Work/Life Balance
This past weekend I asked you, my followers how their work balance is. I asked how many teachers worked 10+ hours out of their contracted time and 85% of you said you did! This was out of 66 responses so obviously that isn’t a huge pool of people but if that small amount said yes who knows what more would.
COVID started and everyone was focused on home life and slowing down. But then work started for teachers and it feels like a 24/7 job. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. But how do I balance it all? And to be honest it seems like not a lot of us are doing too hot. So I thought I would find some good information about this to share with you all.
Shannon McCloud from We are Teachers did the actual math and made a fun visual of her workload:
Now if we are working double our work hours there is obvious issue and we are definitely not working smarter, just harder. Obviously we would do anything for our students but we need to pay attention to how much time we are putting into it so that we don’t get burnt out and quit. Or worse, become those teachers that you don’t want your own child in (we know who those people are).
Here are my tips on how to handle the work load that comes along with being a teacher:
1. Have designated work times:
I actually learned this tip from my Dean in college who really had his stuff together and was amazing at his job. Have days that you work super late at night and then give yourself the next day off or to socialize with friends. For example, if I am working Monday, Wednesday, Friday then I will give myself Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to relax. But that means sticking to that. You’re not texting or playing on your phone, you are working during those hours. That leads me to my next point…
2. Learn to focus
I had no idea how terrible my focus was until I started using the app Fabulous. While I don’t use it anymore, it taught me some awesome habits and the main one that stuck is that I can not sit and focus on a task. Try setting a timer for 30 minutes to work on a task and see how many times you stop working on that task to do something else like check your phone, do another task, make a call, etc. I am terrible! Setting a timer is a huge help. Work for a good 30 minutes without distractions and then take a few minute break before starting another task or project. You’ll learn how much you can get done when you actually focus on it. My IEP I didn’t want to write can get done pretty quickly when all of my attention is on it.
3. “If it’s your job to eat a frog, It’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” Mark Twain
One of my favorite quotes I learned from listening to the Podcast Whoa was this. Basically, start your day by getting your least favorite task done and out of the way. That way the rest of your day is easy. For instance, I hate thinking about my workout so the first thing I do every week day is get on the bike. And now that I type this I should start doing this at work by making myself focus on my IEPs first thing. That way your more likely to do them and be done with it.
I am still working on getting better at these things but you have to start somewhere. Being a teacher is hard and rewarding but it should not take over your entire life. You do need balance and I don’t think that means you always have that balance but that over time when you look at your life it is balanced. For example if I know I am having dinner at my friends on Tuesday that means I know I am going to work at home on Monday. Plan ahead and be realistic about your goals for the day, week, and month.
Here are a few resources I have used to help me find balance and/or learn about balance in literally all parts of my life and some new resources I found recently:
Happy Teaching :)