113. The Reality of Work-Life Balance for Teachers: How to Stop Drowning in To-Do Lists

Sep 17, 2024

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Work-life balance, what does it really mean for teachers? Truly disconnecting from work once the school day is done is incredibly challenging for many teachers. We have so much on our to do lists at school and at home. It often feels like we’re in a constant state of overwhelm and like we are just trying to keep our heads above water.

I’ve been that overwhelmed teacher without a good work-life balance so in today’s episode, I am giving you real-life, actionable strategies for helping you ditch the overwhelm and leave work at work. I’m sharing why you shouldn’t try to check off everything on your to do list, how to prioritize your tasks, why you shouldn’t always be available, and the importance of knowing that good enough is enough.

TOPICS COVERED:

4:21 The Overwhelming Cycle of Tasks
8:08 Strategies to Reduce Overwhelm
12:17 Prioritizing Tasks for Better Balance
13:18 Setting Boundaries for Your Time
15:21 Delegating and Letting Go of Perfectio

RELATED RESOURCES:

Join the Waitlist for Automate Your Classroom Course - Learn the step-by-step roadmap TO creating a sustainable teacher task simplification and automation system to beat burnout, squash stress, get back YOUR time, and sustain your career in education
Request Professional Development from your Administrator
Interested in getting support for your school - Check out the For Schools Page
Watch the FREE "Balance before Burnout: Work/Life Balance Audit" Mini-workshop
The Ultimate Teacher Digital Planner
FREE Affirmations for Burned Out Teachers Workbook to help change your mindset

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TRANSCRIPT:

[0:00] I'm Jessica Peresta, host of the Elementary Music Teacher Podcast,

[0:05] a part of the Education Podcast Network. Shows on the network are individually owned and opinions expressed may not reflect others. Find other interesting education podcasts at edupodcastnetwork.com. Work-life balance, that's a myth. That's something that I have heard, and I'm really starting to believe it because the name work-life balance often implies that we as teachers live half of our life as a teacher in our work, and then half of our life as, well, humans. And I don't know about you, but the idea that half of my identity is tied to my job, that feels more overwhelming. Instead, what I think that we're striving for instead of work-life balance is a way to feel less overwhelmed, less like we're drowning, and more able to truly disconnect when the school day is done. In this episode, I want to validate your feelings that might be creeping in at this time of the school year and share four practical strategies that you can start using today to catch your breath and regain some balance. So what do you say? Let's get into it.

[1:14] Hey, teacher friends, welcome to the Resilient Teacher Podcast, your one-stop shop for beating the teacher burnout cycle once and for all. Whether you're searching for inspiration, sustainable strategies, ways to reignite your passion for teaching, or just how to live your best teacher life without sacrificing your personal life, you are in the right place. No cookie cutter solutions here, just real raw experiences and tips from other teachers who've been there, done that to remind you, you are not alone. I am Brittany, your host, a special educator at heart, instructional coach, mom slash bonus mom of five kids, and teacher burnout and sustainability strategist with my agency, Teaching Mind, Body, and Soul. I am on a mission to inspire educators to prioritize their mental health and individualize burnout prevention and recovery so that they can live a balanced, fulfilling life inside and outside of the classroom. Each week, I'll be sharing tips, strategies, and discussing the hot topics in teacher burnout out with other teachers so that you can transform your life from chaos to confidence on this podcast. We believe in supporting and uplifting

[2:17] one another to heal the system from the inside out. So let me remind you that you too are a resilient teacher.

[2:23] Music.

