Have you ever got a tension headache because you were too productive?  Me too. These days, it can be hard to put on the brakes. After one too many headaches this year, I did something about it, and I want to share it with you. By doing this little productivity trick, you can say goodbye to those overfunctioning stress headaches. You will also be pleasantly surprised by how simple it is. Over the past two years, it’s been harder to get going which also means it can be harder to stop once I do...

Are you tired of trying to convince people that you’re right? Be honest. I will. I for sure am. Trying to convince people of my valid (ahem...right) reasons for doing what I do is exhausting and rarely works. I am going to share a little inspiration that will help you profoundly. You will stop trying to be right and realize how to think again and be okay with even (deep breath) being wrong. I have recently embraced this practice of what Adam Grant calls “thinking like a scientist” and I want...

That end-of-the-day blah feeling can be the worst. By adding this one, little daily habit, you can end your bad days permanently. (I did!) You’ll also head home feeling great know that your bad days are behind you. It’s taken me over 15 years of teaching and coaching to get to this realization, and I know you want to hear about it. If you’re thinking that this is complicated, don’t worry. It’s not. It’s so easy that you can do it anywhere. Here’s what we’re getting into: Microshifting...

If I hear one more person (myself included) say “Maybe you just need to be a little more gentle on yourself.” I am going to lose it. I suck at gentleness. Maybe you’re like me and you know that gentleness with yourself and others is so important, but it’s been a struggle lately, I’ve got the episode for you. By doing this one little shift, I have been rocking at being more gentle. I’ve been working on the whole gentleness thing officially for nine years. I will share with you what I am doing...

I hate talking about mindsets.  I needed to say that. I just needed to put it out there. Okay, now that I’ve said that, there is one mindset hack that legit changed my life. I wish I knew this earlier but I am so excited to share it with you now. I’ve been swimming in mindsets. But honestly, nothing stuck. It all just seemed too basic. It was obvious the people who had a more open mindset and those who didn’t. But upon entering my fourth year of coaching teachers, I had a big ah-ha...

Not having enough time to do our jobs is one of the burdens of being a teacher. Consequently, it’s essential to guard our limited time and energy with our lives. This is why boundaries with our students are a must. Boundaries might not be what you think they are, and they may look different with students versus with other adults. Embracing boundaries has been a learning process for me, so I’m excited to share some of my own stories so you can hopefully learn from my mistakes. CO-HOSTS:...

How do you spend the tiny pockets of time waiting for a meeting to begin? How about the time when your students are transitioning back from lunch or recess and you’re waiting for them in the classroom? What you’re choosing to do can impact your overall stress quite a bit. Confetti time is a term I learned to name these little moments. I used to spend my confetti time “catching up” on email until I learned how impactful these moments can be if I spend them in a different way. Impactful is...

Sunday scaries are the worst. By adding a little shift in your Friday routine you can calm those Sunday nerves immensely. You’ll also walk into school on Monday feeling like a champ! I’ve been honing my Friday reflection process for years, and I want to share it with you! Get ready for a combo platter of to-do lists, reflection, and intentional planning. CO-HOSTS: Jessie Gebauer & Joel Carlovsky Check out our latest free resource! ⤵️ ⤵️ ⤵️ FAMILY COMMUNICATION GUIDE:...

Planning and prepping lessons day by day is incredibly stressful. I know because I did it for years. Finally, I learned a few tricks to pull myself out of that day-to-day cycle. I want to help you do the same. Find the podcast show notes here ➡️ https://www.themarigoldforce.com/blog. CO-HOSTS: Jessie Gebauer & Joel Carlovsky Check out our latest free resource! ⤵️ ⤵️ ⤵️ FAMILY COMMUNICATION GUIDE: https://themarigoldforce.ck.page/newsletterguide INSTAGRAM:...

Watch out for the teachers that are toxic walnut trees! Every school has them and they will suck your energy and love for teaching dry if you’re not careful. Instead, look for the marigold teachers. Walnut teachers and marigold teachers are drastically different. Once you know how to spot them both, you’ll be able to avoid those walnut trees. More importantly, you want to get in with the marigold teachers! Then you can learn from all their greatness and become one of the best teachers...

DrafBatch working might be my favorite productivity hack that I've ever learned. I share it whenever I can. Batch working will help you get twice as much done in a fraction of the time. This strategy gives your brain an advantage by focusing on similar tasks while also eliminating transitions. Today, I'm going to dig into what batch working is, how to start batch working right away, and what's most important to remember as you move forward. I also use the term batching in this article....

It is impossible to do it all. I'm starting with that statement because it is a brand-spankin' new school year. And I know I tend to approach the end of August extremely, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. All of the fun, creative ideas that I've seen other teachers doing are dangling in front of me like a Reese’s peanut butter cup. As I’m about to put a zillion different things in action, I need to come back and remind myself that it is impossible to do at all. This episode of the Marigold Force...

