Finding a good work life balance as a teacher can be really
hard. Especially when it doesn’t come naturally to you. Teaching itself is a
full on profession and if you are unable to switch off from it then it can take
over. So what can we do about it?
Let’s first think about why teaching is one of those
professions where you can never quite get the balance right between work and
life. Well, to begin with your to do list seems to be never ending. With
teaching, staff meeting, team meeting, parents meetings, planning and
assessment, there is always something that needs to be done. Always. Sometimes it
feels as though there are never enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Things can get even harder because there’s always something that seems to just
crop up. This is why flexibility in teaching is important. I am a very
organised person (as I’m sure many teachers out there are) and so I will plan
what I might do at the end of the day after a full day of teaching. However, it
is sometimes more than likely that something else will happen. A staff member
needs your support, a subject lead may want to discuss some data queries with
you or a parent needs to discuss an incident with you. So the things that you
planned to do have to take a back seat and get moved to another time when you
are free (usually before or after school). But what happens if these things
keep happening? Because they do. This is where the work / life balance becomes
out of balance because you never manage to get done what you set out to do,
which can then result in disorganised chaos (or so it feels).
What might happen then if this continues to happen? The
obvious answer being that you will burnout! Plain and simple, you will be
burnout. Trust me, I have been there! And once you are there, it’s hard to
recover from this. Burnout is real and it can be damaging. So to prevent
yourself from getting to this stage you must learn to find a balance that works
for you. You can use all the tips that everyone gives you, but what’s important
to remember is that we are all different. We all have our own individual
circumstances and not everyone’s routine or work/life balance will work for
each other. For example, I would much rather go in to school earlier to get
things done and then leave earlier because I am more of a morning person.
However, if you are better at working during the afternoon / evenings, this may
be when you want to get those extra jobs done. Therefore, the phrase ‘you do
you’ rings true. But how can you find what you working groove is. This might be
by trying different ways. See how productive you are at different times of the
day. I know that at the end of the day, my energy levels are lower so the work
I do isn’t as better quality than when I do it in the morning. You’ve got to do
what works best for you and if you’re not sure, try different ways and see what
works best for you.
Although, finding your productive groove is important,
another key aspect to getting a good work/life balance is to PRIORITISE! This
is your best friend. It took me a little while to do this, especially because I
love my job so much I put so much time and effort in to it that I want to get
it all done. But, this isn’t sustainable. You end up working late, evenings,
weekends and any other spare minute of the day that you get. And so again your
life is out of balance. That is a bit of a plague for teachers. We love our job
so much that we go above and beyond ALL the time. But learning to prioritise
will really help. For example, you have a deadline of your action plan looming,
but another colleague has asked you to help them with their understanding of
their guided reading planning. You want to help your colleague, but you also
know that you need to get your action plan ready for it to be discussed with
your senior leaders. It can become difficult. You’re stuck between needing to
get your work done, but you also want to offer your assistance and support
where you can. But what here is the priority. With a deadline looming, this
should be a priority. So instead why not schedule in a time after your deadline
to offer support to your colleague. That way you can get things done, but at a
time that is right for you. Scheduling things in will also help you stay on
task. This works even if you’re not an organised person. Write everything down
so that you know what is happening when.
Another thing for you to think about is whether it is you or
your school that is piling on the work. Every school is different and every
senior leadership team runs things in different ways. I have worked with a few
different leaders over the years and sometimes it is you that is doing too
much, but actually there are times that it is your school that is expecting too
much of you. For example, if you are expected to write a subject leadership
report or an action plan without given time to do this, then you have to
complete this in your own time. Adding to your workload and creating an
imbalance in your work-life balance. Therefore, think carefully if you feel
that you are at a school that is setting unrealistic workload expectations of
you then perhaps you’re in the wrong school (trust me I’ve been there!).
However, this too can be a part of who you are. For example, I love to learn. I
really do. I want to be as knowledgeable as I can to support the development of
the children in my care. Although this may seem like a good thing. It isn’t
always. This is because when you feel like this then you tend to take on more
responsibilities and do more than what is expected of you. Again, resulting in
unmanageable workload and unrealistic expectations of you. And sooner or later
you will get burnt out (again, trust me I’ve been there). So think hard about
whether these expectations are coming from you or the school you’re at. If it’s
from the school, think about whether this is somewhere you want to work as it
will continuously affect your work-life balance. However, if this is a part of
your own personality, then you need to look at ways to overcome this.
Here are just a few tips that work for me in managing a
work-life balance (and I plea that I am no expert and these are things that
work for me and my lifestyle):
·
Prioritise. As I mentioned prioritise your task.
See what needs to get done first and then work your way through your other
tasks
·
Write down your to do list on a Sunday night and
then write next to it which days you’re going to do this on. This way you don’t
feel pressured and you know that if you have a staff meeting on a certain day
that you won’t manage to do other work on this day so schedule it for another
day
·
Find a routine that works for YOU. Yes there are
lots of tips and tricks out there for managing your workload and finding the
balance in life. But not everything is going to work for everyone. We are all
different. So work out a routine that works best for you. If you’d rather go to
work earlier and get it done before the children come in and leave earlier,
great. If no and you want an extra few minutes in bed, but would rather stay
late, that’s great too. You do you.
·
Evaluate whether it is your school that is
adding to your workload, if so and you don’t want this to continue, discuss
this with your head teacher or look at joining another school.
·
ASK FOR HELP. Do not suffer in silence. If you
are finding things unmanageable, discuss this with your line manager or senior
leadership team. It may be that they have not noticed and other people have
felt this way too. This will give them the opportunity to change the ethos if
this is the case.
To add to the last point. No matter how many years of
experience you have in teaching, sometimes it can just get a little too much.
There are so many other places to go that can help too, including, to name a
few: your leadership team, other colleagues, subject leaders, family, friends,
your union, mental health professionals or even on social media sites. I’m sure
that there are other teachers out there who have been through this and may be
able to offer you some advice and guidance beyond this post. You may feel more
comfortable talking to a colleague who understands the pressure than a friend
who may not. But it doesn’t matter. There is a support network out there and I
must say that social media sites, although may sometimes be damaging, can also
be a positive place to share concerns and ask for help too.
To finish, there will no doubt be times where you find that
your work-life balance is out of balance. You may feel pressure from all areas
of your life, but don’t go through this alone. I’m sure most teachers have been
through it and are there for support. Ask for help. Because if you don’t, the
other option will be to burnout! And once this damage is done, it is very hard
to undo. So, reflect on your practices and put yourself first.
Please comment below to let me know if any of this resonates
with you and if you have any other tips you’d like to share.
MrsMorgantheEYteacher
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