Speechie Live Savers for Term 2!

It’s Term 2! Here we are again, back to the busy rigmarole of everyday routines. Term 2 is always the one where you feel "Okay, I've got this. I know how it's going. And I don't feel burnt out/exhausted by the year yet!" Woohoo for Term 2, my second favourite term (Term 1's optimism cannot be beaten).

Some things that I hope will make your Term 2 go more smoothly, because they're certainly helping me...

On my desk: Hand Cream

I get really dry hands, because I wash them a lot, as well as frequently using hand sanitiser (in a post-lockdown world, it’s really important to maintain high standards of hand hygiene!). So I always have at least one (if not two!) hand creams on my desk. Here are three luxe options to consider:

• L’Occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Cream

• Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve

• Le Labo Hand Pomade

In my car: umbrella

Many cities all over the world are accused of being “sunny one minute, rainy the next” and Sydney is no exception. One challenge I find is that it’s rare to be able to walk around without an umbrella when it is rainy - you may have it in your bag for 10 days without using it, but you’ll suffer if you forget it on the 11th day because of COURSE it will rain. Sydney doesn’t seem to do “light showers” anymore, it’s always a heavy shower (whether for a minute or a day). I bought this very cute little umbrella from Tokyo. It’s compact and lightweight and I love it!

In my clinic: Sushi Scramble game

I’m obsessed with this game at the moment. It's a super fun game with little sushi pieces, ‘chopsticks’ and a chopping sushi chef. It’s fast-paced and fun for kids, with lots of opportunities to target sounds and words as well as various language goals. For example, what a great way to practise personal narratives - exchange stories about the last time you went to a sushi restaurant! Did the chef chop off all the food on the sushi train before you could grab it? I hope not!

On my internet browser: Pomodoro timer

This timer is the ONLY thing keeping me on track right now. I have been overstretched these past few months - between the school holidays, my time off, my lovely admin assistant’s time off, and the many hats I wear (clinician, research student, medicolegal speech pathology assessment provider, clinical supervisor, EBP group co-leader, and the list goes on…) - as my task list for work has been longer than the hours in any single day.

I’ve been working hard, but of course when you’re tired, your productivity goes exponentially downward. I also forget to take breaks when I’m working, which compounds the tiredness/fatigue. So using this Pomodoro timer helps me START the unsurmountable, mountainous task, and it also helps me to remember to take breaks at regular intervals so I don’t burn myself out in a burst of faux productivity.

Full disclosure…The tab right next to this timer is the Facebook group I help moderate for Private Practice Speech Pathologists in Australia – you can always tell I’m procrastinating when I leave a flurry of answers to other people’s posts on there!