So when your job is consuming your life, how do you get out from under it? This isn't a teaching specific question, so I'm not posting it in my thread.

I spend most of my time either working at school, working at home, or going to volleyball games it seems like (that part I enjoy). I haven't read a single book for pleasure since the movie. I haven't watched my Netflix movie since I moved. I have watched some tv, but it's usually while doing something job related.

Thoughts?

First of all, is it your first year teaching? If so, and you've probably been told this 100 times, but it gets wayyy easier in the following years. If you are teaching English it's a little different because a lot of your time is spent grading papers, but the decrease in work is still quite noticeable.

Now I haven't had an honest job in a while, but I think that giving yourself hard commitments is the way to go. When motivating myself to exercise more, I was given the following advice, which really changed my perspective.

If you really want to change your life, don't give yourself the option not to. You set aside 5-10 minute blocks for things all the time without realizing it. You would never say, "I was too busy to brush my teeth today," or "I was too busy to shower last week." So make it a part of your daily routine, not a choice. And do it while you are still wide awake!

You know for a fact that you will grade your papers or plan for the following day's lesson no matter what. You have established these things as non-negotiable. You won't go to sleep knowing they aren't done. But you might do that with reading for pleasure, or exercising, or whatever. So when you get home from school tomorrow, read for an hour. Or go for a run. It's brushing your teeth, it's taking a shower. You HAVE to do it, no excuses.

You'll find that the stuff you need to get done will get done, and that you'll be much more satisfied with your day at its end. You will also probably find that you are going to bed at the same time, anyway, since taking away this hour will cause you to work more efficiently later on. Instead of grading a few papers, then checking 2p2, then zoning out being annoyed that you have so many papers to grade...you will just grade the damned papers.

This strategy worked exceptionally well for me. Just put yourself first and trust that your work ethic will take care of the rest.

Good luck!

James

Solo,

I can't believe I'm about to say this--and I'm not advising you to do it at the moment--but one day you just get in your car to drive to work. Instead of stopping, continue to head in whatever direction you are going and don't stop until evening. Repeat the next day. And the next.

Jobs tend to be consuming, and I think many of us here who have worked for a long time will tell you that. I have today off, so I'm heading out in a few minutes to spend the next five or six hours responding to papers. But, I'm going to try to go to a movie tonight, too. We all need to take that necessary time out.

Good tips guys. I realize that it's going to get a heck of a lot easier even as early as second semester this year. I reteach Mythology, so I'll have all the material made and such. I just am struggling to find any time to REALLY relax.

Like, I have gone to volleyball games and played tennis. But a lot of the volleyball games, I'm multitasking by grading papers between points. When I play tennis, it feels more like I have to squeeze it in and get home to finish planning/grading.

I guess I just haven't found any sort of balance between work and home where it FEELS like there's a noticeable different. I don't want my home pleasures to always feel rushed by work.

You should try to eliminate the "multitasking" as much as possible. Many people assume multitasking automatically equals more productivity, but it usually doesn't long-term.

In a pinch, it's a necessary evil; otherwise, it just causes you to be less effective. For instance, your paper grading takes longer because you are constantly doing it in small intervals in between other tasks, so you can never quite get into the "groove" where you tear through the grading. At the same time, lugging around grading to the tennis/volleyball games or whatever else you enjoy doing prevents you from fully enjoying those activities.

Scheduling is a good idea. Plan the week ahead of you during the weekend. Block in time for BOTH tennis/volleyball and grading. Don't let one interfere with the other. If you can, schedule the grading for 1-2 hr blocks throughout the week as opposed to one marathon session. You should find that your efficiency will increase, and combined with the fact that you'll hammer out your lesson plans in the months to come, your time should free up significantly.

There's something to be said for that, but I believe a lot depends on your orientation. There are "steady state" people and "project" people, I believe. Steady staters can do a little at a time and function more on an even keel, with less highs and lows; they simply put one foot in front of the other and the job is done. They don't want to work more than an eight hour day and a big challenge may hold little interest to them. The project type guys don't step into tasks easily, but when they do, they build up a lot of momentum and can put in prodigious and sustained amounts of work. They even find it hard to put their work down, because they keep thinking of the annoyance of it not being done, or how wonderful it would be to complete a project and have plumbed any of its mysteries.

If you're a project type personality, then as GK notes, you'll do very well to give yourself a chunk of uninterrupted time; maybe a lot more than the 1 or 2 hours he's talking about, too. If you're a steady stater, you could probably still benefit from giving yourself time enough to get in the groove of what you're doing, but small chunks of time spread far and wide would be sufficient.

