A practical guide to winning the battle for a balanced life as an educator.
You know you want it…
You want a legacy, to know and feel that you had an impact on your students. You want them to know you cared, to feel the positive influence on their lives. You want to hear that they will be forever grateful… ok maybe just a thank you… or just a smile and a wave. My point, you get something out of being an educator too. There’s nothing wrong that as long as the job doesn’t take more from you than you realize.
“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
Stephen Covey
What do you want it to look like at the end?
Stephen Covey in his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” highlighted the habit of beginning with the end in mind. Teacher training programs have always incorporated this into the planning stages. Beginning a lesson with the end in mind is good practice. All lesson plan templates guide you to specify your desired exit outcomes, performance indicators, or targets. Lesson objectives need to be at the center of everything we teach, they guide our plans for the rest of the lesson. So then why do we not have this same idea and mentality for ourselves? Shouldn’t it matter what we will experience at the end? Shouldn’t we think about how the lesson will impact us? It feels like we shouldn’t, and that’s the problem.
Why it matters.
You have others that matter to you outside of school. The impact a lesson has on your energy, emotions, patience, and mood overflows to them. Take a few minutes and reflect on the questions below. No self-judgment, but an honest look at where you are, and what you want. Journal your responses if that’s part of your process. Think about your average or most recent day:
- What is leftover for the ones you love?
- How do you arrive home each night? (mood, stress, energy, patience etc.)
- Are you experiencing the type of ending to the day that you want?
- Is it conceivable that you could come home with a different, and better state of mind and energy?
- If you woke up tomorrow and your day was dramatically better, what would it look like?
What if it was easy?
What if it wasn’t hard to make a small improvement today? Here are a few tips to help you make a positive change today.
- Use a task manager. I use Todoist to collect, organize, schedule and keep track of all the things I need to do. You can use anything you want, but you must commit to collecting it all. Then, the stress of forgetting about something will be gone.
- Establish a Shutdown Routine. Think about what you would have to have done each day to go home with less stress. My shutdown routine contains making sure my email is clear. I check my calendar for the next day or week. I add new tasks, and move incomplete tasks in my Todoist account. Lastly, I tidy my workspace and shutdown my laptop. Once I am done, I know I’m ready to go home.
- Set a boundary between school and home and honor it. This is hard for a lot of teachers. They feel like doing 2-5 hours of work at night is just part of the job. It’s not. Your health, sanity, and family deserve your energy, attention, and best. Though you don’t teach for the paycheck, you certainly don’t teach for the stress and loneliness that can come with “the expectations” of you. Redefine those expectations with healthy boundaries.
- Establish a startup routine for your home time. Have a place for your school stuff when you come in the door. Change your clothes. Activate your home life. For me, changing into “dad clothes” helps me to activate my mindset and be fully present as a dad and husband. This is my superhero cape and reminds me that I need to be the “home me” now.
- Disconnect your school email from your phone. There are very few times when someone actually needs to contact you after hours. The chances that a truly important message would only be sent via email are low. This disconnect helps to support your healthy boundary.
Go Kick Some Class!
As you put these five things into place I’d love to hear how your life changes. Drop me a comment below and let me know what was hard for you. For more on this topic, check out the new Kick Some Class Podcast at kicksomeclass.com/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch an expanded version on YouTube!
Due to a recording issue, the matching video episode was lost. I re-recorded the episode in video format for all those who would rather watch. Check it out below.