in desperate need of work'life balance

[onthego]

I have been teaching for 8 years and still can't seem to get all of my work done without dedicating Sundays and pretty much every evening to it! i admit to being a bit of a perfectionist and I want the very best for my pupils but my whole life seems to revolve around school and paperwork...please...any advice?!!

[Gareth]

I can't say that I managed to find a solution to this.

Hopefully some of the other members can help!

[Storm]

I was pretty much the same until I had children of my own. Since then I've had to prioritise so that they got a fair share of my time. I have on occassion been accused by my daughters of having more time and patience for the children I teach than them, and then I have to rethink.
Sometimes it's just about working a bit more efficiently, and being prepared to sometimes accept that you can't do everything perfectly if you're going to survive. I always think that however much we do there is more that could be done, so you've just got to give yourself a realistic cut off point. (I've been at it for 20 years now, and still find it hard).

[onthego]

Thanks for this

[Karen]

This is not a posting that I wanted to read (no offence).  This is my worse fear of becoming a teacher - time management!!!!  I am a mature age student with three children and I will finish my teaching degree next year (Australia).  I have found teaching on Prac exhausting and time consuming.  I keep telling myself it will become easier over time, but it seems, this is not the case for many! It has been suggested to me by many to stay every afternoon to get the work done (but I still think many spend their Sunday's preparing).

I too am interested on others suggestions and will keep an eye out on the forum.

[Gareth]

One of the main problems with primary teaching is that no matter how much you do, no matter how good a teacher you are, you always feel as though there's more you could be doing. At least, that's how it was for me.

Planning and paperwork can take over. There comes a point when you have to say enough is enough. That you'll only plan for a set periods of time and do no more. That you'll concentrate on getting things clear in your head and if you don't get around to writing it down in intense detail then that's fine.

I suppose that you need to stop and think about things. If you can't get all your work done without dedicating all Sunday and every evening towards it then maybe you're doing too much work. Maybe you should take some evenings off. Yes, you won't get all the work done, but... you weren't getting it done before. At least with some time for yourself you'll be happier, more rested and more able to reflect on exactly which tasks should have top priority. If you allow all your time to be taken up completely with work then you'll try to do everything. If you limit how much time you spend, then you might be able to get the most important stuff done.

Of course it's all very well saying that in theory but I know, from experience, that if you don't do the work then it's you standing in front of a class of students without a clue, not anyone else.

There is a tendency in teaching to stress out about all the things you aren't doing rather than looking at all the things you're doing well. You see a colleague doing something wonderful and then feel guilty that you're not doing it as well. You're probably completely ignoring the fact that colleague isn't doing a lot of other things as well as you are and the fact that they're probably wishing they could do those very same things as well as you.

You've been teaching for eight years. When you look back at all the changes in primary education that have happened during those past eight years, all the new strategies, the changes in the curriculum, the additional demands on teachers, you've got to be pretty proud that you've kept at it, surely?

Trying to work on improving a few things at a time was the only way that I managed to make any progress. Setting goals to have certain things in place during the first few weeks, then other things later on in the term etc.

I've got to say that I was probably the worst person for stressing out about planning and the poorest at maintaining a good work life balance. Sundays became off-limits to anything else apart from planning. That's one of the reasons why I started Primary Resources... to try and help teachers reduce their workload by sharing the material they've spent a lot of time producing.

Primary teaching is a wonderful career and can be very rewarding. It's easy, though, to lose yourself in it and have it become so much a part of your core identity that you feel a failure as a person if you believe you're struggling to keep on top of things.

Good luck with your efforts to balance your work with home life.

I'm hoping other readers might be able to pass on their tips. Does anyone know of any good courses that tackle this area of teaching? Are there any books on the subject that have been useful? Have people found the time to use them?

[talkinghead]

I've been teaching 17 years, and during that time have also managed to produce 3 children of my own. I agree that having your own kids makes you prioritise more, and I am an organised soul, but I have no idea what a work life balance is, because I am truly unable to keep the two apart, they just merge. I adore working with my pupils, love it, but abhore all the 'rubbish'...layered targets, observations, individual targets, target tracker. I never swith off.

