • Fluoride
    • Forensic Dentistry
    • Hypersensitivity
    • Infection Control
    • Instrumentation
    • Landing a Job
    • Lifestyle
    • Medical Emergencies
    • Mouthrinses
    • Oral Pathology
    • Oral Systemic
    • Orthodontics
    • Patient Education
    • Pediatrics
    • Periodontics
    • Pharmacology
    • Polishing
    • Radiography
    • Risk Assessment
    • Sealants
    • Ultrasonics
    • Xerostomia
  • Meet Our Sponsor
  • Facebook Group
  • Login
  • Home
  • Study Guides & Quizzes
    • Courses & Quizzes
    • Study Guides
    • My Profile
  • Categories
    • Browse All
    • Access to Care
    • Anesthesia
    • Antimicrobials
    • Career Path
    • Caries
    • Ergonomics
    • Esthetic Dentistry
    • Ethics
    • Fluoride
    • Forensic Dentistry
    • Hypersensitivity
    • Infection Control
    • Instrumentation
    • Landing a Job
    • Lifestyle
    • Medical Emergencies
    • Mouthrinses
    • Oral Pathology
    • Oral Systemic
    • Orthodontics
    • Patient Education
    • Pediatrics
    • Periodontics
    • Pharmacology
    • Polishing
    • Radiography
    • Risk Assessment
    • Sealants
    • Ultrasonics
    • Xerostomia
  • Meet Our Sponsor
  • Facebook Group
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Dimensions' Students

Can We Really Balance it All? Tips for Leading a Balanced Life

Yvette Reibel, RDH, BA, BSDH, MSDHbyYvette Reibel, RDH, BA, BSDH, MSDH
October 5, 2020
in Lifestyle
0
Stressed out student

PEOPLEIMAGES/E+

How can dental hygiene students have it all? It isn’t easy, but as Dimensions Brand Ambassador Yvette Reibel, RDH, BA, BSDH, MSDH, explains there is a way to balance school and professional and personal life, and not burn out. 

One thing with trying to have it all is that we will always have to create some sort of balance. As new commitments and obligations are added to our lives, we will need to assess if we can add just one more thing and how we will keep all our balls in the air without dropping them. 

Some of us are parents, caregivers, students, employees, friends, or family members. Regardless of your personal circumstances, we all walk a fine line of trying to balance it all. Some of us have a carefully crafted routine to keep all commitments met. But what happens when this carefully designed system stops working or fails? As a mom, educator, researcher, and doctoral student, I have made some observations on how to maintain a balance between these different hats that we wear. I would like to share with you some of my recommendations to keep our commitments and obligations met while being a student and how to use these skills moving forward.

LET GO OF PERFECTION

When I started my master’s degree, I was a wife, parent, daughter, friend, and practicing dental hygienist. In the first few weeks of school, I struggled with things not turning out the way I expected. I quickly realized that my expectations were unrealistic. Frustration started to build as I began this new journey of going back to school with adult commitments. I did not reassess my expectations and time commitments prior to graduate school and I quickly realized that my expectations were unattainable by thinking they will be perfect. I imagined my homework would be done, my children would be happy, I would not be tired for date night and work, and my volunteer projects would plan themselves. These unrealistic expectations hindered my journey as a wife, parent, dental hygienist, and student. The need for new expectations was evident. I started to understand that I would need to reprioritize tasks and my expectations to be successful in returning to school. My ideas about perfectionism put my goals out of reach and unattainable. These unattainable expectations can be destructive if this habit of perfectionism is not challenged. 

UNPLUG

Some may feel stressed with the idea of unplugging from our email, schoolwork, professional work, or social media. But it has been shown that this is an important skill to develop. Setting guidelines on when you will “unplug” is a good start. During this time, it is important to substitute other activities that bring you pleasure, joy, or relaxation. Balancing all the commitments that come with being a student requires time for rest and relaxation. There are times during the semester that it is hard to carve out time to recharge, but it is difficult to be productive and fulfill our obligations when we are not recharged and feeling our best. We need to think about treating ourselves the way we would treat others. 

LEARN TO SAY NO

Many times when we are asked to start a new project or club, join a recreational sports team, be a chaperone on a child’s field trip, or work extra hours, we want to make other people happy and say “yes” without examining how this will affect other commitments. From my experience, I knew that I could not add just one more book fair shift, but I ended up saying “yes” because I wanted to make others happy. In a leadership seminar several years ago, I heard the best advice regarding this: learn the art of saying “no.” The reason it is called an art is because it takes time, effort, and practice to do. It may never get easy to say “no,” but with practice, we realize the importance of this skill to our overall well-being. By saying “no” we are not stating the request is not valid or important, but it is not the right fit for us right now. If saying “no” is difficult for you, instead say “I will check my current commitments and let you know if it will work with my schedule.” This will give you time to truly assess if you have time for the requested commitment and if it will add value to your personal goals. 

MAKE A LIST

Staying organized and prioritizing are essential to manage time and your commitments. One way of doing this is to create a list. This list keeps us on task for the day or week. It is a visual representation of the items that need importance and serves as a way to prioritize our tasks and commitments. Without making a list, tasks might be forgotten or remembered at the last minute. These unpleasant surprises increase stress and decrease our time for ourselves and other commitments. When creating a list, it allows us to think about priority and what items need to be completed first. However, we need to also understand that these lists should not be used to chastise ourselves if they are not accomplished. 

Regardless of your role, personal story, or journey that you are on now, you will always have a need to balance all these compartments of your life. This balancing will need to be reassessed from time to time. But most importantly, remember to be kind to yourself. We are all doing the best that we can at this moment in time. 

