Teachers are busy. And with the ever-rising demand for educators to supply more and better quality work, it can be difficult to find time for everything that needs to be done. While many teachers enjoy this challenge and see it as a way to grow professionally, there are some things that take away from your time in the classroom. Luckily, there are ways you can organize your life so that you have more time in front of students instead of at home after school!
When you feel like the busiest person on the planet, organizing anything is hard. But it doesn’t have to be impossible. Sometimes a simple tweak can make a world of difference in your life.
Organizing anything is hard. When you feel like the busiest person on the planet, it’s easy to forget that organizing is a skill and not something that just happens. It can be frustrating when you’re feeling overwhelmed, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Sometimes a simple tweak here and there will make all the difference in your life.
Organization is a skill like any other—it’s something we learn over time and practice daily by making small changes regularly. In fact, most people become super organized with their lives because they’re trying to fix something rather than being naturally neat by nature (as many of us are).
If you’re looking for ways to improve yourself or your organizational habits, here are some ideas:
Start by simply writing out the things that are making you stressed, and reflect on their impact.
As you begin, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on why you’re feeling so stressed. Are you putting too much pressure on yourself? Are some of your tasks unrealistic and overwhelming? Remember that even the most organized person in the world can’t do everything—and there’s nothing wrong with delegating those tasks that don’t require your personal attention.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get down to business! Start by simply writing out the things that are making you stressed, and reflect on their impact. Do they affect your work or school performance? If so, what can be done to reduce this impact? What steps can be taken immediately for better organization (e.g., creating weekly checklists for household chores)? This exercise will help clarify what needs attention first before attempting any more complex organizational methods.
Write your list of priorities when you get up in the morning and make sure they stay at the forefront of your mind all day long.
Write your list of priorities when you get up in the morning and make sure they stay at the forefront of your mind all day long. Prioritizing tasks is an important part of being effective at work, but it can be difficult to keep track of everything that needs to be done. Whether you use a planner or just rely on pen and paper, make sure your priorities are written down somewhere so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
If you have a lot of work to do, prioritize the tasks that are most important first so they get accomplished as soon as possible.
If you are working on a project, get everything else out of the way so you can focus solely on that project. If you have multiple projects going at once and they all need attention, make sure to prioritize them according to their importance. If your boss gives you a ton of work after only asking for one thing, don’t worry; just prioritize so that it gets done as quickly as possible.
Have some form of daily reflection whether it’s a bullet journal or an old-fashioned diary.
- Bullet Journal
- Diary (just write it down in a notebook)
- App (I use the “My Day” app on my phone)
- Spreadsheet (you can use Google Sheets)
List How You Will Use Your Time. This is one of the most important parts of your time management plan! It’s easy to write down a list of all the things you want to do and then just start doing them without thinking about how they fit into your schedule.
Some teachers leave school with bags of work that they may never actually get around to doing.
Some teachers leave school with bags of work that they may never actually get around to doing. For example, some teachers feel that they have to grade all the papers before they can start planning lessons or test-grading.
If this is the case for you, don’t be afraid to delegate or ask for help. Maybe your department head will agree to take on some of the grading load and allow you more time for other tasks. If your department head has other things going on in his life, he might not be able to help out as much as you’d like him too. But don’t worry: there are plenty of other resources available—and even if there weren’t any additional hands around at all, maybe now would be a good time for YOU to finally tackle those piles of grading! After all, nobody wants their students’ grades delayed because YOU didn’t do something important (like grading).
Don’t do everything for yourself! Can emails be answered quicker by another teacher? Can another teacher help you plan an activity? Can another teacher help you set up for the next day?
- Don’t do everything for yourself! Can emails be answered quicker by another teacher? Can another teacher help you plan an activity? Can another teacher help you set up for the next day?
- You’re not alone in your struggles. You may feel like it, but other teachers have the same problems and challenges as you do. They can provide helpful advice, share their experiences with situations similar to yours, and give good feedback on how to deal with problems at school.
- Other teachers might even be able to do things better than you! It’s OK if they have different ideas than yours—that just means there are more options available when solving a problem or tackling a difficult task.
There are lots of times when you need help with something that you just can’t do alone. Even if it’s not your job to do it, sometimes asking for help is the best way to get things done quickly and efficiently.
Never forget anything again! If there’s something important on your calendar then why not set up pop-up reminders on your phone so that you can see exactly what’s coming up? It’s super easy to set up and will certainly save many situations where you forgot important tasks or activities.
The most important thing to remember about time management is that it’s a skill. It takes practice and experience to become successful at managing your time. But once you get into the habit of using these tips and tricks, you’ll easily be able to organize your schedule so that nothing else comes between you and success!
Time management is a skill that can be learned and mastered. It’s important to remember that everyone has their own system for managing their time, so the tips in this article are only suggestions!
Conclusion
Organizing is hard, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. You don’t need to be a slave to your calendar or planner; there are so many hacks out there that can help you become a more organized teacher.
