Workload comes out time and time again as a key reason for teacher stress and anxiety. In fact, 72% of education professionals cite workload as the main reason for considering leaving their jobs.

As we’re well aware, working as a teacher requires excellent time management skills, but combine the stress of a high workload, and add in the everyday responsibilities of caring for a family, and you’ve got teachers across the UK who are struggling to live a healthy and happy life.

The weight of expectation from running a home and keeping up with the demands of the classroom is a recipe for burn out.

With this in mind, we’ve put together our top time management tricks to support you in getting you work-life balance back on track.

Although teaching can often seem like there is too much work for the number of hours in the day, we think these practical tips will enable you to feel more productive, and above all find that precious time to unwind.

Set Priorities

Your to-do-list may feel like it’s never ending but there’s a priority task in there somewhere. So rather than get overwhelmed at your long list of tasks, pick out one task that takes priority over the rest.

It’s most likely a task that you’ve been dreading to tackle, but when you complete your most important task first it eases the pressure and you feel instantly less anxious and more empowered to start the next thing on your list.

If the priority task is quite large, for example marking books. Break it down, and just start by doing one hour of that task first.

When you break larger tasks down, they feel more manageable and less overwhelming.

One Task At a Time

It may be easier said than done, but put your focus on one task at a time and don’t be tempted to multi-task.

Not only does multi-tasking overwhelm you, but the constant switching between projects will also mean you’re not giving your work dedicated focus, which will, in turn, mean you’re not giving it your best.

Do one task at a time and give yourself a time limit on this task.

This time limit can be tested on how you prefer to work. Whether it’s in one hour slots and then you take a quick tea break, or perhaps for one hour and 30 minutes.

This style of time limit is derived from our circadian rhythm. The inner body clock we all have that tells us when to sleep. The circadian rhythm is unique to all of us and can enable us to find our peak productivity time.

Know Your Productivity Flow

We all know when we work best. Some of us like to get up early and catch the worm, and others are night owls.

Knowing when you work best is key to your time-management and productivity as you can then begin to diarise your working time in these hours without being distracted.

If you don’t yet know your productivity flow, play around with it and test out when you’ve found to be your most productive. Take note of the time, how much you were able to complete, and how you felt.

By continually analysing your productivity phases you can find your sweet spot that enables you to be your most efficient.

Plan Ahead

It may sound obvious, but try to plan ahead as much as possible when it comes to your classes and workload.

By taking a look at the bigger picture and planning out your week rather than just a day, you can feel more in control of your time, and find spaces where you can complete extra work or take some time out for yourself.

Get into the habit of pre-planning your week. Even spending just an hour on it on a Sunday evening can help you go into the week feeling prepared and less anxious.

Learn to Say ‘No’

From extra curricular activities to those family events you just don’t feel like. No matter what it is, learning to say no is important when it comes to your mental wellbeing. Doing things that don’t spark joy, or give you a feeling of overwhelm will only make you feel unwell.

By saying no, we take back control of our time, and our mental capacity.

When we people please and say yes to lots of things, we can begin to feel overwhelmed and start putting our bodies into a state of stress and fatigue. This can lead us down a dark path of anxiety and even depression.

If you’re new to saying no, here are a few ways you can begin to make no work for you;

“I would have loved to help but I can’t right now.”

“I’m flattered you thought of me for this but no thank you.”

And if you need to give yourself a pause for thought before saying the big no;

“Can I check my diary and come back to you?”

You are the guardian of your time, and you do not need to give reasons to when you say no.

Diarise Family Time Me / Me Time

As well as diarising time in your calendar for work, it’s essential you also diarise time for your family and for your own self-care.

By putting these events in a diary or a calendar you’re committing to doing it, and it reminds you to make it a priority.

Without doing this, we can often overwork ourselves and forget to do simple things that can make a big difference to our mental wellbeing.

Whether it’s taking a short walk after work, going to the gym, or booking in a well-deserved massage at the end of the term; make self-care and time with those you love just as important as the task list you need to tackle.

These time-management tricks can all support you in creating a work-life balance as a teacher but remember you can do anything, but not everything. Don’t beat yourself up when a day doesn’t go to plan, you’re not a superhero, you’re human.