Sorry x

[Storm]

I've just got back from choir practice. One thing that's given me balance over the years is having one evening a week that is just for me. Even when the children were small (and demanding) I managed to ensure that my 2 hour choir practice was a priority on the family and work calendar. This means I try to ensure that meetings are for a different night of the week and that I manage to fit my work around it. Even though I may do a couple of hours when I get back I feel like I've had my Golden Time!

[onthego]

Thanks for all of this!

I used to always set aside a Wednesday evening when I wouldn't bring any work home and I would spend this time with my husband. However, he has been working shifts for the last three years and I have slipped into a routine of constantly working and I can't seem to get out of it!

I fully appreciate this site and have contributed some resources to it as I find it very very valuable.

Like talkinghead, I seem to be overloaded with things like layered targets, pupil achievement tracker etc etc But the main point is, I do absolutely love my job!

 

[Smiling Mungo]

I agree with everything that has already been said and, although I perhaps do not follow my own advice often enough, teachers need to recognise 'good enough'.  I am, by nature a perfectionist, but sometimes what you can achieve in 10 minutes can be as effective as what you could spend days on.  Sure one may look better and have bells on (!) but both do the same job. 

I certainly spend more time working smarter now than I ever did before - share ideas with colleagues, split tasks between you, look for short cuts in marking (the use of success criteria stickers has saved me HOURS!)

I'll stop rambling now...

[Debs]

I feel I must say thank you to Gareth for his encouragement in this topic.

I am struggling desperately with a worklife balance.  No one believes the hours I can put into this job.  I have only been teaching for 7 years.  At first I accepted it would be challenging whilst I got used to everything but recently I feel things are getting worse. 

We have a new head who has brought with him the things he introduced at his previous school.  The pressure he puts on us all is unbearable and he expects more and more from us. He has all but destroyed my self esteem and feel that everything I do isn't good enough and everything I have achieved he puts down.  His attitude is that all problems in the class, behaviour and attitude especially, are not down to the children but the person teaching them.  At the time of writing I am seriously wondering how much more I can take before I completely break down. 

In addition to all of this, the job has also been the initial contributary factor in the breakdown of my 24 year marriage.

I live in hope that things will change, that I will find a school I can thrive in and be appreciated, that my self esteem will be restored.

[Storm]

You sound like you are really having it tough at the moment. I know there's not much that we can do to help you with much of this, but hang in there as I bet your class really appreciate all that you do. (ANd if they don't now they will later.. I now have some ex pupils who were really difficult when in Year 5 but they are now teachers and laugh when I ask them if their current pupils behave as they did. They always say how much they got from their junior school years even if they didn't seem to appreciate it at the time!)

Big hugs,
Gill

[onthego]

I agree with Storm, Debs, the children will appreciate everything you do. I'm awful at finding time for me and when I posted this first of all, I was on a real downer and contemplating change of career however, things have got better. I hope the Christmas break gives you time to look after yourself.

[rubyrain]

can't agree more with the stresses but you wouldn't be a teacher if you didn't care and were naturally able to do it .We all just want to do our best but it can only be what is a healthy proportion of your time, god knows how can we instill enthusiasm and life into our pupils if we're knackered! it does get easier over time, if you stick with similiar age range the basics stay the same and you know what works. if you've done enough to be in control and know where you're leading your children , you'll be fine, save the detailed stuff for formal observations and inspections. I ve done this job for eleven years now and having a family has made a difference but you just need to limit your work to what can be done within a few hours on a Sunday, even though i still dread Sundays like when i was at school myself!!

[MattyW]

I have a solution - quit teaching in the UK and come out to Australia!

Having lived and taught in London for 6 years until 2005, i was very committed to the idea of living and settling permanently. I love the lifestyle, culture, football, pubs and everything about life in the UK - except for the teaching!  It's not really teaching - rather pupperty, because marionettes what teachers ultimately are in English schools. Teaching to ridiculous tests, being observed and inspected and constantly put under enormous pressure to satisfy 'the powers that be'.

As much as i loved the UK, i am a new person since returning home to Australia and continuing my career in the teaching profession. I am now a deputy and still enjoy more free time with family (in the sun at the beach!!!!) than i did in the UK. There's still the paper work, but there's also much greater creativity and enjoyment, instilling a genuine life long love of learning into the young people in our care.