5 Ways to Manage a Work Life Balance
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You probably read this title and thought, “uhhh Brittany there is NO work/life balance as a teacher!” A few years ago I would have told you that you couldn’t be more correct. Before having my son, who’s now 16 months old, this was my exact fear. How am I going to work and have quality time with my son? Will my house ever be clean again? Will I ever have ME time to watch my favorite shows?
Ok. Did those questions sink in? Do they sound familiar? Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second. Life as a teacher can be hard. But there are ways to make it manageable, so you’re not giving up one thing for another. So let’s dive into 5 ways to help you manage a work life balance!
Planning Time - We all have some sort of planning time at school, maybe a 30 or 45 minute resource class that your students attend, so you can get things done. Before each day I want you to write yourself a to-do list with the highest priority items on the top. Your goal during this planning time is to get 1 - 3 items checked off that list. And let’s be real, it’s ok to put bathroom break on there as a teacher! That’s a huge priority!
Close Your Door - People may tell you that it creates an uninviting environment, but we also know that teachers are the biggest talkers. I mean relationships are one of the biggest parts of our job and if your door is open during your planning time, people will come in. You have that to-do list to complete and you’re trying to manage your time, so close your door. I promise it works!
Technology - Utilize the technology you have available because it will save you a lot of time and resources. If you’re one-to-one on devices for students and use a learning management system like Google Classroom or Canvas, use it! Don’t let it sit there. These systems allow you to easily push lessons how to students without having to spend extra time copying papers (and it helps the environment!). It will also help you with grading as you don’t have to lug extra papers back-and-forth in your car.
Calendar Management - If you don’t already do this, use a calendar to create your schedule. And I don’t mean for your classroom lesson plans, I mean for your family activities, meetings, etc. It’s important to have a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule, so you know what to expect for the week ahead. This will help you mentally plan ahead and not feel overwhelmed last minute. I used to keep all of this in my head, but as my life became busier I needed to keep track of everything better.
Close the Computer - Those are powerful words - Close. The. Computer. The work will always be there. The email can be sent later. The papers can be graded when your kids go to bed. Some people even take it a step further to leave their computer at work. Personally, I always take my computer home each day. I’ve always been afraid of an unexpected snow day, or the morning I unexpectedly woke up in labor almost 4 weeks early! So I would suggest bringing the computer home, just don’t open it!…which I promise, I too follow what I preach!
Do you already do some of these things? Now be honest with yourself. Do you follow through all of the time or do you find yourself falling off the bandwagon and again feeling overwhelmed between work and life? Don’t do it to yourself. Your mental health is important. Your family is important. Carve out that time to create memories with your family! They’re only little once and you won’t remember that paper you were grading, but you’ll certainly remember them crawling into your lap wanting to read a book.
