Working 8 hours, eating, exercising, socialising, sleeping, housework, child-care, self-care, how can this all fit into one day?! Something’s got to give and it’s hard to prioritise your personal life when you’ve got deadlines to meet, books to mark and parents evening looming on the horizon.
Here’s what you can do to ease the stress and strike that balance between getting the job done and getting the most out of your time outside of work.
Prioritise
When teaching, that to-do list is never ending. Rather than trying to get everything done at once or small jobs completed. Prioritise what needs to happen first. It may be determined by approaching deadlines, but your priorities should be whatever is beneficial to students e.g. getting resources, planning lessons.
Delegate
If you have got a teaching assistant or learning support assistant in your classroom, use them! While most of the time they will be supporting student’s learning and well-being, there will be time when they could help you. Whether it’s with photocopying, marking, creating displays or resources. Build your relationships with your support staff and be reasonable in what you ask from them.
Take a break
It can be easy to fall into the habit of eating at your desk or shovelling in a sandwich while you set up. Taking 20 minutes or half an hour to socialise with your colleagues, eat together, chat and laugh can improve your working relationships and give you that needed respite away from the classroom.
Be Organised
Having an organised workspace and schedule can reduce anxiety. Being organised in your personal life can also give you a structure to work towards, e.g. booking a gym class or scheduling to meet up with friends.
Disconnect
In the evening and weekends, try to not be on your emails. If you’ve got something important going on then it’s understandable. Whatsapp groups with colleagues are great to collaborate, but after 6pm have a no shop-talk policy. Without these boundaries, it’s hard to draw the line between work and personal life.
Ask for help
This is undoubtedly the most important advise we can give. If you are struggling with your workload, reach out to your colleagues, line manager and senior leadership team. They are there to support you and can help you in finding ways to reduce your workload.
For other ways to help find that balance, see the websites below:
https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-good-work-life-balance
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/work-life-balance