[2:28] Get into this episode, I want to give a community resilient teacher shout out to Ashley Blair 622, who left a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much, Ashley, for leaving a review of the podcast. She says, I am in my third full year of teaching and I can't express how often this podcast says exactly what I needed to hear. I typically listen to this on my way to work and the positive outlook of the podcast helps me to feel more prepared to face the day. This podcast helps to support teachers experiencing burnout without it feeling belittling. She talks about the reality of teaching without getting political, and the concepts discussed apply to all teachers of every grade and subject because the focus often revolves around you as a teacher and fulfilling your needs. Thank you so much for all that you do. And no, thank you, Ashley, for leaving this podcast review. It truly means the world to me. It helps me know that what I'm doing is making a difference. And I know that most teachers need to feel that way, you know, but as a podcast host, it does make me feel so good to know that what I'm saying is resonating. And so if you're a teacher who's just now listening to the podcast for the first time, or you've listened for a while, it would mean the world if you would just take a quick little minute and clickety-clack on your phone, go to Apple Podcasts and leave a five-star review. Tell us what you like to hear about, what you're hoping to hear about in the future. How has this podcast made you feel?

[3:52] Because not only does it let me know that what I'm doing is resonating with you and is helping you overall, but it also helps other teachers who need to hear these messages to find the podcast and know exactly what it is. You can also feel free, like we would love it if you would share on your Instagram stories or wherever and just let teachers know that this exists because there are tons of teachers out there who need this type of empowerment,

[4:17] especially if they are feeling overwhelmed and like they are drowning. Because if you've been back in the classroom for a couple of weeks now, you may have had that familiar feeling creeping in where...

[4:29] It feels like the water is rising. And I've been there where it's like the water is rising and you've got a coffee cup just trying to scoop it all out before you start to drown, right? The tasks, they're piling up, the papers, they're piling up. And it can get to this feeling where you feel like you just need a day to get things done, right? You'll feel better and more prepared if you can just get these things done, right? I can remember a time, or I guess like 10, that I got into this cycle of tasks piling up. So I'd end up taking tasks home to try to get them all done. And then I fall behind on things that I needed to get done at home. And it was like laundry piling up and takeout and dishes everywhere and grades still piling up and then going back to work and more tasks being piled on. And it was like, shoot, I just need a sick day to try to catch up on all the stuff I need to get done. If I just had a few days off, I could recalibrate, right?

[5:29] And I did that a few times to try to get a handle on things. But what ended up happening is I'd feel okay for about a week or two. And then I was right back and drowning in papers and tasks and to-dos and laundry and dishes. And me stuck feeling like I suck. Can anybody relate with that? I know that I'm not the only person who has felt like this. And I hope that you don't feel like this or that you're not taking this work-life imbalance personally, but I want you to know, like, I understand if you are because I've done that in the past. More than likely, you're one of those teachers who wants to do it all. You want to be good at what you do. That's actually one of the driving factors of motivation is that you want to do well. And there are thoughts that can come along with this. You have the thought that if you stop doing it all, you're not going to be a good teacher. Or maybe that there is no possible way to be a good teacher and a good spouse or a good parent. And there's this terrible misconception that you can't be both. You can't be both good at your job and then good at your life. And that's a really slippery slope because first off, that is completely not true, even if your brain and all of the tasks around you is telling you that. We've talked about this time and time again, but it bears repeating, especially if you're in that state of mind, like that you got to keep your head above water.

[6:48] Good is a really subjective term. What is good, right? Like, I want you to be so for real with yourself. If you're struggling, write it down. What does good look like? I bet you $100, nowhere on that list is there gets everything done.

[7:07] Let me say that again. I bet you $100 on a list of what good looks like. Nowhere on that list is gets everything done. And if there is, well, let's just take a trip to reality because there is never a fully done list. You are inevitably gonna find more crap to put on it, okay? And so some of the things your brain will tell you when you can't get it all done and you start to struggle with work-life balances, is, well, I'm a bad teacher, or I'm not cut out to be a teacher anymore. And if by chance you're getting a lot of work tasks done because you're taking it home, then the thoughts may be, well, I'm a bad parent, or I'm a bad spouse, or I'm a bad person, right?

[7:52] And so if you're looking for ways to build more work-life balance, it sounds like to build, you need to add bricks. You need to add things.

