Colleague to Colleague
A Communication to and for Our Newer Members
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Issue #3
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One of our greatest desires at the Lincoln Education Association is that our members be a success at
their job. In so doing, you not only will be serving the students entrusted to you in fine fashion, but you
bring pride to our profession. With that in mind we’d like to occasionally send you relevant, hopefully
helpful information electronically so that you can read and file the material at your leisure.
Please let us know if this helps to fit your needs and if there are specific topics about teaching or the
Association that would be of help to you and others. Send your suggestions for information to either
Arlene Rea, LEA President at arlene.rea@nsea.org or LEA UniServ Director Dan Studer at
dan.studer@nsea.org
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January is always a tough month for teachers. The
holiday breaks are gone, but some students still
appear to be on a 24/7 “sugar high.” There is the
need to finalize all sorts of curricular matters and
grading for first semester and get geared up for
second semester. Grades are due. Ordering
supplies for next year is fast becoming a reality and
an additional burden. For some sites, parent-
teacher conferences are just around the bend. The
weather can add to the unpleasantness of the
month. There never seems to be enough time to
get everything done.
Here are some tips that might help you manage
your time. We hope you can find the time to read
this article and hope it will give you some helpful
ideas!
No Spare Time? Polish Up Your Time Management Skills!
Revised from an article by Staci Suits, school psychologist, Clay County, Florida
Time management is finding what works for you
In the twenty-first century, we often feel pulled in too many directions, both personally and
professionally. We feel like we're on a treadmill. We feel tired. We don't have time to relax. We're always
in a rush, yet we feel that we accomplish very little. This problem is especially prevalent with educators,
who are faced with more and more demands on their time, with the disastrous result of burnout and
numerous people leaving the profession.
If you feel that you have no spare time for enjoying yourself, you may need to hone your time
management skills.
Improving the Quality of Your Time
Four simple techniques can improve the quality of your time: pacing, assessing your workload,
delegating tasks, and multi-tasking.
Pacing. Pacing simply means monitoring and adjusting your work speed and stress levels for
optimal performance. You can assess your work speed by determining the time of day you have the
most energy. Perhaps you are a "morning person," or a "night owl."
For peak performance, do more difficult jobs at your most energetic times. Conversely, do routine or
mundane tasks during periods of lower energy. If you work best in the morning, use that time to tackle
the tasks that require the most focus, such as grading writing assignments, conducting in-depth parent
conferences, and making changes to a child’s individualized behavior plan. Use the afternoons for
tasks that are less challenging, such as grading basic math assignments, reviewing cumulative
folders, writing memos, inputting grades in the computer, and making routine phone calls.
The number and quality of breaks you take also affects your energy level. When you are exhausted or
overworked, you are more likely to make mistakes or get frustrated, which costs more time in the long
run. Relaxing periodically to prevent burnout is a good use of time if it is done appropriately. Although
teachers have less control over their schedules than most professionals, we can maximize the flexible
times we are given, such as using our lunch times to enjoy ourselves and relax.
If your class goes to resource and you typically use that time to grade papers or do other work, set
aside five minutes of that time to sit quietly, stretch, or laugh with a colleague. Keep inspirational or
humorous materials, such as those found in daily calendars, to look at when you have a minute during
class -- it may just give you the boost you need to keep going!
Assessing your workload. You may have to modify unrealistic expectations of yourself in order to
achieve a balance of adequate work-leisure time. No one person can do it all. Many teachers think that
asking for help or admitting to stress is a sign of weakness. But, talking with others may lead to ways of
sharing tasks and getting help. It may help you realize when your expectations of what you should be
doing are unreasonable, which may help you let go of some of tasks.
You can also share tasks with co-workers. For instance, ask another teacher to make you extra copies
when they are at the machine and agree to organize the materials for both of you, which will save you
both time. Having another teacher as an ally can be helpful, even if it means just having someone to
encourage you during those tough days.
Delegating tasks. Delegating less important tasks -- or dropping them -- can be beneficial. Giving
up control of some of the more routine activities we do as educators may save us time to focus on the
more important tasks or those that only we can do.
Most teachers already have students and volunteers help organize, collect, and grade papers. These
same helpers can change bulletin boards, file papers, make copies, design materials for projects, fill
out non-confidential paperwork such as field trip forms, and even come up with ideas for test
questions. We can’t drop some activities, but we might be able to make some simple changes to allow
more time for other things. For instance, do just one bulletin board and use pre-made posters
elsewhere or use only the last name and first initial in the grade books rather than writing the full first
name.
Multi-tasking. Most teachers are already pros at doing two things at once -- it should be part of the
job requirements! Use this to your advantage, if it is something you find easy and helpful. We can’t drop
those required meetings (even if we’d like to sometimes), but we can use that time more productively.
Grading papers while waiting for the speaker to start or making lists of tasks during transitions in the
program may be helpful. However, if you find this more stressful or this doesn’t work for you, don’t do it.
Some experts advise against multi-tasking because some people take on too many activities at once. If
this is you, force yourself to prioritize or don’t multi-task!
Time management is finding what works for you, which may be different from what works for your co-
workers.
Increasing the Amount and Quality of Your Time
Some simple behavior changes may increase the amount and quality of time you have: better use of
waiting time, reducing the number of distractions and interruptions, and engaging in healthier
behaviors.
Better use of waiting time. Use waiting time more effectively by bringing reading materials or
completing tasks while waiting in line, waiting for appointments, or while on hold on the telephone.
Reducing the number of distractions and interruptions. To increase your productivity, reduce the
number of distractions and interruptions. For instance, you could limit yourself to no more than fifteen
minutes of casual talk at work per day outside of your lunchtime. By being more organized and stingy
with your time, you create more time for other preferred activities.
Engaging in healthier behaviors. Many behaviors, such as the times and amounts you eat and
drink, the quality of your diet and your lifestyle, also affect your ability to use time efficiently. Most medical
professionals agree that for optimal performance, we all need to decrease caffeine, exercise regularly,
eat a well-balanced diet, and get enough sleep.
Simply reducing television viewing by an hour a day (or even cutting it out altogether) can give you more
time to enrich yourself, relax, or engage in healthier behaviors such as exercise or yoga.
Although most Americans know the behaviors that would lead to improved physical health, many of us
do not follow them because of "lack of time." Developing time management skills is a good first step to
solving this problem. By using good time management skills, you can increase productivity, decrease
stress, and ultimately, lead a healthier, better life.
We have been sending past issues of Colleague to Colleague to newer members via e-mail. Do you
prefer receiving it already printed out as we have done with this issue? Please let us know. Also,
please let us know if this article helps to fit your needs and if there are specific topics about teaching or
the Association that would be of help to you and others. Send your suggestions for information to either
Arlene Rea, LEA President at arlene.rea@nsea.org or LEA UniServ Director Dan Studer at dan.
studer@nsea.org
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