10 Super Cool Time Management Skills For School/College Teachers

 

Are you a teacher who carries students' assessment work to home? Or

Are you a teacher who is not able to spend enough time with your family? Or

Are you a teacher who is still spending the vacation planning out lessons or creating worksheets for students? Or

Are you a teacher who is always last in the line of work submission? Or

Are you a teacher who fails to maintain a warm relationship at the workplace? Or

Are you a teacher who is always pointed at by your superiors? 

Ever wondered, why are you so?

Wait and spare a minute!! Read this article till the end. It will help you to find your answers for the above questions and help you stop making more such mistakes. If it helps you, kindly forward to other teacher communities you are known in. 

The teacher's job is the easiest and simplest job with ample time available after the regular school or college, says most of the people in the world. 

But i wonder, Is it really so? A teacher herself can answer this question well. After having done a pilot study on this, it was found that it's a conceptualized myth. Infact, it was  unacceptable for the teachers who are genuinely living their passion in the students to help them fulfill their dreams. 

Every teacher is subjected to certain rules, regulations and code of conduct of a learning organization that enforces on them poor workforce planning leading to mismanagement of the work creating disturbance in the personal and professional life. This disturbance has a direct impact on our work performance and work punctuality. Many teachers today struggle to balance their personal and professional life, thereby creating a lot of stress and displeasure in the work or for the organization. 

Follow the below mentioned rules in any organization that you work with and stand a chance to have control over the time of your watch. 

Rule 1 : Be Friendly But Do Not Be Friends

Exhibiting professionalism in every step of yours as a teacher is prime important. As a teacher we all work together as co-helpers or coordinating colleagues to yield the best possible results for the organization we work for. Creating friends or friend groups is not advisable but having a warm heart full of respect and dignity for every teacher is important. Getting involved in friendships at the workplace not only affects our work but also creates disturbances in our work pattern and relation with others in the organization.

Rule 2 : Love Your Work But Not Your Workplace

Most young aspiring teachers are fascinated by the sophisticated infrastructure and facilities provided in the present schools of the 21st century, so much so that it pulls them apart from the actual work that they are oriented for. Many start to boast about their workplace but has anyone ever boasted about your own work? Ask this question to yourself today. A teacher should always be passionate about her teaching and should continually work on improving the teaching and learning skills. Lifelong learning is the best remedy to be focused and love only just the work and not the workplace. 

Rule 3 : Avoid Gossiping Around But Be Patient With Everyone

The most normal behavior of every common man is 'Gossiping' which is highly contagious and takes the form of pandemic if not controlled at the right time using proper measures. Gossiping takes away most of our precious time and lately we realize that we are actually delayed in every work. So be patient and build a strong health relation with everyone. 

Rule 4 : Respect And Appreciate The Work Of Every Co - Teacher 

Pulling the legs of the one who excels in most of the work is the common scenario observed in every working organization. We mostly fail to appreciate teachers who actually work more harder in bringing a smart and positive change to ease the burden on students. Maintaining a healthy relation with everyone in fact helps us in times of need thereby saving our effort and time both. 

Rule 5 : Utilize Best Every Free Period You Are Subjected Too

Being involved much in other activities we fail to balance our time and yield unfruitful results of the free periods alloted to every teacher. After having a tight schedule of 34 to 38 lectures in a week, a teacher hardly gets time to finish the other miscellaneous works. So be wise in utilizing every free period you get in a day so that you are not burdened with carrying the works home. 

Rule 6 : Keep Away The Mobile Phone When At Work

Mobile phones can be the major distracting factor which gulps most of our valuable time. Practicing healthy habits of avoiding mobile phones at work can be a good step towards time management. Most Teachers generally have the practice of carrying mobile phones with them all throughout the day present in the school, which keeps her inclined towards the different forms of distractions thereby affecting the work performance. So, it's advisable to have control over yourself, reduce the screen time, be away from the phone, and be focused on your work. 

Rule 7 : Use Smart Approaches For Handling Work Pressure

Work pressure is a common scenario in every growing organization. It's ones own unique skill of handling it smartly. Use of smart approaches can greatly reduce the time consumption and helps in proper management of task. Use of technology, attending seminars and conferences of eminent speakers, reading magazines and newsletter of educational importance and creative ideas can be of great help in times of need. 

Rule 8 : Avoid Discussing Home Affairs At Workplace

Balancing personal and professional life has always been a challenge for most working professionals. We often give more importance to one side and ignore the other. Being too friendly at the workplace and discussing personal things at work gives a chance for others to cook a variety of stories out of it. Also it takes away most of our time in such kinds of unprofessional talk. Personal life is very personal and it's very harmful to share all the daily happenings of our life in the institution where we work. It's better to be reserved and professional in approach. 

Rule 9 : Maintain A Professional Relation With The Non - Teaching Staffs

In most of the working sectors, corporate offices, educational institutions, banking and other government offices, the most common scenario is developing close friendship with the non teaching staff and trying to get the hidden secret details of the future happenings or the present problems and changes bound to happen and even to the extent of getting information on the personal life of other colleagues inside the workplace. It goes to such a level that even when you have left the organization you are still consistently getting the updates on the recent happenings. Don't you feel it's irrelevant to you. Be focussed on your work to be the best and forget the rest. 

Rule 10 : Ignore Mood Swings For Work Procrastination

Procrastination is the evil in every person's life which kills boundless time and takes our foot back when it comes to work. Generating and developing healthy habits to schedule daily tasks and making a checklist to cross check it can be of great help in times of need. Mood swings kills away most of our valuable time wherein we fail to give our best at the right time. So balance your mood or be untouched by any happenings. 

All The Best!!!

Hope it helps the teachers community in a positive way. 

By Shobha Joy Gaddam

(Academician, Educator & Ph. D. Scholar)