 

Tags: breakingnews
Previous Post

Celebrating Oral Health Professionals During National Dental Hygiene Month

Next Post

Raising Awareness About the Importance of Good Oral Health During National Dental Hygiene Month

Next Post
ADHA Provides Continuing Guidance for Returning to Work

Raising Awareness About the Importance of Good Oral Health During National Dental Hygiene Month

Please login to join discussion

Study Guides

  • Supporting the Health of the Oral Microbiome

  • Manage Erosive Tooth Wear With Minimally Invasive Dentistry

  • Biofilm Removal With Air Polishing

  • Tips for Treating Dentinal Hypersensitivity

  • What You Need to Know About Restorative Materials

  • Managing Erosive Tooth Wear

  • Providing Esthetic Alternatives to Traditional Orthodontic Therapy

  • Caries Risk Assessment and Genetics

  • Managing Sialorrhea

  • Update on the AAP's Peri-Implant and Periodontal Disease Classification System

  • Tips for Addressing Orofacial Pain

  • Practical Benefits of the Intraoral Scanner

  • Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

  • Use Your Core to Prevent Musculoskeletal Injuries

  • Ensure Effective Patient Communication

  • Important Role of Teledentistry

  • Implementing Infection Control Guidelines on New Technology

  • How to Make a Difference in the Opioid Epidemic

  • Uncover the Impact of Bias

  • Harnessing the Oral Health Benefits of Arginine

  • Discussing the Risks of E-Cigarettes

  • Successfully Addressing Orofacial Pain

  • How to Handle a Medical Emergency in the Dental Setting

  • Implement Risk-Based Intervals

  • Detecting Signs of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Kids

  • Teledentistry Provides Myriad Benefits

  • Asthma's Impact on Oral Health

  • Improve Patients' Oral Health Literacy

  • Detecting Dentinal Hypersensitivity

  • In-Office Tooth Whitening Options

  • Strategies to Maintain a Healthy Oral Microbiome

  • Endodontics 101 for Dental Hygienists

  • Role of Sealants in Caries Prevention Among a Variety of Populations

  • Improve Your Interpersonal Communication Skills

  • Identifying Tongue-Tie in Young Patients

  • Improving Access to Care With Teledentistry

  • Best Practices for Technology-Related Infection Control

  • Esthetic Options for Orthodontic Treatment

  • How to Manage Erosive Tooth Wear

  • Your Role in Forensic Dentistry

  • Strategies for Classifying Caries Lesions

  • Mitigating the Symptoms of Xerostomia

  • Implant Maintenance Is Key to Oral Health

  • Preventing Pain in Kids

  • Using Dental Radiography to Evaluate Periodontal Disease Status

  • Strengthen Your Core to Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders

  • Ethical Decision Making Defined

  • Pharmacology: Medication Usage

  • Antimicrobials: Improve Oral Health With Antimicrobials

  • Instrumentation: Improve Your Scaling and Root Planing Skills

  • Access to Care: Expand Access to Care for the Most Vulnerable

  • Risk Assessment: Reduce Oral Disease With Risk Assessment

  • Pediatrics: Tailoring Care for Kids

  • Oral Pathology: Tips for Addressing Common Oral Lesions

  • Oral Systemic: Explore the Oral-Systemic Link

  • Medical Emergencies: Be Prepared to Handle Anything

  • Patient Education: How to Hone Your Patient Education Skills

  • Infection Control: Ensure Practice Safety

  • Ergonomics Study Guide 1

  • Infection Control Study Guide 1

  • Fluoride Study Guide 1

  • Periodontics Study Guide 1

  • Hypersensitivity Study Guide 1

  • Caries Study Guide 1

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest

Dimensions of Dental Hygiene

Dimensions of Dental Hygiene is the leading peer-reviewed journal serving dental hygiene professionals.

Click here to visit our main website.

Tags

academia advice anxiety breakingingnews breakingnews career caries chlorhexidine confidence Course of the Week COVID-19 degree dental hygiene dental hygiene school dental hygienist interviewing introvert jobs masters national dental hygiene month NDHM quiz resume shy students varnish

© 2020 Belmont Publications, Inc. • All Rights Reserved • ISSN 1542-7919

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Study Guides & Quizzes
    • Courses & Quizzes
    • Study Guides
    • My Profile
  • Categories
    • Browse All
    • Access to Care
    • Anesthesia
    • Antimicrobials
    • Career Path
    • Caries
    • Ergonomics
    • Esthetic Dentistry
    • Ethics
    • Fluoride
    • Forensic Dentistry
    • Hypersensitivity
    • Infection Control
    • Instrumentation
    • Landing a Job
    • Lifestyle
    • Medical Emergencies
    • Mouthrinses
    • Oral Pathology
    • Oral Systemic
    • Orthodontics
    • Patient Education
    • Pediatrics
    • Periodontics
    • Pharmacology
    • Polishing
    • Radiography
    • Risk Assessment
    • Sealants
    • Ultrasonics
    • Xerostomia
  • Meet Our Sponsor
  • Facebook Group
  • Login

© 2020 Belmont Publications, Inc. • All Rights Reserved • ISSN 1542-7919

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Student

  • This is the name that will be displayed when posting on the site.
  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
    Sign up to receive e-mail communications about products and services based on prior purchases and/or my activities on this website.

Instructor

  • This is the name that will be displayed when posting
    Sign up to receive e-mail communications about products and services based on prior purchases and/or my activities on this website.

Administration

  • This is the name that will be displayed when posting
    Sign up to receive e-mail communications about products and services based on prior purchases and/or my activities on this website.

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Login

Lost Your Password?
Register
Don't have an account? Register one!
Register An Account