Season Two
Episode 44
Enough
Doing Enough. Being Enough.
Doing Enough
1. Set a firm stop time.
Scott Ogle, founder of location rebel and breaking eighty, says that he sets a firm time to stop working. His schedule is set up different than an educators, but we can look at it in a similar way. For Sean, he wanted to work from 6:30am to noon. Use the morning hours as the work hours. He set noon as his stop time.
As teachers it can be easy to just keep working until we notice the clock says 5pm or later at night and then we come in to work early only to stay late again. Set a firm stop time for working. It may take some time to adjust but work towards leaving work at a specific time. If you find you're struggling to stop working, Sean shares the idea of scheduling something after that stop time so that you can't continue working. Be it a gym class, dinner, phone call with a friend, walk with the dog. It doesn't have to be a huge thing. Just something that you commit to doing that allows you to leave work and move forward. By scheduling things after your committed stop time for work, you will likely find ways to be more productive during work hours.
2. Don't check email on the weekends.
I'm preaching to the choir here. I don't like surprises on Monday mornings and like to be up-to-date on anything that a parent may have emailed about. Something I'm working on stopping this year...soon. There is nothing so urgent/important that you need to check school email over a weekend or respond to families over the weekend unless your principal asks you to check email for a specific reason, your weekends should be time for the things in your life that are most important for you. Our school has a 24-hour rule for returning emails during the school week. Let those emails wait. They'll still be there Monday and you'll have time to tackle it then.
3. Consider what you've completed and if you're ready for tomorrow, let the day be done.
At the end of the day (or throughout the day), consider the following things:
a. Are your lesson plans ready for tomorrow?
b. Do you have props/manipulatives/technology slides/books or anything else ready for your lessons tomorrow?
Especially for that first lesson of the day! If you're ready for tomorrow, then some things can wait to be completed for the remainder of the week until tomorrow and you should go home.
4. Make a list during or at the end of the day of what tasks need to be done tomorrow.
If you're all set for the next day's lessons, but there are things you'll need after tomorrow, make a list. I often make lists on sticky notes and as each one is completed, I check off the items until I can throw away that sticky note. Or I email myself a to-do list. I've mentioned this before too, but Google Keep is an awesome way to make to-do lists on sticky notes and you can organize by task with colors that represent grade levels, extracurricular, family... the point is to write down what you still have remaining so that you can let it go and leave it for tomorrow.
Being Enough
1. Comparison wastes energy.
2. You bring what noone else can bring
3. Believe others when they speak positive encouragement and praise
4. Look for the positives.
Episode 44
Enough
Doing Enough. Being Enough.
Doing Enough
1. Set a firm stop time.
Scott Ogle, founder of location rebel and breaking eighty, says that he sets a firm time to stop working. His schedule is set up different than an educators, but we can look at it in a similar way. For Sean, he wanted to work from 6:30am to noon. Use the morning hours as the work hours. He set noon as his stop time.
As teachers it can be easy to just keep working until we notice the clock says 5pm or later at night and then we come in to work early only to stay late again. Set a firm stop time for working. It may take some time to adjust but work towards leaving work at a specific time. If you find you're struggling to stop working, Sean shares the idea of scheduling something after that stop time so that you can't continue working. Be it a gym class, dinner, phone call with a friend, walk with the dog. It doesn't have to be a huge thing. Just something that you commit to doing that allows you to leave work and move forward. By scheduling things after your committed stop time for work, you will likely find ways to be more productive during work hours.
2. Don't check email on the weekends.
I'm preaching to the choir here. I don't like surprises on Monday mornings and like to be up-to-date on anything that a parent may have emailed about. Something I'm working on stopping this year...soon. There is nothing so urgent/important that you need to check school email over a weekend or respond to families over the weekend unless your principal asks you to check email for a specific reason, your weekends should be time for the things in your life that are most important for you. Our school has a 24-hour rule for returning emails during the school week. Let those emails wait. They'll still be there Monday and you'll have time to tackle it then.
3. Consider what you've completed and if you're ready for tomorrow, let the day be done.
At the end of the day (or throughout the day), consider the following things:
a. Are your lesson plans ready for tomorrow?
b. Do you have props/manipulatives/technology slides/books or anything else ready for your lessons tomorrow?
Especially for that first lesson of the day! If you're ready for tomorrow, then some things can wait to be completed for the remainder of the week until tomorrow and you should go home.
4. Make a list during or at the end of the day of what tasks need to be done tomorrow.
If you're all set for the next day's lessons, but there are things you'll need after tomorrow, make a list. I often make lists on sticky notes and as each one is completed, I check off the items until I can throw away that sticky note. Or I email myself a to-do list. I've mentioned this before too, but Google Keep is an awesome way to make to-do lists on sticky notes and you can organize by task with colors that represent grade levels, extracurricular, family... the point is to write down what you still have remaining so that you can let it go and leave it for tomorrow.
Being Enough
1. Comparison wastes energy.
2. You bring what noone else can bring
3. Believe others when they speak positive encouragement and praise
4. Look for the positives.
Comments
Post a Comment