Steph Schmidt on LinkedIn: #motherhood #motherload #ruralmotherhood (2024)

Feeling overwhelmed by farm life?You're not alone. Here's a reflection moment from a FarmFlex Workshop attendee:"Really good value and worthwhile. So much is going on these days, it can be hard to have strategies. I will endeavour to be more mindful, using internal phrases such as ‘I’m having this thought right now’, ‘is it important?’, ‘what is important now?’"In our fast-paced world, finding effective strategies to stay grounded is crucial, especially in the farming community where every day brings new challenges. FarmFlex workshops are designed to equip you with the tools to enhance psychological flexibility and effectively manage stress.Ready to bring these valuable skills to your team? Visit https://lnkd.in/gVmrym4p to book a FarmFlex Workshop for your organisation and start fostering a more mindful and resilient environment today!#FarmLife #MentalHealthSkills #Pofessionaldevelopment #Mindfulness

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As Olympic fever starts to hit, I invite you to support an incredible young woman working hard toward her Olympic dreams.My niece, Akon Baak, is an extremely talented and hard working athlete in her sport of choice, Taekwondo.She recently won Gold at the Korean Championships, followed up by training with the athletes heading to Paris as she prepares to represent Australia in the World Championships.None of this comes cheap however, and she is currently looking for donations and opportunities for businesses to support her on her journey.I'm sharing with my LinkedIn network in the hope of reaching some businesses and generous individuals who can help out.Here are a few words from Akon:"This year, I have been lucky enough to be chosen as an athlete for the Aussie Athlete Fund. This program gives me support and training to raise money to assist in my sporting journey. It is run by 5-time Olympian, Nat Cook, who found herself in significant debt at the end of her sporting career. She wants to support current athletes so that they don’t also experience sporting debt. Taekwondo requires many interstate and international trips for both training and competitions. This year I have already been to Korea twice (once for a training camp and then for the Korea Open), I have travelled to Canberra and Melbourne (twice) for training and Sydney for competition. Still to come this year is another two training camps in Canberra and Melbourne, Korea for the World Championships and Brisbane for the Australian National Championships.All of this travel comes at a significant cost for flights, accommodation, transport, uniforms and entry fees. I know that things are difficult financially for many people, and having got my first job this year, I’m learning how difficult money is to earn and how quickly it disappears. If you might be in a position to make a tax-deductible contribution to support my taekwondo journey, that would be greatly appreciated. You can make donations herehttps://lnkd.in/gqgV4UDY also, through the Aussie Athlete Fund I am looking for businesses that might be willing to support me – this could be through hosting a morning tea, or donating items for an auction. So if you happen to have any ideas of businesses that I might approach, this would be greatly appreciated."Melanie Baak

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Do you have a work health and safety initiative that benefits women and young people in SA?Applications are open now (and closing very soon) for the SafeWork SA Augusta Zadow Awards. Health and safety initiatives which support young workers and women in the workplace can apply for up to $25,000 in grant funding. https://lnkd.in/gZjFgzYKI was fortunate to be a winner in 2021, and there have been many other game-changing women who have won in previous years Alex Thomas FGLF, Paige Cross, Belle Baker.It's not too late to put your hat in the ring!

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Meal planning gives me heart palpitations.Yes, no matter how hard I try, whenever I sit down to attempt meal planning the same thing happens. My mind goes blank, my heart races, and I freeze. You'd think that preparing shearing meals for 10 people, 4 meals a day across a haphazard number of days would be a total disaster. Yet, I usually pull it off quite successfully.Even without military meal planning. These photos are my "meal plan" and shopping list for 1.5 weeks off shearing 🤣How? After 15ish years, I think I've intuitively learned quantities needed. But if you ask me what they are, I have no idea. What does this have to do with anything?A little reminder to trust yourself and what works for you. For some people, a military-style meal plan and shopping list itemised down to the last gram helps them to manage the overwhelm.For me, right there 👆 that's overwhelm! You do you, and trust yourself in how you do it.

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In 2010, I presented a poster on my honours research at the Rural and Remote Mental Health Symposium in Canberra.I flew Tiger Airways, stayed in a backpacker dorm above a noisy pub, and loved every minute of the conference. 14 years on I'm absolutely honoured to have been invited as a guest keynote panelist at this year's Rural Mental Health Conference. The theme - "Give me a challenge, preferably not too hard: the reality of rural mental health"If you are planning on heading to the conference, I'd love to catch up!

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When we think about farm safety, we need to think inside the farm gate as well as beyond it. Thank you Triple P Australia for sharing some of my parenting story. I hope that others can benefit from the resources and support now available for new parents. Check out the online programs provided by Triple P, and support for perinatal mental health by Gidget Foundation Australia

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I've had thoughts on this publication since I first read it last week. Then I felt completely ick with the click-bait headline used by the media to share key findings from the original article.Emily has shared some very valuable insights here, drawing on her current research with rural women. A few of my thoughts: - the language we use matters. Even if that comment was mentioned in the research article itself, by using it as a click-bait media headline, that label has now been introduced or reinforced for women in farming. Not OK.- There have been comments on the sample size. Qualitative research tends to have low sample sizes, as researchers them analyse all of the verbal data, rather than large scale quantitative studies which focus on numbers. Have a look at a lot of rural research and you'll see it's often based on small sample sizes.- This conversation is important, so let's keep it going. Succession can be a thorny subject, but it's vital to the longevity not only of individual farming businesses, but the future of agriculture as a whole.Make sure you read the original research article here https://lnkd.in/guEQHXrmLucky we have some great people working in this space Gillian Fennell Emily Buddle Robyn Verrall Alex Thomas FGLF

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Permission to pauseThere is no podcast episode out today, I just couldn't make it work.I struggled to find my podcast mojo this week, amongst farm life and end of term busy. I also put added pressure on myself to record 3 episodes, which never works out well. So I'm giving myself permission to pause. I haven't totally decided whether I'm pausing socials completely over school holidays and while the podcast pauses, I haven't decided for myself whether I will attempt to create some "Pause with Steph" episodes either. Let's just see. Things are a lot right now, and I'm practising and learning that permission to pause and play is just as important as "doing."There's still lots to catch up on in the first 7 podcast episodes, so make sure you have a listen to "Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt" on your fav podcast app.Or, give yourself permission to pause as well.Take care of you, Steph x#FarmLifePsych #PermissionToPause #LifeOnTheLand

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I stepped outside my "normal" and proposed a slightly different workshop for this year's WoTL Thriving Women Conference.And I was accepted.So I'm very excited to be running a Toolbox Talk at Thriving Women 2024 - Change Your Picture: Empowering rural women with psychological strategies and a touch of "woo".The workshop is rooted in the philosophy that every woman has the innate capacity to effect positive change in her life and, by extension, her community. Participants will be introduced to a range of practical tools and strategies, from mindfulness techniques and stress management to goal setting and positive visualisation, all designed to enhance mental wellness and foster a sense of empowerment.Will you be joining me at TW2024??Thriving Women conference, 12 - 13 August 2024, Adelaide Hills Convention Centre, Hahndorf SA, hosted by WoTL. Thriving Women is a premier conference event to secure a sustainable future for women living and working in agriculture and associated industries.This is a conference event like no other, with whole-of-room discussions and intimate conversations setting this event apart. In 2024, the conference theme "Be the Change" will take centre stage, resonating with the vibrant and dynamic community of women connected through agriculture.#TW2024#thrivingwomen#WoTL#womentogetherlearning#ruralwomen#womeninagriculture

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