At the beginning of any new school year, it’s so essential to set yourself up the right way. To do this, you’ll need some clever working smarter tips for teachers to be your most productive, effective and avoid energy depletion.
Do you ever ask yourself what are some ways of working smarter? Or have some great systems and working habits in place to do this? I know many teachers want to find the secrets of working smarter, in such a demanding job.
Well, if this is you, you’ve come to the right place!
Teaching is such a complex profession and there are so many layers and components to being a competent teacher. But, I think working smarter is all about learning to be as efficient and productive with your time as possible, to be able to do it all.
The trouble is, no one really teaches you how to be a great manager of your time, or really even offers tips for how to work smarter as a busy teacher. Not even in our teacher training.
So often you feel like you’re on your own, to fumble around and make systems that are right for you.
But is this working? Are you as productive as you could be?
Well, I’m here to tell you that I’ve been on a mission to find the secret to working smarter as a teacher for many years. And I want to share these working smarter tips for teachers with you.
If you’ve read any other of my other articles, you’ll know my passion is to help other stressed-out educators minimize the impacts of their work-related stress & overwhelm, to ultimately work smarter in the classroom. That’s why I called my site Teach Smart With Me.
A little while ago, I wrote an extremely popular post called How to work Smarter Not harder as a Teacher, and this will start you off and give some beginner tips for productivity as a teacher. It’s worth a read!
But, in my continued research, and further to that post, I believe there are 5 core principles that will help you to work smarter as a teacher.
The 5 core principles of working Smarter for teachers:
- Systems in the Classroom
- Mindset is Key
- Acknowledge Boundaries
- Recovery through Self-care
- Turbocharge your Success with Collaboration
Keep reading, as I delve into each important core principle…
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers No. 1: Systems in the Classroom
My number one working smarter tips for teachers is; be clever about the systems you implement in your classroom. Systems are all about having a scheme of interconnected methods that will make your classroom much more manageable and ultimately run themselves. And when running well, they will save you a great deal of time.
Time is what teachers seem to lack each day. There are only 24 hours in the day for all of us, but there’s always so much to do in the classroom and the tasks on your list never seem to get any shorter, no matter how much time you work.
That’s why you need to be clever about having processes in place that make your life a lot easier and keep things ticking over.
The first system I would recommend would be to have an explicit classroom management plan in place and ensure you teach this to your students. This is key to a well-running classroom and is a huge task on its own, but once it’s in place and working, you’ll be quite aware it reduces the strain on you as a classroom manager.
There are several other systems that must be implemented to be able to gain back time in the day-to-day running of your classroom.
These are key to your productivity, but to reduce your reading time now, I have detailed them in the FREE printable called Working Smarter for Teachers: 25 Actionable Tips to Save Time, Be Productive & Focus on What’s Important. Join the hundreds of teachers who’ve started their working smarter journey by getting it HERE.
Related Articles:
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Classroom Jobs: How to Effectively Use Student Helpers
12 Strategies for a Successful Classroom Management Plan
The next big thing and important in any working smarter tips for teachers (that will help you to work more productively), is your mindset.
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers No. 2: Mindset is key
You might think mindset is a strange core principle of working smarter, but when you think about it, as busy teachers, we often can get very overwhelmed with the huge workload and all the expectations on us. (especially the tricky time at the moment, with all the uncertainty, fear and trying to juggle all the new things in this school year).
So, it’s very important to keep your thinking in check – making sure you focus on the good things, the things YOU can control and the positives of your job; these will make a huge difference and impact whether you will thrive as a teacher.
Being positive and learning to reframe your thinking, is particularly important, especially if you’ve found it slipping into negativity and the negative influences or the difficulties you experience as a teacher. If you haven’t yet, you’ll come to realise that your mindset is crucial to being resilient and coping with the evolving nature of education.
Let’s face it, the longer you teach, the more you could feel the mental weight of the mammoth responsibility of your job or the vast array of tasks you need to fit into your day. You know what I’m talking about! – All the meetings, lesson planning, grading, emails, and the unseen things that take up so much time and energy.
It’s totally understandable if you start to crack under the strain of it all.
But don’t let it get you down!
Sometimes these feelings can take over and pull you into a downward spiral of negativity, if you let it.
Learn from my mistakes. I was guilty of this, but over the years, I’ve made intentional efforts to help change my thinking and be stronger in mind and thought, so that these influences won’t affect my happiness or my productivity.
Things like developing a habit of gratitude and intentionally associating with supportive and uplifting people will help a great deal. These things can make a huge difference in the way you think and what you dwell on.
That’s why I’m so keen to share this information with you because I know what a huge difference it can make in your teaching life.
N.B.If this concept of mindset and the power of thinking is new to you, or you need help in this area, (don’t think it’s too ‘woo-woo’ to help). Take some time to read the following articles, to help understand it further:
Related Articles:
19 Positive Teacher Affirmations You Need to Start Now!
The Benefits of Fostering a Growth Mindset for Teachers
Learn How to Improve Teacher Happiness with Gratitude Journaling
So, once you’ve absorbed this, let’s move onto the next key principle of the working smarter tips for teachers…
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers No. 3: Acknowledge Boundaries
I’m continually surprised by how teachers don’t seem to know how to set healthy boundaries and limits in their teaching life.
