STUDY SKILLS TIME MANAGEMENT

Top 10 resources to help teachers manage

their time

Teacher's Help Sheet Procrastination

This Teachers Help Sheet

is part of a TM4T series of
supplementary Time
Management advice for
teachers. The whole
series Barriers to Success
is online. Ctrl-Click
here if you're web-connec
ted.

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Teachers understand procrastination well

enough: "putting off till tomorrow what could
be done today", but they don't always
appreciate that it comes in many forms and
that - frequently - it is absolutely the right thing
to do.
Teachers need to differentiate between False
Procrastination, Logical Procrastination and
Emotional Procrastination. Each requires a
different response.
False Procrastination is a mis-diagnosis
common to all busy professionals, not just
teachers. They set themselves eleven tasks to
do in a day, but only do ten of them. Then they
beat themselves up over the one task which
they didn't have time to do. This one deferral
does not indicate a deeply-seated flaw in your
personality, it's just nature's way of telling you
that you're kind of busy. Next time just plan to
do ten tasks.

Logical Procrastination and Emotional Procrastination are

more difficult to tease apart, and we'll discuss them together, but
first of all let's re-visit the 'logical' bit:
In order to be efficient, we need to respond to disruptions, not
react to them. This means deciding, logically, when to do our
work. Problem arise when we do not apply simple logic, but
instead substitute emotion. These emotional responses generally
falls into one of the categories below, and for most of us, the
simple act of categorisation will enable us to identify and remove
the barrier. For others... well, if there is a serious emotional
blockage or phobia involved, more specialist professional help
may be needed.

a) Activities that we simply dislike doing, even

though we recognize that they are necessary
or valuable, and they can be done quickly. In
this case, dear reader, the answer is simple
but unpleasant: you need to toughen up,
overcome inertia, and simply do it. Move it up
your priority-list. Take confidence and pride in
having done it once, then do it again next
time.
b) Fear of failure, or a subconscious fear of
success. Often, small tasks are merely steps
towards some greater goal. In this situation,
we inevitably encounter risk. If we e-mail that
job application, what might be the outcome?
Rejection? Or a situation with which we
cannot cope? The answer is to be logical, not
emotional, in assessing your underlying
reasons for delay, while acknowledging the
emotions themselves.

c) Stubborn assertiveness, or a reluctance to respond

immediately, fearing that it may be interpreted as weakness or
inferiority. In this case, the answer is to mentally dissociate the task
from any status-related issues and to deal with them separately. If
you are asked to crunch some numbers for a picky school leader,
then dragging your heels achieves nothing. Do the task promptly,
and then debate the importance and urgency of the work later.

d) Reluctance to defer pleasure. Teachers recognize this

tendency in their students - "I'm having too much fun to study
tonight, I'll do it tomorrow" - but they often fail to recognize the
identical trait in themselves. For a teacher, the "pleasure" is
frequently well-hidden. It may be an intellectually interesting
problem, or a productive theoretical debate with a colleague. We
sometimes don't want to stop, especially if the next thing on our
to-do list is a piece of mundane administration. You need to
assess whether this is logical (maybe you need to finish what
you've started) or emotional (maybe you just don't like admin).

e) Elements of confrontation. Many administration tasks involve

inter-personal communication, and this inevitably introduces the
risk of conflict - an e-mail which might cause offence, a set of
statistics which will provoke criticism. Frequently, we subconsciously
prioritise our work using our emotional intelligence, deferring those
tasks which imply confrontation.
If this is the reason for your procrastination, your course of action is
simple: stop doing this subconsciously and start doing it
consciously. It's usually absolutely the right thing to do: always
pause and consider before you cause offence. Then do it.
f) A child-like yearning for perfection. Frequently
teachers resent doing things 'in a rush' because it
compromises their sense of achievement. It's like getting
7/10 in a test where you could have got ten marks if
you'd just spent a bit more time... This is sensible in
some contexts, not in others - you need to separate the
two. The all-embracing rules of opportunity cost dictate
that some tasks only demand 7/10. The time you save
can be used more effectively on other things.

[ I will include the last four for completeness, though they rarely apply
to teachers, and I'm sure, dear reader, they do not apply to you...]
g) Sod it, can't be bothered. This requires no explanation, but if it
applies to you, then it requires some reflection. Why do you feel like
this? Are you really being asked (told?) to do something with no value?
Can't you ask for an explanation? Can't you refuse? Can you justify the
wasted effort? Is this really the best job for you?
h) Dithering. Well, it happens to all of us sometimes: do I or I don't I?
Should I or shouldn't I? Oh, it's too difficult, I'll decide tomorrow. Well,
again, this isn't such a bad idea. If it is a trivial decision, then tackle it
in the old school way: chin up, shoulders back, and make that decision.
If it is a big decision, though, choose the best time to make it. Not
when you're tired, that's for sure. Think it through when you are clearheaded and decisive and make a decision that you can live with later.

