Why we should make space for more reflection

I get it. Life gets busy. And when I was working full-time at a failing secondary school as an English teacher, I would have rolled my eyes (and then probably stress-cried) if I was encouraged to try more reflection.

“With what time? I’m a reflective practitioner as it is, and I know when a lesson’s gone well. This is another bureaucratic exercise in tick-boxing and a rubbish attempt at a staff wellbeing initiative.”

Or something like that.

But I think both myself and senior leadership perhaps got the wrong end of the stick when it came to reflection: if it feels arbitrary when you’re doing it, reflection won’t serve you.

I’ve come to think of reflection as energising and rejuvenating, and a chance to reconnect with myself. Actively making time for reflection feels like a bubble bath – a simultaneously luxurious and functional self-care activity.

As, when I reflect positively and purposefully, with myself at the centre, it makes me feel calmer, steadier and more at peace, and guides my next active step in personal development.

And this is what I aim to impart to students experiencing my workshop: Burnout Management 101. When introducing my workshop to 170 sixth form students in March 2026, I prefaced the experience by asking them to not take it seriously, but to honour the time and space they were being given to reflect.

And the feedback I got?

[it] Highlighted the need to personalise coping mechanisms for stress not just follow what others recommended.

It was nice to be spoken to as an individual not just a member of the college.

There was time to reflect and personalise the ideas for ourselves to see how we can progress in the future and what we are doing wrong. This just gave me the time to do that where I probably wouldn't have done these types of exercises at home.

Students were able to reconnect to their intuition by having protected time to think. And it made them feel like their voices and opinions mattered.

And this is what I hope to achieve in my coaching career, whether that be in a 1:1 capacity or to nearly 200 16-28 year-olds. My purpose – it transpires, after a reflective half term – is to grant permission for you to actively choose your path on your own terms.

Do reach out if that’s something you’d like for your students, or for yourself. I’d be honoured to hold that space for you.