3 ways to avoid drowning under heavy workload

It is our mission to encourage and support the empowered decision-making of teachers.

And that is exactly what is needed when the work piles up and the you-know-what hits the fan!

Empowered decisions.

It feels like, as teachers, we have lost our power to make a decision, stand by it and justify its rationale.

Increasingly, it feels like we are all things to everyone and, thus, workload increases as we battle to meet the demands of these huge expectations.

Let’s cut to the chase and share 3 ways to make clear-cut decisions:

Less but Better: Ask yourself “Am I investing in the right activities”? As teachers, we have so much choice about how to run our lessons or what resources to use – but if we spend an hour preparing jazzy resources for a 45-minute lesson (we have all done this!) instead of marking those assessments, is that really better for our students and ourselves? Does the output justify the input?

Chimp or Human: Ask yourself “What are the reasons behind me doing this task”? For example, if an item on your to-do list that is causing you anxiety is that your display boards need to be changed – consider what your motives are for this. Is it because another teacher at your school changes their boards regularly and you are comparing yourself and it is making you feel guilty (Chimp – emotion-led decision-making which can be unreliable) or is it because you have a great idea for an interactive board which will enhance learning for students (Human – logical-led decision-making). 

Eisenhower Box: As yourself “What is urgent”? and use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you work out which takes are Urgent, Not-Urgent, Important and Not-Important. This will help you decide effectively which tasks need to be done, planned, postponed and eliminated – hooray!

Remember, when that to-do list is getting out of hand and you can feel your cortisol levels rising – bring it back to making empowered decisions.

You got this.

For more on smarter working practices and prioritisation, take a look at our EPV Summer Course “Work Smarter, Be Happier for Teachers”. 

To see all our CPD Summer Courses approved for EPV Days, please click HERE.