[8:02] No, that's not the case. What we need to do is we need to take away and we need to reorganize. So instead of adding more things to your to-do list or adding more bricks to the pile of crap and hoping that we can build it, we need to take it down. We need to remove some of those bricks that don't fit and try again. Here are some things to think about. Number one, stop trying to get your full to-do list done. There are quite a few things that I see teachers do in this area that are so problematic. They cause more stress, more anxiety. And one of those is just writing the same to-dos every day. That is not effective. You're wasting time putting that pen to your paper.

[8:42] Tasks like take attendance. Those don't need to be written down. They're routine. They're predictable.

[8:48] Instead of treating them like brand new tasks, automate them as part of your daily flow. And by automation, I don't necessarily mean using technology, although I do enjoy that. Just build them into your routine so they happen without needing to write them down, without needing to think about it. It's about streamlining it, not adding some more steps. So if you're taking work home every day, let's start by making one little small change, one small subtraction. I'm not saying stop cold turkey from taking work home. That's not real. you can't do that. Maybe you take home work every day, Monday through Friday. Your first week, maybe you just cut out Mondays. You make that a work-free zone. And it's more about home. I think so many people say, oh, just stop taking work home. That is not an easy feat, especially when it feels like you're drowning, right? Like, especially when you want to do well at your job, it's unrealistic to expect yourself to quit a habit all at one time, especially when you feel overwhelmed. But one small change, one small step, that can be manageable, even if it feels uncomfortable.

[9:59] Think of it like treading water on Mondays. If you're constantly exhausting yourself, you're not going to feel effective. You're not going to feel on top of things. Instead, you're going to feel like you're drowning. But taking one small subtraction from your workload, you're going to find yourself with more energy and more room to breathe over time. Okay, so number two, this next piece of advice, this goes for that teacher friend out there who's like, okay, so if I don't do it on Monday, when am I going to do it? Friend, I say this with love. How many of those things are you wanting to get done, but they don't have a true due date? How many of them feel like a priority, but they're really not? We often create this sense of urgency around tasks that in reality, they don't need immediate attention. And it's a habit. It's a habit that causes unnecessary pressure, and it adds to that overwhelming to-do list. I want you to start questioning every task that you write down. Think about it. Does this have to be done today? Okay. Is this something that can wait? Or better yet, does it need to be done by you at all? Take a look at your list and start categorizing tasks into urgent, important, and nice to get done. Urgent means it has a hard deadline. It directly impacts your students or your classroom.

[11:26] Important means it's valuable, but it doesn't necessarily need to be done right now. It's not time sensitive. And nice to get done are those tasks that would feel good to cross off, but they're not actually affecting your day-to-day effectiveness.

[11:39] And once you do this a few times, you're going to notice, oh, you're doing it naturally. Once you do that, you can focus your energy on those one or two really urgent tasks for the day, and you can let the rest kind of shift to tomorrow or even next week. And here's a mindset shift. Your to-do list, that is never going to be 100% done. That's just the nature of teaching. There's always going to be more to do. Your brain's going to create things, okay? But constantly pushing yourself to clear that list, that does not lead to more productivity. It leads to that burnout.

[12:18] Prioritizing is the key to sustaining your career and still showing up as the best version of yourself for your students.

[12:26] Number three, one of the biggest energy drains for teachers is constantly being available, whether it's answering emails from parents, you're grading student work at all hours and putting them into your LMS, or just being reachable by your colleagues. These all contribute to this growing feeling of drowning. And I know that this is not the first time you've heard me say this, but I can bet it needs to be repeated for some of you because it's still a struggle.

[12:56] You need to set boundaries. You need to set boundaries. And if you're struggling with this, send me a DM. I want to talk about this. Seriously. If boundaries is an area that you feel like you cannot do or don't know where to start, head over to Instagram, go to at teaching mind, body, and soul and say, Brittany, I was listening to today's podcast episode and I struggle with boundaries.

