There's Never Enough Time

How often do you say, “I don’t have time”? As a classroom teacher, parent, state assessment director, and friend, almost everyone I encounter talks about needing more than 24 hours in a day. Educators are inherently busy, and there is no such thing as downtime. Today, with multiple learning environments and many hats to wear, time is at a premium more than ever. Try these 3 techniques to make the most of your day.

#1 Take time to make time.

Finding time means taking a moment to stop and reflect. You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true; make a list. Whether it’s an electronic task list on your phone or a handwritten list on a legal pad, make a list. Start today! Take 5-10 minutes before you leave work this evening to reflect on your day and make a list of tasks for tomorrow. Then leave the list on your desk and call it a day! Make a commitment to keep an eye on the future, but to succeed in life one day at a time.

First thing in the morning, review your list, edit as necessary, and maybe even move something to the following day’s list. Start your day with intention and end it with reflection. Before you finish work, mark off the tasks you completed and do a happy dance. Give yourself credit, even if you only marked off one task on the list. You certainly accomplished some unexpected surprises in your day. Before you leave work for the day, update the next day’s list and have it on your desk and ready for tomorrow.

#2 Support colleagues with multiple responsibilities.

You and your colleagues likely wear many hats. You have lesson plans to write, packets to make, engaging experiences to create, and stress to reduce (for students, parents, and yourselves!). You probably have other responsibilities, too, like assessment management, club sponsorships, master scheduling, special populations, textbooks, and transportation. Many of these additional responsibilities and tasks must be documented, reported and tracked to meet local, state, and federal mandates. This is no easy task!  

Now more than ever, educators need to work together in teams. Create an assembly line to fill packets and share lesson plans. Find your tech-savvy, creative colleagues and get their advice on creative engagement strategies. Set aside one or two fifteen-minute blocks with at least one colleague and take a walk, talk about family, play “What would you do if you won the lottery?” and laugh. Support each other in whatever you are working through.  

#3 Explore strategies, resources, and initiatives.

Do you like to travel? Think of each day as a roadmap with tasks along the route like gas stations and grocery stores and billboards that say, “Toad Suck Ferry Next Left.” There’s always someone or something that makes you take that left turn to see Toad Suck Ferry. It’s understandable, with everything educators face today, that taking 30 minutes to look at a new initiative might seem like a poor use of your time. But what if that 30 minutes gave you and your team HOURS even DAYS back? What if it meant less overtime and fewer weekends?  

Sometimes making the most of your day means taking a moment to explore things you haven’t considered. This could be researching different strategies, examining resources, or investigating new initiatives. Stop and be reflective – even if it means making that stop in Toad Suck, Arkansas.  

When you take those 5-10 minutes this evening to make tomorrow’s list, think of your roadmap, review the scene around you, figure out where you need to be and how best to get there. And if you need help along the way, always know you have a friend to help you on the journey!

Bonus Tip – Phone a friend at Education Advanced!

I don’t want to get too “salesey” in this blog post, but I actually left a career of 30+ years in public education to join the team at Education Advance because I loved what this company is doing to help educators operate more efficiently. The technology we provide saves schools and districts hundreds, even thousands of hours each year. These saved hours directly translate into more quality time with students and better utilization of limited resources. I would personally welcome any opportunity to talk with readers of this post about how Cardonex can help schools and districts create more equitable school master schedules (and in much less time) or how TestHound can help testing coordinators ensure the correct assessment is given to the correct student with the correct accommodations and administration instructions at the correct time – every single time.

How often do you say, “I don’t have time”? As a classroom teacher, parent, state assessment director, and friend, almost everyone I encounter talks about needing more than 24 hours in a day. Educators are inherently busy, and there is no such thing as downtime. Today, with multiple learning environments and many hats to wear, time is at a premium more than ever. Try these 3 techniques to make the most of your day.

#1 Take time to make time.

Finding time means taking a moment to stop and reflect. You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true; make a list. Whether it’s an electronic task list on your phone or a handwritten list on a legal pad, make a list. Start today! Take 5-10 minutes before you leave work this evening to reflect on your day and make a list of tasks for tomorrow. Then leave the list on your desk and call it a day! Make a commitment to keep an eye on the future, but to succeed in life one day at a time.

First thing in the morning, review your list, edit as necessary, and maybe even move something to the following day’s list. Start your day with intention and end it with reflection. Before you finish work, mark off the tasks you completed and do a happy dance. Give yourself credit, even if you only marked off one task on the list. You certainly accomplished some unexpected surprises in your day. Before you leave work for the day, update the next day’s list and have it on your desk and ready for tomorrow.

#2 Support colleagues with multiple responsibilities.

You and your colleagues likely wear many hats. You have lesson plans to write, packets to make, engaging experiences to create, and stress to reduce (for students, parents, and yourselves!). You probably have other responsibilities, too, like assessment management, club sponsorships, master scheduling, special populations, textbooks, and transportation. Many of these additional responsibilities and tasks must be documented, reported and tracked to meet local, state, and federal mandates. This is no easy task!  

Now more than ever, educators need to work together in teams. Create an assembly line to fill packets and share lesson plans. Find your tech-savvy, creative colleagues and get their advice on creative engagement strategies. Set aside one or two fifteen-minute blocks with at least one colleague and take a walk, talk about family, play “What would you do if you won the lottery?” and laugh. Support each other in whatever you are working through.  

#3 Explore strategies, resources, and initiatives.

Do you like to travel? Think of each day as a roadmap with tasks along the route like gas stations and grocery stores and billboards that say, “Toad Suck Ferry Next Left.” There’s always someone or something that makes you take that left turn to see Toad Suck Ferry. It’s understandable, with everything educators face today, that taking 30 minutes to look at a new initiative might seem like a poor use of your time. But what if that 30 minutes gave you and your team HOURS even DAYS back? What if it meant less overtime and fewer weekends?  

Sometimes making the most of your day means taking a moment to explore things you haven’t considered. This could be researching different strategies, examining resources, or investigating new initiatives. Stop and be reflective – even if it means making that stop in Toad Suck, Arkansas.  

When you take those 5-10 minutes this evening to make tomorrow’s list, think of your roadmap, review the scene around you, figure out where you need to be and how best to get there. And if you need help along the way, always know you have a friend to help you on the journey!

Bonus Tip – Phone a friend at Education Advanced!

I don’t want to get too “salesey” in this blog post, but I actually left a career of 30+ years in public education to join the team at Education Advance because I loved what this company is doing to help educators operate more efficiently. The technology we provide saves schools and districts hundreds, even thousands of hours each year. These saved hours directly translate into more quality time with students and better utilization of limited resources. I would personally welcome any opportunity to talk with readers of this post about how Cardonex can help schools and districts create more equitable school master schedules (and in much less time) or how TestHound can help testing coordinators ensure the correct assessment is given to the correct student with the correct accommodations and administration instructions at the correct time – every single time.