i) Inability to commit. A fiendish blend of (d) fear of failure and

(h) dithering. Some decisions are big decisions and require real
commitment. Choose your time to make these decisions, and
choose a time when you have time - not just five minutes - to
think the consequences through. Then: take that first step with
a commitment to follow through.

j) Nervous insecurity based on lack of information. A

specific breed of dithering - a feeling that nothing should be
done too soon, that some consultation is necessary, that it would
be better to wait for more clarity. This is, of course, sometimes
valid, but if you suspect that it is a subconscious delaying tactic a symptom of insecurity - then it probably is. Again, this is only a
reason to defer action if a really big decision or commitment is
involved, with significant consequences. If not, you are entitled
to take action today based on what you know today.

TIME TO STOP GROUP TASK GIVE EXAMPLES AND DISCUSS,

remember to include it in your journal or diary, this could
give ideas for the final essay
All of the reasons above may, in some situations, represent a valid
reason for delaying action and procrastinating. The important thing
is to be aware of instances where we use these valid reasons
inappropriately. If we are aware of our own shortcomings - the
tricks that we use to deceive ourselves - we are much more likely
to avoid these pitfalls in future.
Unless there are grave consequences involved, it is usually better
to do something rather than nothing - inertia is to be avoided at all
costs. If now is not the time to do something or decide something,
then decide now when is a Teacher's Help Sheet - The Great
Escape: How to Leave on Time
This Teachers Help Sheet is part of a TM4T series of
supplementary Time Management advice for teachers. The whole
series
Barriers
to
Success
is
online.
Ctrl-Click
here if you're web-connected.

So. You've had a busy day and now it's time to leave. But... the
department meeting over-ran. Again. Then you realised that you
haven't prepared that marksheet that you promised. What else have
you forgotten? Better check your e-mails to be sure. And before you
know it, you're stuck at your desk again, when you should be half-way
home.
For busy teachers, the route from their teaching room to the car-park
can be an obstacle course lined with distractions, disruptions and
delays. All the good intentions that you made - cooking the tea, going
to the gym, a bit of reading - are often undone right at the end of the
day. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, the school
caretaker is starting to lock up and you're still there...
If this has happened once too often, then you need some advice on the
simple art of leaving work on time. Here's the key TM4T tips for making
the Great Escape.
Analyse before action. Before doing anything, figure out exactly what
the problem is. On which days do you get stuck? Are other people
disrupting your planned departure? Is some scheduled event (like a
meandering meeting) spoiling your exit? Or are you yourself the cause
of your own discomfort?
One useful approach is to keep a simple
tally list to suss out the scale and pattern of the problem:

Depending on the answers, some or all of the following ideas may be

relevant.
Choose Route One. This doesn't mean avoid the staffroom or hide from
your students, it just means choose the most practical and direct route
between your place of work and your means of transport. Don't feel obliged
to say 'goodnight' to everyone - at least one person will want your opinion
on something.
Establish a routine. This means that you have a standard time of
departure, and a standard set of activities leading up to that departure
time. Don't do anything new, demanding or different at the last minute
- just standard stuff like marking, lesson preparation, preparing to-do
lists - activities whose durations you can predict.
Set time-shift deadlines. Time-shift deadlines are set before any
last-minute rush. If you are leaving school at 17:30, stop what you are
doing at 17:00 sharp, shut down your e-mail and review what needs to
be done before you leave. This should ensure 'no surprises'.

Get tough. Tell people in advance - especially your Head of Department,

mentor, and anyone else with work-authority - that you will be leaving at a
particular time each day. It sometimes helps if you make it an unusual time:
16:50 instead of 5 o'clock. Make sure expectations are clear by using formal
language: you have 'appointments' and 'commitments' which require you to
leave on time. The fact that the appointment is with your family and the
commitment is to cook tea is no-one's business but yours.
Get mean. Prepare yourself in advance to be assertive; to excuse
yourself from badly-chaired meeting, interrupt meandering discussions,
re-prioritise over-running tasks. Rehearse in advance what you need to
say.
No actually... Wow, those last two sound great, don't they? Get tough!!
Get mean!! Well, a preferable approach is not to do either, but to discuss
your problems openly with your colleagues and explain that you'd
appreciate any help or advice they can offer. Only do the tough-guy/girl
routine if all else fails.