[13:16] And let's chat because I want to get into the nitty gritty of this. There are different types of boundaries. And I want to know what's holding you back. For most of the teachers I've talked to around the ideas of feeling like work is piling up and infiltrating their work-life balance, the area that needs the most support is just setting clear communication boundaries. Like, we think we need to be available for students, for parents, for colleagues at all times, and we really just, we can't be, okay? Like, that's the nature of it. We are one human, and we cannot do that. If you're in the habit of like I was checking email, like just be checking it because I want to check it, you know, make sure no one is messaged. Just stop. Stop. Okay. Only check your emails during designated windows in your day and stop responding to messages after a certain hour. Okay. You don't need to be accessible 24-7 to be effective.

[14:14] I don't know who needed to hear that. it might be you, but you do not need to be accessible 24-7 to be effective. And setting these boundaries, that's helping you protect your personal time. Reduce that burnout. Let people know like you're only available at this time and stick to it, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. Okay. Sometimes it's boundaries for yourself too, because you can get in these habits of acting in a certain way, checking your email when you don't need to be checking it. I'm talking to myself.

[14:45] You can create an autoresponder and it just states the times of the day that you check your email and when people can expect a response. I promise you, it's so effective. It's crazy. People are going to learn to respect, hey, you know, Ms. Blackwell only checks her email at 8 a.m. And if I send an email at noon, I can expect a response within 48 hours. And more than likely, it's going to be during her 8 a.m. spot. If it's an emergency, I'll call the front office, right? Because my autoresponder lays that out. and they've seen it, they know. Okay? So set some boundaries around your availability.

[15:22] Number four, and this might be one of the hardest steps for a lot of us, but it's crucial. This is the last one. You don't have to do everything yourself. And you don't have to do everything perfectly. I know. I know. I said it.

[15:36] Start by delegating little small tasks, whether it's asking a colleague to help with a project or lesson plans or giving students more ownership over your classroom tasks. Maybe it's handing out materials or collecting assignments. Some teachers get into this thought pattern that they believe that because they teach younger students that those students are not capable of doing some of their classroom tasks, that they're not capable of having a self-running classroom. And that couldn't be further from the truth. When it comes to lesson plans or grading, sometimes it's just that you have to accept Good enough is enough, right? There are tools that you can use to help you streamline this and make this more of an easy task for you. But perfectionism, that's one of the biggest barriers to work life balance that there is. It's one of the biggest causes of anxiety, of stress for anybody, right? I want you to ask yourself, think about this for a second, is this extra effort worth the stress that it's causing or will me functioning at 90% be just as effective as 100%? I've said this before, but it's truly better to give 70% for 20 years than it is to give 100% for three.

[16:56] No one can give 100% of themselves consistently without burnout. And so often you'll find that letting go of just 10%, delegating just 10%, that can make a world of a difference. And that over time, you're able to see you are a good teacher without running yourself into the ground. That actually not running yourself into the ground makes you a better teacher overall. So stop trying to get your full to-do list done.

[17:26] Stop making it everything urgent, everything important. Set some communication boundaries and delegate. Let go of some of that perfectionism. Let go of just 10%.

[17:40] Don't forget, you are a resilient teacher. We're in this together. You got this. Before you go, head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com slash podcast to check out any links, freebies, and resources discussed in this episode so that you can start recovering from or preventing burnout and reigniting your passion for teaching. If you liked this episode and it helped you or made you think in any way, I know it will be for other educators too. So subscribe and leave a review so more educators can find this community as well. Did you know that you can have an incredible impact on the teachers in your life? That's right. All you have to do is share what you learned today. Take a screenshot of the episode you're listening to and tag me and post it in your stories. What do you say that we start creating a trail for more teachers around us so that we can start to make the change in the system of education, how teachers are seen and respected, and for ourselves. I look forward to connecting with you more on Instagram at teachingmindbodyandsoul or TikTok at missprincessteach. I am always looking for an excuse to chat more about burnout, resilience, and teacher support. I'll see you in the next episode.

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