How do you maintain a work life balance?

Work / life balance.

Teaching is a demanding career at the best of times but it is essential that your own life is maintained in balance with your work.

These tips on this page should give you some ideas on how to become more work smart and with any luck protect your “life” time. Changing the way you organise your life and time at work can be difficult to start with, but the benefits will be worth it. Just remember if you are struggling and don’t feel you can cope ask for help BEFORE the situation gets too dire.

Below are some of the ideas that are in the new article on the website...

http://teachingtricks.weebly.com/how-to-maintain-a-work--life-balance.html

General good practice:
·         Don’t reinvent the wheel – the school has bought in resources for a reason
·         Use the scheme of work, supplement them where necessary but don’t feel you need to rewrite the entire thing
·         Delegate where you can, even as an NQT/student teacher there are things that are not your job… pass them on
·         Learn to say NO and mean it, or at least learn not to say ‘yes’. Ask for time to decide so that you can see how it will impact on other actions you need to complete


Diary, or Outlook:
·         Know when deadlines are and keep to them
·         Set reminders for important events either in outlook or on your mobile
·         Use the planner you were given at work, or buy one, to keep records of important dates such as assessment deadlines, reports etc. so you can plan your workload around them
  

Me time!
·         Find somewhere quiet to work, where you won’t be disturbed, things take much longer if you are having a conversation or answering questions
·         Decide what time you are going to leave each day and stick to it
·         Reserve a slot during the week to deal with personal issues bills etc… If these are not done they will only prey on your mind until they are

Marking:
·         Mark books as you circulate in the lesson, if you can as this gives instant feedback!
·         Only take home what you are realistically going to do, having work not done sitting and looking at you is very depressing
·         Set aside specific time to do the marking in school and stick to it – no making another cup of tea instead.
  

Don’t procrastinate:
·         By putting things off they only add up, don’t leave them just do them
·         If the task is too big, break it down into manageable chunks and ask for help if you need it

Paperwork:
·         Aim to only handle paperwork once:  File it when dealt with immediately, with a pencil mark on the paper "done". There is nothing worse than spending hours filing a month or even a week's load of dealt with stuff. If you cannot file, as still pending, have a folder, in which you place it, each different thing in a separate plastic folder


Carry a pen and notebook:
·         Write down the things you have to do during the day, allocate a specific amount of time to each one (be sensible) – cross them off as completed

 
Prioritise, recognise the urgent tasks and do them first:
·         Obtain a note book and post-its
·         Write each task on a post-it and prioritise it;  A = urgent, B = important, C = can wait


And finally:

·         Smile. When you feel like crying. Smile. It is an immediate perk-you-up. Like eating chocolate

Hello and Welcome

Well - the first post... what does one write?

• Something inspirational?
• Something funny?
• Something else?

I really don't know... I hope what I do write will be worth the effort of looking???

Who am I and why am I doing this... sounds good to me...

Who am I?

I am an Advanced Skills Teacher with over 15 years teaching experience in both private and state schools. I have taught Science courses ranging from Key Stage 2 through to A-level and IB in schools throughout the UK. Currently I am working in a rapidly growing and evolving Science Specialist school in middle England. I love being at the "chalkface" although now it is more often an interactive white board!

A lot of my time in schools is spent mentoring and supporting colleagues, be those that are new to the profession or those that just need a little extra help to get back on track. In many schools I am supporting the Good --> Outstanding or Satisfactory --> Good agenda for OFSTED.

Why am I doing this?

In my website (click on the word website to go there) "Teaching - Tricks of the Trade" and this blog I aim to provide more teachers with the "Tricks of the Trade" that will help them to achieve the excellent lessons they know they can teach.

Please add comments on here, or send me feedback via my website if there is anything you would like to see on the website, but that is currently lacking... I guess after so many years at the "chalkface" I forget what the sheer panic of a new job and the first time in the classroom in charge is really like!

Good luck and enjoy the holidays.