Leave School Before Dark! Time Management Tips for Teachers
Whether you are making a change at the start of a new year, after summer, winter, or spring break, or even during the middle of the week–it is never too late to make small changes to your schedule or teacher time management systems. Tiny adjustments can make a big impact! If you are unsure where to start, feeling overwhelmed, or are just plain burnt out, I am here to help! I created systems and procedures to help with managing time as a teacher. I created an amazing work/home balance, and you can too, with little to no prep work. Let’s get started!
The never-ending to-do list is one of the hardest things about teaching. There is always something to do, and we all know that if you could forego sleep and work nonstop for a week, there would still be more to do! I used to stay late, work for as long as I could, and was pretty well acquainted with the custodial staff who frequently kicked me out. I would take papers home to grade, so much so that I had to purchase a special rolling cart to save my back. My weekends were filled with teacher tasks, which felt never-ending. I was a teacher 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it was exhausting. Now, I know what you are thinking: this is what it means to be a teacher. But after experiencing work/life balance, I am here to say that this is not what it means to be a teacher. It is time to change that mindset! Yes, as teachers, we are giving, selfless, and above all, compassionate; we do all these things for everyone else, how about doing the same for yourself? Teacher retention rates are dropping every year, and it is because there are crazy expectations that no person can sustain, especially if the pay does not match those expectations. Somewhere along the line, the norm has become staying at school late, working at home, and grading papers all weekend. But if you want to stay in the teaching game for the long haul, you have to take care of yourself and create work boundaries. You can be an amazing teacher and leave your classroom at a reasonable hour with all of your work done and your day set for tomorrow. All you need is a little time management. All you need to do is change your mindset and look at things from a different perspective. After almost two decades, I have perfected my real-world solution to getting out of your classroom and getting home at a reasonable hour–without a tote bag filled with items to complete at home! Get rid of your rolling cart, throw the tote bags away, I have got you covered!
Teacher Burnout
As a teacher, you are well aware that the threat of burnout is imminent and constant. One of the main reasons the feeling of exhaustion and being overwhelmed is so prominent is due to the lack of time teachers take for themselves. This has to stop! If you want to be the best teacher you can be, then you have to manage your time and leave your work in your classroom. Now, I am not saying that you should avoid your work, do things halfway, or not meet deadlines; what you must do is change the way you think and change the way you prioritize.
When I first started teaching, I practically lived in my classroom. I was spiraling, and pretty soon, I dreaded waking up in the morning because I was so tired. I would often find myself wondering if I was meant to be a teacher, if this was really my passion. In the end, the teaching part, the part that involved helping my students, opening doors of knowledge for them, and helping them grow and master skills, was 100% what I had signed up for. But the long hours with a paycheck that did not match the work put in were dragging me down, and started to take away from my joy. That is when I began to think, and to really look at what I was doing each day in my classroom, but more specifically, what I was doing before school, during my prep period, and after the kids left. I was so tired and burnt out that before school, it was difficult for me to jump in and focus. During my prep period, I was so drained and fighting to stay afloat that I was seeking solace amongst my teammates, looking for a shoulder to cry on. After school, I was taking so much time to prepare things that weren’t needed for the next day, or even the next week. I wanted everything to be perfect, I wanted to try to get ahead, but in the end, I was making extra and unnecessary work for myself. I was completely flustered, unfocused, and drowning. I needed to take control, and I needed to focus on the now.
Once I realized that I needed to hone in on the present and block out all of the other noise, a quote from To Kill a Mockingbird entered my brain. Something that I hadn’t thought about since high school. Throughout the story, Atticus Finch would say, “It is not time to worry yet.” Now, I don’t know what compelled this memory to enter my head, or why this quote was stuck on repeat in my mind, but it led me to look at what I was doing every day. I began to look at what I was spending my time on, what I was worrying about, and what was causing me to enter into a tailspin. Knowing that if I kept this up, I would certainly crash and burn, I knew I had to modify this saying into one that could help me, and that is when I wrote down:
.png/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:1280)
What do I need to do today to be successful tomorrow?
I instantly wrote this on a sticky note, placed it in my planner, and began making a list. I was going to make a change, I was going to make my life balanced, and I know that you can too. Not sure where to start? I have a free printable PDF To-Do List to help you out. You can do this!
The One Question to Keep You On Track
Real-world teachers have a constant list cycling through their minds; there is always something that needs to be done, and the list changes every day. To keep your sanity, it is important to realize that you won’t be able to complete your entire to-do list–at least not right now. You must create boundaries; one of the most important tools for creating a healthy balance is honing
your time management skills. Yes, you could stay and work in your classroom until 10 pm when the custodians kick you out, but that isn’t a viable option. If you keep working twelve-hour days, you will resent your job, you will burn out, and your teaching and students will suffer. I am sure that this sounds all too familiar and rings true for most educators, but I have a straightforward solution that will get you out of your classroom at a reasonable time every day. Think of an emergency room; they must triage their patients. Obviously, the person with a bone sticking out of their arm, or someone who is having a heart attack, is tended to first. You must have the same mindset regarding your time in your classroom and the many tasks that you must complete. Triage your tasks, and you will find success.
At the end of each day, you must ask this question: What do I need to do today to be successful tomorrow? Now, I know what you are thinking, that can’t be it, and you are partially right. There are other things that you can do throughout your day, other boundaries you can set that will make asking this question even easier, and we will dive into those other strategies, but first, you must focus on that one question.
What do I need to do today to be successful tomorrow? This compelling question will help you to focus your efforts, it will help you to prioritize tasks, and most importantly, it will help you to leave your classroom at a reasonable hour. Asking yourself this question is the first step to becoming a time management master. Let me break down how this would look on a normal afternoon. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of this, I can help. Check out my Teacher Resources for a free list and a way to plan out your time throughout the day.
