Janelle E. Wells, Ph.D., and Doreen MacAulay, Ph.D.
Our (In)visible Work
As the golden days of summer shorten, we begin to obsess over the visible marker that the season is ready to turn with back-to-school sales and the return of morning traffic. This transition demands a rapid shift from the fluid flexibility of summer to the strictly choreographed schedule of fall, and several stakeholders pay the emotional and mental tax of pulling off the annual resurrection of structure.
Each stakeholder carries a weight
The process of going back to school is one that is discussed with joy and trepidation by both the student starting a new chapter and the parent finally getting back into routine. The reality, however, is that the success of back to school takes everyone, including teachers, coaches, guardians, and even the non-parental colleagues. It also doesn’t just start on the first day of school, but earlier, with countless decisions, tasks, and emotions that come before and after the first day.
Students, whether K-12 or college, have long worked to earn their grades, but their hardest work is internal during this transition. A child’s brain is adapting to social hierarchies and processing high levels of stimulation all while resisting the physical strain of sitting still for hours after months of unstructured movement. From small to large decisions, the weight compounds.
For teachers and coaches, the Review of Education notes that off-the-clock invisible labor is real and includes designing lesson plans, creating physical spaces to soothe sensory overload, or buying supplies with personal funds. Beyond logistics, the authors of Emotions in Education suggest that educators’ primary invisible work involves emotional scaffolding as they prepare to absorb the anxieties of students’ distinct personalities and work to build immediate trust with worried parents who have their own expectations.
For parents and guardians who could be called logistical micro-managers and may be experiencing decision fatigue, they are inundated tracking registration forms, following the appropriate apps, coordinating carpools, and marking calendars, all while also managing their day jobs. Emotionally they also bear a heavy duty absorbing their children’s stress while projecting a steadiness that they truly may not feel. Researchers in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships remind us how important it is for these actions to be acknowledged and handled appropriately because regulating one’s emotions superficially (surface acting) can be more harmful to the parents than genuine regulation (deep acting).
For organizations, 9-5 wasn’t designed for the school calendar, and progressive organizations have taken note by mitigating the invisible friction and enacting seasonal flexibility policies with core-hour meeting schedules (e.g., minimizing mandatory meetings prior to 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m.). Those that are not progressive enough to consider the ebbs and flows of the season have parents working in increased stress-induced environments and have the non-parent employees compensating for their colleagues. Building systemic buffers rather than expecting uninterrupted year-round output helps protect all employees (those who are parents and those who are not) from spillover work or burnout, boosts retention, and fosters an inclusive culture.
