Personal Development
TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS TO HELP AVOID
TEACHER BURNOUT
I
n
the
November-December
2017 issue of Teach Middle East
Magazine, we published an article
on teacher burnout and how to
spot it. This article was important as
it addressed a growing issue in the
teaching profession globally. The issue
of teacher workload has been making
headlines for a number of years now and
policy makers have been scrambling
for ideas on how to increase teacher
wellbeing and prevent burnout.
Many schools and countries have come
up with some very creative solutions,
ranging from; reducing contact time
for teachers, cutting out homework,
reducing
marking
requirements,
having common or shared lesson
plans, among many others, yet the
issue still continues. It is our belief
that this issue cannot be fully solved
at the administrative level, but that it
requires key input from the teachers
themselves.
A lot of educators in schools try to be
hyper-productive. You know — the
educators who scurry from task to task;
always checking e-mail, organising
something, making a call to parents,
running an errand, marking, planning
and supervising every after school
club possible.
The educators who do this, often
subscribe to the idea that “staying
busy” means you are working hard and
that you are a good or better educator
if you do this. While this belief may
be true to an extent, it often leads to
burnout, as the educator now has a
constant need to do something and
a tendency to waste time on menial
tasks.
The very job of being an educator is
one that keeps you busy at all times.
Below we share some useful tips to
help you manage your time better this
academic year.
Working smarter, not harder
Instead of being robotic in how tasks
are approached, try to be thoughtful
and always ask yourself if something
can be done more efficiently or
eliminated altogether.
Managing your time is less about
squeezing as many tasks into your day
as possible, but more about simplifying
how you work, doing things faster and
relieving stress. It’s about clearing
away space in your life to make time for
people, play and rest.
Complete the most important
tasks first
This is the golden rule of time
management. Each day identify the
two or three tasks that are the most
crucial to complete and do those first.
Once you’re done, the day has already
been a success. You can move on
to other things, or you can let them
wait until tomorrow. You’ve finished
the essential. If you are working after
school, give yourself a time limit to
complete the important tasks and
when that time is finished, pack up and
go home.
Learn to say “no”
Making a lot of time commitments
can teach you how to juggle various
engagements and manage your time.
This can be a great thing, but schools
are notorious for piling on more and
more tasks, if they know that you will
not refuse. At some point, you need
to learn to decline opportunities and
requests. This can be difficult if you
are being asked by your line-manager
or a supervisor, but the trick is to tell
them that taking on more tasks will
affect your core job functions. Make
them aware of the other things you are
doing to make your students or the
school better. Your objective should
be to take on only those commitments
that you know you have time for and
that you truly care about.