How Finding Balance Can Make You An uNforgettable Teacher

personalized learner

Consider for a moment your responsibilities as a teacher. Now, ask yourself how many of those are real necessities.

Find Balance

Veteran teacher, author, and presenter Chuck Poole believes that one of the keys to becoming an unforgettable teacher is to find your balance. In his book, uNforgettable: Your Roadmap to Being the Teacher They Never Forget, Poole says that balance “frees us from unnecessary responsibilities.”

But how can busy teachers find balance? Poole explains it this way:

from uNforgettable

Finding balance is not easy, but it is worth it. Professional surfers have balance. They have the remarkable ability to stand on a board without falling off while powerful waves continually attempt to knock them down.

They understand that in order to stay upright, they have to control their own actions, rather than letting the waves beneath them control the situation. They learn to respect the power of the ocean and just enjoy the ride.

If, though, we figure out when our energy is at its highest point, and budget our time with that in mind, we can increase our effectiveness and efficiency.

As teachers, our work can sometimes feel like a wave crashing beneath our feet and trying to knock us off balance. We become so overwhelmed with lesson plans, expectations, and initiatives that we have little time to enjoy anything else at all, and our job becomes more of a burden than a labor of love.

We feel as though we are surfers who just can’t stay upright, and we find ourselves falling into the ocean time and time again. Finding a way to balance is the only way to keep from drowning. When we find balance, our vision becomes clear and we are able to rise above the waves and make an even greater impact.

uNforgettable teachers understand the importance of balance. Although we find ourselves falling from time to time, we follow a plan and maintain a set of boundaries that show us the line between our surfboard and the raging ocean around us.

The plan and the boundaries give us a path to follow, even when things become a struggle. It’s easy to get consumed by what’s going on in the moment, but a plan keeps us on the path toward success, and the grander scheme of things.

Manage your energy

Identify your peak time to help you start to build balance in your life and teaching. When you consider your usual day, when is it easiest for you to work, and when do you feel most efficient? On average, people have three to five peak hours in a day, so pay attention to the tasks that require the most energy, and accomplish those during your peak hours.

Use your not-so-peak hours to accomplish the tasks that take less concentration or motivation. Doing these important—and perhaps most difficult—tasks during these hours will guarantee that you get them done, and leave the rest of the day for lesser tasks that take less energy and focus.

uNforgettable author Chuck Poole talks about finding balance

You will find that your days are more organized and that you end up getting more done. We often spend too much time trying to figure out how to fit everything into the limited amount of time we have each day, and end up failing at many of our goals.

If, though, we figure out when our energy is at its highest point, and budget our time with that in mind, we can increase our effectiveness and efficiency.

Here’s an example of how I work to manage my energy throughout the day:

High-energy time (5–8 a.m., 3–5 p.m.): Spend time with family, write podcast episodes and blog posts, brainstorm ideas.

Mid-energy time (11 a.m.–1 p.m.): Plan lessons, grade papers, collaborate with colleagues.

Low-energy time (6–9 p.m.): Work out, read/answer email, watch TV, check social media.

Follow these simple steps to help you match your energy level with the proper task:

Step One: Consider which tasks take up most of your energy. If you’re struggling, try creating a list or chart and classifying your tasks in regard to how difficult they are.
Step Two: Determine when you are at your best during the day; when you have the most energy. For some teachers, this will be in the morning or during a prep period. For others, it may come at the end of a school day, after the students have left the building.
Step Three: Plan to complete your high-energy tasks during your peak hours.
Step Four: Complete your mid-energy tasks during other times of the day, when you still have energy, but are outside or at the edges of your peak time. These tasks might include things like grading papers, completing paperwork, or planning units with colleagues.
Step Five: Leave your low-energy tasks for the time of day when you have the least energy. These are the things that take the least mental work and can be left for times when you have the least mental energy. Include things like checking email, social media, or working out.

Sign a boundary contract

Finding balance is not only about time. We might budget our time perfectly . . . and still find that there aren’t enough hours in the day to complete everything we have to do.

Making that decision, and avoiding the overwhelm that comes with overpromising, will help you achieve better balance.

Becoming overwhelmed and stressed about a lack of time is not the way to become an uNforgettable teacher. Instead, you’ll be going through the motions and treating your students as afterthoughts. So how do we avoid the problem?

Many of us have trouble saying no because it is in our nature to help others. We end up taking on more than we can handle, which causes stress and resentment. Instead of teaching, which we love, we get busy doing favors that we never wanted to do. Our life begins to spiral out of control—all because we never set boundaries, and therefore we said yes to too many things.

Ultimately, our passion takes a back seat to stress—and our students notice. Combat this problem by creating a contract with yourself. When we sign a teaching contract, we are saying we will abide by what’s in it, and meet the expectations we’ve just signed on for.

If we do not follow through with that, we can be fired or sued. They are powerful pieces of paper that bring joy to those who receive them and pain to those who break them.

The same concept works with a boundary contract. This contract is one you design and outlines what you’re willing to take on outside of your normal teaching responsibilities—and what you are not.

Here are some examples. If you enjoy heading up committees to help develop the school, include it in the contract as one of your outside activities. If you do not, include it in the contract as a responsibility that is not acceptable to you.

If you are willing to take on a coaching responsibility or an after-school club, include it in the contract. If not, make sure to list that as something you are not willing to take on during the year.

Put these things down in writing and then sign it, and you’ll have a document to review down the line when you’re faced with a decision. Making that decision, and avoiding the overwhelm that comes with overpromising, will help you achieve better balance.

Finding balance in our lives will benefit everyone we come into contact with, and by implementing a few strategies, we can change our lives for the better.