Organizing Your Afternoon
.png/:/rs=w:1280)
You return from your afternoon duty, check your mailbox, and are back in your classroom. You look around, and instantly you feel overwhelmed. The class library has been ransacked, there are papers to be graded, your laptop is dinging non-stop with email notifications, and you can’t “see” your desk. This sounds like chaos, but it is typical in the real-world classroom. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but before you jump down the rabbit hole and begin taking every book off your class library shelf and Googling, “The best way to organize a classroom library,” take a breath; everything will be okay. Let’s look at a good place to start.
Time Sensitive Communication
The first thing you should do is tackle time-sensitive communication. This means that anything that has to do with your students, their behavior, their IEP meeting, and any parent phone calls or emails (only emails that need immediate attention, more on this later) should be handled first. Get these items off your list right away. Parent phone calls and emails can cause a bit of anxiety, so getting them done and out of the way first is a great way to free up space in your brain to focus on other tasks. Getting this communication done right after school also communicates to parents, administrators, and other teachers that you have made your students a priority immediately after school; they were first on your list, and that means something.
Check Your Planner
Second, check your planner and see what you have on the books for tomorrow. Do you have a parent meeting? IEP meeting? Are you meeting with other teachers to discuss assessment results? Typically, items needed for meetings that involve other people should be knocked out next; you don’t want to show up for a meeting unprepared. Preparing for the next day’s meetings is another way to communicate that you are focused, your students are your priority, and that you are great with your time management. Getting these items done the day before also takes off any pressure for tomorrow. Eliminating last-minute prep work will make your day run smoothly tomorrow.
Check Tomorrow’s Lesson Plans
Next, focus on your lesson plans…what are you teaching tomorrow? Do you have all of the copies and supplies you need? Do you need to create your interactive student notebook notes or plan any accommodations for students for the lessons tomorrow? Is your objective updated on your board? You want to make sure that everything is ready for teaching the next day. Don’t leave it until the morning to prep for your lessons; something always happens before school that is out of your control. Whether it is a staff meeting, your morning duty, an impromptu team meeting, an impromptu student meeting, or time-sensitive emails that come in from the night before–there is never enough time before school to get it done.
If you get through all of those items and still have some time, tidy up your desk. Still, a little more time? Set a timer and grade whatever you can before the timer goes off. The final step is the toughest–leave!!! You deserve to leave your classroom at a reasonable hour; you are not required to work a ten-hour day–leave!!!
What About My Prep Period?
Ahhh, the teacher prep period! Most teachers get a 45 to 60-minute prep period each day. This time is invaluable! During your prep period, you should utilize the same philosophy as after school. Tackle the time-sensitive tasks first, answer any emails that require immediate attention, or make a parent phone call. I highly suggest grading during your prep period. Check out my blog post about how to stop taking your grading home for more real-world tips. But the reality of your prep period is that you are typically pretty busy during this block of time. Oftentimes, you are eating your lunch, attending a team meeting, an IEP meeting, or even covering/subbing for another teacher’s class. What I have learned is that the real-world teacher never truly has a prep period, so don’t count on that time. This is the main reason I suggest making sure you are ready to teach after school the day before. If your prep period is a time when you can get things done, this is amazing! Start tackling that after-school to-do list during this time. Just don’t forget to ask yourself: What do I need to do today to be successful tomorrow?
“Time-Suckers”
I know what you are thinking…what about the class library? What about the thrashed classroom? What about the millions of emails? You will get to those, but you need to prioritize your time and ask for help. Let’s tackle some time suckers one by one.
- Emails can take up a ton of time. I instituted a 24-hour email reply policy, which I let parents know about at the start of the year, so give yourself 24 hours to respond. Typically, I would go through and reply to emails that were NOT time sensitive before school and during my prep period.
- Classroom library and class clean-up should be tackled by your students. Classroom clean-up can be built into your routine at the end of the day; I would allocate the last 3-5 minutes of class to this, and dismiss students accordingly. If their areas are clean, they get to leave. If students take ownership of the classroom library, it is more likely to stay organized. This could be an opportunity for students to take pride in their classroom. Assign the organization of this as a classroom job, or if your school allows, invite students in during recess to organize it for you.
- Your desk should be the one area in your classroom that is yours, that you have control over, and it can be your one spot that you know is clean, organized, and the way you left it. If it is covered in student papers or extra worksheets at the end of the day, then it is time to reexamine your organizational tools and systems. Do you need paper organizers, bins, or filing systems? Do you need to reinforce with your class that your desk is a “No Drop Zone”? Check out my blog post to help you organize your classroom with realistic systems that work.
- Tasks or things that need to be completed by a specific due date are assigned by your administrator, and special projects you are working on should be completed during your prep period or before school. If there is additional time after school, of course, these projects can be attended to.
.png/:/rs=w:1280)
I know what you are thinking: all of this is easier said than done! You are right. But, only you can set these boundaries, only you can take your time into your own hands. Typically, I arrive 45 minutes to an hour before school starts, and stay 45 minutes to an hour after school has ended. I don’t take papers home to grade–I try not to take anything home with me. These boundaries are needed to prevent burnout. It is so important to use every moment in your day, before school, during your free period, and even during lunch. This is a way for you to keep your sanity as a teacher. You need a break, and you need to work the typical 8-9 hours each day. Taking care of yourself should be a priority, and your students will benefit from it.
Prioritize your time, triage your tasks, and keep that one question in the front of your mind: What do I need to do today to be successful tomorrow? Let this question lead your actions. Stay focused and productive, and you will have a happy and balanced life.