Confront problems. Be prepared to discuss real problems with the people

involved or the people responsible. The most common example of this is the
over-running meeting which disrupts everyone's plans and mealtimes.
Schedule a different meeting. This means that you treat your journey
home as an important meeting, including it on your timetable, preparing for it
in advance, and reviewing afterwards how it went. Punctual? Productive?
Get in early. If working late is a problem, make sure you start early, and
that your Head of Department knows you start early. You can vacuum up as
much work as you can before school starts, and automatically claim the
moral high ground, in leaving 'on-time'
Be realistic. Leaving school on time may be important, but it is rarely the
most important thing in a teacher's life. As long as your rights and needs are
being respected, you should be prepared to be flexible and work later than
your standard time if asked.. The main issue involving a teacher's work-life
balance is rarely working late at school; it is doing so routinely without any
acknowledgement or appreciation..
good time, and keep to that deadline.

Teachers Help Sheet - Sleep

There is probably already too much advice already available about 'How to
Sleep Well' and some teachers have tried everything from herbal tea to
hypnotherapy. But since you've asked...
Our advice is (a) have a look at some general purpose checklists and cherry
pick anything that appeals to you - see end of sheet for examples (b)
consider our following teacher-specific tips and (c) talk to your GP if you are
worried that your sleep is affecting your health
Teachers frequently have sleep-problems. Firstly because they work past
sensible bed-times, but also because - when they finish the after-hours work their minds are racing; either whizzing through what they've done today,
what they didn't do today, or what they have to do tomorrow (oh, no; 10C
again and I haven't marked their tests)... sometimes you just can't stop the
day you've had coming back to you, or the day ahead rushing towards you.
How can you sleep through this? Here are our specific tips for teachers:

1. Know how much sleep you need and when your bed-time is
You should have your own school night standard. This doesn't mean you have
the same amount of sleep each night or go to bed at the same time. That is
silly: you will sometimes have to, or choose to, stay up late or go to bed
early, but when that happens you need to be aware of it, and ideally in
control of it.
2. Turn of the computer 30 minutes before "bed-time"
This means PC, laptop, i-Phone; anything that might alert you to e-mails, text
messages, posts, prompts, prods or pokes. Check your mail, have the last
word, then switch it off. Some teachers disconnect from the Web and keep
typing but we say 'No', switch everything off.
Yes, yes, I knew you were going to say that: you can't turn off your smartphone, what about an emergency? Well, this means you need to change your
lifestyle a little. If you haven't got a land-line telephone, buy a cheap pay-asyou go handset and use it as your 'emergency' phone. Make sure your loved
ones know that you have a night-time phone for emergencies only, and that
your regular device will be switched off. You may also need to buy an alarm
clock. And a torch. Whatever apps you use at bed-time, find a substitute.

3. And Finally...
Make a mini-mental-list of things you need to do before you go to bed. Then
do them. Put that text book in your bag and choose tomorrow's trousers.
Done.
4.1 And Then...
On your Ticklist if you have one, or in your Notebook or Planner, or just on a
piece of paper, write down things you want/need to do tomorrow. If they're
already written down, asterisk them. If they're already asterisked, asterisk
them twice. Then put your Ticklist, Notebook, Planner, or piece of paper
away, in your work-bag, along with any marking, reports, or anything else
you've brought from school. Now put your work-bag as far away from your
bedroom as you can, without actually going out into the street. Ideally you
should have two closed doors between your bedroom and your work.
4.2 Find someone to talk to.
Not as easy as it sounds. In order to qualify as 'someone' a person has to
match these criteria: a nice person, someone who cares about you, a good
listener, not employed in education. The Samaritans don't count.
Now talk to them. Don't try and be constructive, just let it all out. Don't ask
for advice on what to do about 10C, just tell your someone what little shits
they are.

5. Pen and paper

If anything else occurs to you, you need to write it down. Not using your iPhone. Not on your Ticklist. Just a bit of paper next to our bed, where you will
see it in the morning. As you write, tell yourself what you are doing: you are
getting it OUT of your head and dumping it onto the paper. It will be added to
the Ticklist tomorrow and it will be dealt with, so you don't need to think
about it now. Tell yourself: this is a GOOD thing, especially if it is a lesson
idea, or something that needs doing. Now you can sleep.
6. Relax
Mindfulness techniques may not be specifically aimed at sending you to
sleep, but they do help to calm a racing mind. By focusing on yourself, your
own body and breathing, you can help to pre-empt the onset of the racing
mind.

Sleep well.
This Teachers Help Sheet is part of a TM4T series of supplementary Time
Management advice for teachers. The whole series Barriers to Success is
online. Ctrl-Click here if you're web-connected.
Some general sleep advice can be found here and here. (Ctrl-Click to open)
DO YOU SLEEP WELL? YES O NO WHY? BE READY TO MAKE QUESTIONS AND
SUGGESTIONS

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

VIDEO 3

Sample exercises for TM

This is an interesting part to support your time management study skiill with
several techniques within 2 power points and web access.

Remember your diary or journal/either team and indivdual while

bearing in mind the questions that arised in class. Any question
on Wednesday or by mail. If you could not see the videos I
include them in a separate format. ENJOY!