Me, I'm a project type guy and can and can work 20 hours straight on something I'm into without even feeling it, and have trouble sleeping afterward. And then do it day after day for long periods, before finally needing a nice vacation. But getting started is the bitch goddess from hell. And I'd rather work a 30 hour weekend than five six hour days.

Once begun - the job's half done.

How about scheduling "off hours" and sticking to it. You can start small, like 1 hr at at a time. Make it an appointment with yourself, and keep it. I have gotten burned out before, its def no fun.

Interested in your further adventures in this regard, Solo, though I believe this thread could be profitably blended into your bigger thread about teaching.

My wife is in her 4th year of teaching 6th grade math (yuck), and she said it has gotten easier, because she saved all her lesson plans from years 1 and 2.

There is a LOT of beaurocratic bullsh*t she has to juggle though, and it really wears on her. This year she's trying to make it a point to LEAVE WORK at 4:30 everyday. She brings work home but I told her if she holds herself to her own deadlines, it will help clarify for her what it means to manage time. So far it's gone pretty well for her.

hey. when i play poker i play and study 24 hours a day and now i am writing so i write and thinki about writing all day and it is really destroying me. i have never been able to find balacne and i think it is getting worse. when i was with my GF though it wasn't a problem though as she helped me act like a normal person who wasn't self destructive.

Sorry but your a teacher you get 3 months off in the summer stop bitching.

Whew. Glad you were here to get that off your chest.

Edit: I shouldn't even have responded to this. The fact that I have no idea who you are makes me think you probably have no idea who I am. Your post is pretty sad considering what kind of person I am.

I'm not sure that this qualifies as "bitching."

hey soloAJ you need to have thicker skin than that if you are going to be a teacher.

Thicker skin than what?

fwiw, I want to type more that is actually on the subject, I just don't have the time at the moment. So I do plan to get this back on track and address some issues.

The truth about teaching is that if you are a "real" one, a crusader, it consumes your life and you love it. I was a real one for a few years that FLEW by. There is always more you can do, you are in the human business and they have an insatiable appetite for your time and energy.
theres a book called THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL by HARRY WONG
read this NOW
it shows tricks for making the kids the hardest working people in the classroom.
he is all about putting the onus for achievement on the children
putting the kids to work
in a nutshell
why should the person who has already achieved the state certifications, degrees and whatnot be the one in the room on the unicycle, juggling and singing a snappy tune?
this guy is a genius. it saved my career for a few years...
but in the end, i was living someone elses idea of what my lfe was supposed to look like.
I like kids, but im not a crusader anymore....
in my later years, i was around a few of them and was humbled by their energy and knew i was half assing, and i didnt want to be a half assed teacher...theres already too many of them... good luck

you were reactionary to an insult

Some things that I've had success with. They apply to the OP, but not really specifically to AJ.

Keep work life and personal life as separate as possible. For example:

Don't bring work home, finish it at the office.
When you're away from work, don't think about it, try to forget you even have a job.
Try to talk about things other than work when you're out with friends and family.
Don't include work people in your social life.
Don't eat at your desk. Go out for your meals, or bring your food and eat outside.


Now a lot of these won't be practical for people, especially a teacher in a small town. And a lot of jobs require you to mix your social life with work (it's also an easy, low stress way to meet potential mates.) But when I was working a zillion hours, this was the only way I could keep my sanity. And I literally mean this, since I was sliding into a bit of a depression until I took the above steps.

Those exact things have helped me through one after another soul-sucking jobs too. I can especially relate to "try to forget you even have a job" and "don't eat at your desk." It's amazingly restorative to go out for lunch. Really helps restore your sense of self if you're in a job that takes it away from you. Even if you can't afford to eat out and find bringing a lunch outside really cumbersome, make a lunch you can eat in 10 minutes and spend the next 40 or 50 outside IMO. The fresh(er) air alone will start to reset your clocks and make you feel human again.

You could always just give up on the idea of a "balanced" life for a while. Who really cares if you spend most of your time working? I've gone through long stretches of my life doing that.

Don't teachers get about 4 months off each year? If you had an other profession or your own business, you would be shocked with how many hours most people work compared to you.

Most successful people have to do that.

Unfortunately, I somehow missed out on the "successful" part.

Ditto. I just work six days a week and into the evenings for karma.