I Write. I Read. But Also... I Teach. Here's to Time Management and Sanity!

"Oh, but you're a writer, so you probably also read," a distant relative said once they found out I became an English teacher. "How does that work?"

"It doesn't," I answered immediately.

And it's true. When the school year starts, as it will at the end of August for my district, I find I have minimal time to read or write anything. I do my best to squeeze it in, but I'm never as productive as I'd like to be. Teaching is incredibly time-consuming due to the amount of work done outside of normal work hours - most normal people understand this, though it amazes me how many people don't. Yes, I could just buy a curriculum to use... if my district had oodles of money, and if so many of the curricula out there for purchase wasn't flaming hot garbage. I make almost everything myself, plus I spend a ton of time grading, which involves a lot of reading and a lot of writing feedback. I don't even want to talk about all the emails. I really admire teachers who appear to find some kind of balance in their life, like Olivia Reads a Latte, a Booktuber who teaches the same grade as me, but still manages to have a very productive YouTube channel.

Stephen King reflected on his time writing while teaching in his memoir On Writing: "I liked my coworkers and loved the kids — even the Beavis and Butt-Head types in Living with English could be interesting — but by most Friday afternoons I felt as if I’d spent the week with jumper cables clamped to my brain."

I completely understand how he felt. But, I don't think there's a single day job I'd rather have.

Fortunately, as I'm going into my fourth year and I've dealt with a huge schedule change, virtual learning, and hybrid learning, I've learned some things that should help me manage my time better and keep me sane, so I have more time for things like reading and writing during the school year. While I talk very specifically about teaching, I know the general advice can be applied to just about any career.

1. Stay home if you're sick and don't think about it. I know, this is self-explanatory, and I used to follow this protocol before COVID... except the "not thinking about it" part. It can at times be harder as a teacher to not be present and have a sub, so sick days are often filled with a weird guilt and subconscious need to be productive from home even though I'm unwell. I've found that this level of pressure contributes to poor mental health, which results in panicking. Panicking takes time, which takes time away from feeling okay enough to write or read (or teach well, for that matter).

2. Trust your body if you don't feel well and act on that information. In addition to panic taking time, even the most common health issues can suck time out of your life. I can't tell you how many times I haven't been able to grade, read, write, or do anything on a weeknight because I had a headache, or how often I just spaced out during my whole planning period because I was distracted by facial pressure. This summer, I finally left my old family doctor who kept prescribing the same allergy medication I insisted wasn't helping and found an allergist. I discovered that I don't have allergies, but migraines. Thanks to my newfound insistence to find real help, I have medication for my migraines, and I know that as long as it works as it's supposed to, it'll make a huge difference in my energy and productivity this school year.

3. There is nothing wrong with working smarter, not harder. I understand that American society is absolutely obsessed with working to death, so I know that even more people than just teachers relate to the workaholic sentiment. Teachers are all too often gaslit into believing that it's okay to break our backs since we're doing it for our students, who deserve teachers who care and work hard. I believe we can eliminate the first half of that statement in order to ensure the second half always happens. This year, I'm taking tips I learned from Balance With Blended Learning by Cailtlin Tucker in order to help lessen my take-home load. The cool thing about Dr. Tucker's strategies? They benefit students as well. Even though we live in a world where working to death has been internalized as Really Cool Stuff, it's actually not, and I've decided not to feel bad about actively trying to lessen my workload while still being an effective teacher.

4. Give yourself grace. You do more than you think you do. During both virtual and blended learning, many students understandably had a hard time participating, oftentimes due to mental health and motivational reasons. So, on slow virtual days where I didn't have a lot of students show up to Q&A sessions or didn't email me, I used that time to perfect lesson plans, revamp materials, grade, and send emails... I don't think I ever realized exactly how much time I had been squeezing into weeknights and weekends. There were so many times in the past where I didn't feel like diving into the essay pile and felt lazy, but I know now that I never was. I was overworked. That realization has made it easier to accept my own tiredness and eliminate some of the anxiety that comes with feeling unproductive.

I know that remembering these things can be easier said than done, but I'm going to try and keep them in mind as much as possible this school year and really monitor how I feel. If you also struggle with work-life balance and feel like you have no time or energy to write, consider this your sign from the Universe to prioritize yourself. I'm sure it'll be worth it for us when we start giving ourselves some credit, and there is nothing wrong with craving more time for ourselves to write or simply rest.

And lastly, fellow teachers: Godspeed.