Stop! Don't waste your time on that. I'm screaming this from the rooftop because I need to hear it too. Just today, I caught myself reorganizing file names in Google Drive. This little stint is a red flag of mine. Usually, I’m avoiding something that's mentally challenging. When this happens I try to check myself by asking, “Is this the most important thing you should be doing right now, Jessie?” Learn from my mistakes friend, and get really clear on what tasks deserve your limited time and...

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like everything is going wrong? One difficult thing keeps leading to another and your whole day is this domino effect of bad things happening?    In this episode, I’ll be talking about the #1 secret to steer clear of these types of days. It’s a simple strategy that has changed my day-to-day drastically, yet it’s so simple that you can start implementing it TODAY. Co-Hosts: Jessie Gebauer & Joel Carlovsky Check out the Free Guide "4...

Welcome to today's episode on In Conclusion: 5 Key Takeaways from Season 2. We made it! Today is the final episode of Season 2. Whew! Don’t worry, Marigolds! We aren’t going anywhere but we will be taking some time to rest, rejuvenate, and reground ourselves. And we want you to be able to do the same - and catch up on the 36 episodes we have done this season! Today is all about reflection. We will be sharing our five key takeaways from Season 2. It was such an incredible season full of...

Welcome to today's episode on Rest Doesn't Just Happen: 3 Ways to Prioritize Your Summer Break Are you there yet? How many days left? If you are a teacher, you know what we are talking about! Today is all about summer break. Summer rest. Summer rejuvenation. Summer work. Summer healing. All of the important things that this season brings. We are so close - or are already there - but now is the time to start prioritizing your summer break. We have learned over the years that rest doesn’t...

Welcome to today's episode on Nonnegotiables: 4 Things All Teachers Need to Make Habitual Now. What are your nonnegotiables each day at home and at work? You know, the things you do no matter what to keep yourself strong and vital, so you can keep tackling whatever comes up. Do these daily habits look way different than they did a year ago? Has it been difficult to keep up these habits or even figure out what they need to look like right now? We get it. The daily habits turn into “every...

Welcome to today's episode on Master of None: 3 Truths You Need to Hear to Embrace the Teaching Journey. Have you found yourself going down the “if only” path lately? “If only my students and colleagues respected my expertise and ideas more, then I would feel so much better about my job!” “If only this was more fun, then I could enjoy what I am doing more.” “If only my school would do this, this, and that, then it would be so much better.” “If only we did it here more like they do over...

Welcome to today's episode on Get a Life: 4 Opportunities to Expand Beyond Being "Just a Teacher". My guess is that over the past year, you have heard the word “resilience” and “resilient”. We're also guessing that you have heard about the importance of being resilient and building resilience in yourself and in your students. And when Iwesay resilience we mean being stronger in the face of adversity, being more determined, courageous, creative, and optimistic. All of which have been super...

Welcome to today's episode on Welcome the Breakdown: 3 Techniques to Break Down Your Teacher Fears. Have you ever had so much on your plate that you feel beyond overwhelmed? You have no idea how you will get everything done - let alone, done well? We get it! Things feel too big, too loud, and too urgent. Maybe you try tackling a few things and then you get bombarded with another list of things to try and finish. At this moment you aren’t even trying for a B+ and you’d happily settle for a...

Welcome to today's episode on Be Your Own Coach: 3 Ways to Turnaround Your Mindset and Suffer Less. Have you ever thought to yourself, "They (student) just need to try harder! She (parent) needs to be a better parent. He (colleague) isn't doing his job." You know these thoughts aren't doing anyone any good, but you don't know how to get them out of your head. We get it. All of those shoulds and superlatives can cloud our thinking. We might even do the work of questioning our thoughts and...

Welcome to today's episode on The Life-Changing Magic of Questioning Yourself: The 4 Questions That Forever Changed Our Teaching. Have you ever had thoughts filled with “should”s? “They should be doing their job. My students should just listen the first time. These families should realize that I’m exhausted and that I don’t need to get 100 emails about the same thing!” What about our superlative thoughts? “ I never can get this done on time. My students never listen to the feedback I give...

Welcome to today's episode on Beginner's Mind: 4 Simple Approaches to Free Yourself from Impossible Expectations. Teachers! Have you ever been stuck in a professional learning or development and told yourself “I already know this! Why am I here? This is not only boring but a waste of my time!” Or what about when an administrator gave you some feedback and you thought to yourself “Okay! Whatever! Next! I am the one who is doing this every day! I am the expert on what I need!”  When those...

Welcome to today's episode on Embrace the Season: 4 Ways to Actively Accept the Season You Are In. Have you ever just kept pushing forward no matter what? Maybe you are like us and prefer the warmer seasons of life - literally and metaphorically - so even in the colder and harder months you keep pushing through? We know that sometimes it feels like we are wearing this invisible badge that says “I am a teacher. I can do anything. Watch out!” We definitely know that feeling of pushing through...