Have you noticed that the job keeps asking more and more of you? But when you try to set some limits for the non-negotiable things – to help protect your energy or well-being, you’re seen to be ‘difficult’, ‘non-compliant’ or dare I say it… ‘a bitch.’
This makes me so mad. Why do teachers allow themselves to be treated like doormats!
I understand that the job tends to take more and more and there doesn’t seem to be any ‘give’ back. But… what happens when you just keep giving and giving? There just won’t be any end to it and this is why teachers are burning out in record numbers.
This is where boundaries come in.
You need to set these healthy limits for yourself, my friend, if you want to work smarter… Things like staying home when you’re sick is an important boundary to have in your life. (often difficult to uphold, but so necessary) or even by setting yourself non-negotiable working hours can help you to be much more productive than just continuing to work at school and home, with no end in sight.
If you need some help with this or to get ideas to set yourself some limits that will stop the work-a-holism and the effects of being an overworked teacher, I suggest you read the following articles. It will be a great starting point for you.
Related Articles:
How to Set Boundaries as a Teacher and Why It’s So Important
Teachers Want Work-Life Balance? Try This!
Get more suggestions to set sensible boundaries as a teacher, with this FREE guide: 25 Tips to Working Smarter for Busy Teachers:
The fourth important principle in working smarter tips for teachers is prioritizing self-care in your day.
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers No. 4: Recovery through Self-care
Many of you know about self-care and are aware of how important it is for you to look after yourself, but do you follow through with it in your life?
Self-care is more complex than we often realise, and it can also often mean different things for each person. ‘Self-care for teachers is about actively looking after your own well-being so you can support your students more effectively’. (QUT)
But, teachers are such giving people. Sometimes they care too much and lose themselves in the job, to the absolute detriment of their own care.
This was me.
I forgot about how important it was to look after myself. I let self-care slide for too long and ended up in burnout.
It wasn’t like I didn’t brush my hair or teeth each day, but it was about me not implementing the intentional actions to find time to relax and unwind each day. I also wasn’t fitting walking into my day, especially when I was mentally and emotionally drained. And I was forgetting to find balance in my life; to get school out of my head and do things I loved, like hobbies and connecting with my friends. I was the teacher who had no life!
Don’t let this be you.
Prioritize yourself and implement a holistic self-care routine that addresses all the areas of your personal health and takes care of all of you – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
I see this action as hugely important and a must-do working smarter tip for all hardworking teachers, especially workaholic – perfectionists, like many of us are.
I’ve have delved into self-care for teachers in many posts and particularly How to Work Smarter Not Harder as a Teacher, and the 10 tips shared in this post to help you work smarter, not harder as teachers, are game-changers.
If you think you’ve let your self-care slide or need to make more time for yourself, get some quick and easy ideas to build self-care into your week. Don’t become a burnout statistic!
Get the FREE guide here:
Related Articles:
Fight Teacher Burnout With a Guilt-Free Self-Care Day
8 Simple Habits of Self-Care for Teachers
Teacher Self-Care: It’s Time to Take a Self-Care Inventory
How to Start a Self-Care Routine for Busy Teachers Today!
Lastly, the final must-do tip from the 5 Working Smarter Tips for Teachers, is Collaboration. This will turbocharge your productivity, if you learn to lean on others for help.
Working Smarter Tips for Teachers No. 5: Turbocharge your success with collaboration
Many of us as teachers don’t realise the benefits we have in working in a team. Teaching has become too difficult to do it all on your own and this is why you need to learn to collaborate.
Robert John Meehan says, “The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
When you think about it, this quote it’s so true.
It’s like thinking about the strength of a rope. There is no point trying to use a single thread because it will just break. A rope is made of many strands wound together into a thick and robust piece of twine that is by far more effective than just that lone piece of string.
Teachers are like this.
If you are clever, you can make a truly productive team of like-minded professionals that support each other through difficult times; sharing the workload and building strong connections.
The trick is to intentionally work together and also to ask for help when you need it.
Be smart in your teaching life and use the resources that are available to you and this includes other people.
Final thoughts on working smarter tips for teachers
Well, that’s it. I hope these five working starter tips for teachers has helped you realise that to work smarter as a teacher, you need to be very intentional about it.
We all know educators have a pretty tough role. You probably love it as I do, but if you’re not careful, it can swallow you up and drain your energy until there’s nothing left.
Follow these working smarter tips for teachers by using systems, mindset, boundaries, self-care and collaborations to thrive as a teacher for the long term.
If you’re interested in finding out more about working smarter tips for teachers and to help save time in your day, get the FREE downloadable PDF here:
Remember you’re worth it!
Take care,
Michelle
Other Articles of Interest
- 9 Quick Wins to Boost Teacher Energy, Naturally
- The Top 10 Things You Shouldn’t Say to a Teacher [To their face, anyway!]
- 3 Empowering Mindset Shifts for Teachers [That Will Change Your Life]
- Exposing 12 Self Care Myths: Important for Teachers to Know
- 6 Important Lessons I Learned from Teacher Burnout
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