Time Management Strategies for the Super Social Teachers
Hello all of my social friends! I must say that being a more introverted person myself, I’m feeling a little intimidated writing to all of you extroverts out here. (: There is so much to celebrate in you and what you bring to the work place, but if you are here reading this, you are most likely feeling that your social personality is getting in the way of you using your time most effectively. Today we’ll go over strategies that will help you prioritize what needs to get done, while still maintaining those beautiful work relationships.
Before we begin, if you haven’t read the original blog post on the 4 Time Management Pitfalls, go ahead and read that. It will help you identify which pitfall most resonates with you and will direct you to the strategies that particularly address that issue.
Let’s take a look at our Social Butterfly Time Management Profile.
In the previous post, I talked about Miss Social Stevenson and gave some reasons why she feels her social life is getting in the way of her efficiency at work. While having solid work relationships is NOT bad (in fact, it’s amazing if you can find great teammates), this person is so invested in the social aspect of work that they find it difficult to complete what is required of them. This then affects their personal life because they have to bring the “must do” responsibilities home with them.
Painting a mental picture of this type of person in my mind is not too difficult for me because I was her at some point in my teaching career.
Despite being more introverted as I described in the beginning, there was a time around year 4 that I had very little friends outside of work, but had some amazing teammates that had become my best friends. I found myself looking for my teammates before school, during plan-time, after school, and was scheduling planning/working meetings on weekends, scheduling summer meet-ups for work, etc.
In other words, I was using any excuse I could to hang out with them because they were awesome and I needed relationships.
While I don’t regret the time I invested in those relationships and while much of it was work-related, I did struggle to get my own personal work done in a timely manner. I found it was much more fun to do it with someone else, so I would put it off until we could do it together.
There were, however, a few strategies I tried that really helped me find more balance and time at work to do those things I needed to do. Here are some that worked for me.
Let’s dive into the first one:
Make a plan on Sunday night.
I know some people may have just experienced a chill down their spine and reverted to a dark place upon hearing the phrase “Sunday night” as a time to do anything work related. Let’s face it, the “Sunday Scaries” are a real thing. But hear me out. I truly think if we make that plan before our week begins, we sleep better Sunday night knowing we aren’t going in defenseless. It is a way of establishing control at the onset of the week.
For me, there are two main categories I like to break tasks into. “Must Do” tasks are those that have a deadline or accountability component. In other words, it is part of my job description to do that task. “May Do” tasks are things that I really want to implement. They may be things that give me life as a teacher, or things I know will benefit my students. Quickly jot down a list (do NOT spend more than 5 minutes doing it) and see if there is one that would be best done with somebody else. I know for me, grading papers was always better done with a colleague. We both had to spend the time and I liked being able to ask questions or for her opinion (especially helps if you are using the same rubric). Quickly text them and ask if they’d like to complete that task together this week.
2.Close your door during certain times
You know how it goes. You leave the door open and next thing you know you have 5 people who’ve entered your room needing to ask you a question, a student coming back to get a water bottle, or a colleague stopping to chat. Make a point to close your door during that plan time and stay away from the copy room (if possible) until right after school. I wish I had adhered more to this, but as a last minute person I often was stuck in the copy room during plan time. I highly recommend planning and laying everything out you will need to copy during your plan time, so that you are completely ready to copy all at once after school.
3. Participate in a “Debrief hour” with close colleagues
That 4th year when I had an amazing tight-knit team we loosely practiced this. It was such a breath of fresh air to have time to talk as adults. For us, it worked to do about 3 times a week for 20 minutes, but do what works for you. I highly recommend doing it before you start that copying so that you can be fully focused on the other tasks when the time comes.
We talked about everything during those times. We laughed hysterically, exchanged stories from the day, and discussed what we were doing the following day. We talked about our marriages, personal lives, and built each other up. And yes, we definitely did use it to vent at times, too, but with the understanding that we needed to share what we were struggling with in a trusting context. We all knew we were 100% there for the kids and did not want any drama. I treasure those times building meaningful relationships.
4. Pick one day to work late with friends
If you are like me and found yourself staying late most days, working on weekends, socializing at all hours, etc. this one is a game changer. That 4th year, we picked one day that worked for all of us and decided to stay late (for us we stayed until about 7 with a 3:30pm school end time). We were a very collaborative team that created lesson plans together, did the same units, etc., so we would each take a subject and make copies for all of the fifth graders and then distribute them to each other. This cut down on copying so much and we had a blast in the process. Order in a pizza, laugh a lot, and enjoy the time together doing something you otherwise would be doing alone. We then were able to go home relatively early all the other days because everything was planned and copied. It was a dream.
I hope if you’ve made it this far, you see that your need for social interaction at work does not have to hinder your time efficiency. All you need is a plan and some easy strategies to help you be intentional with social interaction and prioritize your responsibilities.
If you try one of these strategies, let me know in the comments. I would love to hear how you are implementing them in your own way.
