I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted by the end of the school day. All I want is to go home and take a nap. But realistically, I can’t do that every day. I had to look at my school day and see where I could simplify and be more efficient with what I did. I want to share with you 3 ways to simplify your teaching day.
Let Go of Perfection
I’m a perfect perfectionist. When I was young, everything had to be just right. I spent hours on homework so that it was right and perfect. It was so much of a problem that my dad had to speak about it before I left for college. He gave me such freeing advice. He told me, “It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to get done.” This advice is what I needed to hear.
We as teachers are perfectionists. We want everything to be done right and done well. Although this is still a good thing, don’t let perfectionism get in the way. If you try to be perfect at every aspect of your job, you will exhaust yourself. You don’t have to have every single part done perfectly. It can still be well-done, just not 100% perfect.
Your ability to get more things done will change once you realized that perfection isn’t the goal.
Simplify and Prioritized Your To Do List
Teachers have so much on their plates, every day and all day. You can’t get it all done in one day no matter how long you stay after work or how much you take home. You need to reprioritize your to do list to match what realistically can happen.
Think about the most important things that need to be done for today and tomorrow. Try to write down 3-5 things. Write down the leftover tasks to do tomorrow.
If you make a reasonable to do list will make you feel accomplished and satisfied with your day’s work. You’ll leave work knowing that the important and pressing things are done. You won’t feel ashamed that you failed to get all the things done.
Simplify Your Tasks by Delegating
We are all familiar with the phrase “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” To an extent that true. But, if you want something done, then you might have to change somethings. You can change your plan or you can ask someone for help to get it done.
This one is tough for me. I really had to allow myself to delegate. I’d think, Oh, it’s easier if I do it myself or It won’t take me long. You need to realize that it’s ok to let others help. Your volunteer may not do it exactly how you want it, but it is done and off your plate (remember- let go of perfection).
If you have a grade-level assistant you can give work to her. She’s there to assist you. Maybe you can have parent volunteers come in to help make copies and prep. Don’t forget your students! Have class jobs that make your life easier! Figure out things that you have to do everyday that a student could do.
Although there is a lot of big and small things out of our control in the world of education, there’s much you can simplify within the four walls of your classroom. Whenever and wherever you can, you need to simplify. Your heart and soul will thank you!
Where areas can you start to simplify for this upcoming school year?
