By Tamera Malone

Teaching is one of the best and most rewarding professions a person could choose to have. This important work that we do as educators can be demanding and at times may take precedence over everything else we have happening in our lives.  Because we are so committed, it is sometimes difficult for us to keep from getting bogged down in our work while unintentionally neglecting to make time for ourselves.  People often wonder how I am able to be an effective full time teacher while remaining actively engaged in the community, making time for family and friends, and doing things that I enjoy such as exercising, exploring outdoors, writing, and watching television.  I do this by using the same strategies in my personal life that I do in my professional life; making, scheduling and keeping commitments not only to my job, but to myself.

About two years ago, I was introduced to a book called “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.  In this book, Luiz discusses the importance of being impeccable with your words which means to be true and to speak with integrity.  In this context, being impeccable with your words means staying true to the commitments we make to ourselves. I watched Oprah Winfrey sit down with Ruiz and she admitted that she is far more impeccable with her word when it comes to other people and other things than she is to herself.  Luiz’s response to Oprah was that we as people cannot give what we do not have. That statement has resonated with me and has been the underlying reason why balancing a healthy personal and professional life is a priority.

As educators all across the country embark on a new school year, I want to share how I manage to balance my professional and personal life and stay true to the commitments I make to everyone, including myself.  I noticed that when I did not stay true to commitments I made to myself like working out or hanging with friends and family, I was less productive at work and was not my best for my students. Therefore, I personally use four strategies to hold myself true to these commitments.

Schedule meetings with yourself.

Just like we schedule meetings and time for others, we need to schedule time for ourselves. As educators, we often schedule time to meet with colleagues, write lesson plans, grade papers, attend professional development sessions, to call parents, etc. We add these professional commitments to our electronic calendars or write them down in our planners, but how often do you do the same with personal commitments like exercising, reading, or family time?  My guess is probably never.

For me, this plays out in my running schedule and my personal reading schedule, where I make sure I add each to my calendar. When I write things down or put them in my calendar, I am telling myself that commitment is important, sacred, and deserves my time. When it comes to my running, my alarm goes off fifteen minutes before I need to head out just as it does when I have my weekly check-in with my principal. This has really helped me stay consistent with running because I usually do not schedule anything else during that time and the alert gives me that boost I need to get up and go.  I also schedule thirty minutes a day to read something of my choice.  I usually schedule this time in the morning when I wake up and I read local newspapers, education blogs, articles, or a few pages from a book I might be reading. I do not always meet these commitments, but having them in my calendar serves as a reminder that they are just as important as my professional duties in that moment.

Go in early or stay late. Never both.

“I can plan my lessons, prepare the materials for my lessons, set up my classroom, teach my students,  grade papers, analyze data, attend meetings and everything else I need to do to be an effective teacher all within the hours I am required to be at school,” said no teacher ever! Our work requires us to work over-time which means going in early or staying late.  In order to keep commitments to myself, I make it a point to not do both. Doing both consistently and multiple times a week is not good for a healthy work – life balance.  I personally prefer to go to work early and I try to do so 45 minutes to an hour every day.  My brain works better in the morning and I am more productive.  At the end of the day, I am mentally tired so staying late is not very beneficial for me. If I stay late, it is usually no longer than 30 minutes.  Do what works for you, but try to avoid working sun up to sun down.  Come home, read a book, spend time with your family, or watch your favorite TV show.  Let us not make an everyday habit of getting to work early and leaving late only to go home and do more work. Doing so will not benefit kids.

Saturday or Sunday. Choose one. 

The same rule for choosing to go in early or stay late applies to working on the weekends – pick Saturday or Sunday, but never do both. As teachers, sometimes we will have to do work on the weekends, but that does not mean spending your entire weekend working.  I believe in taking one of the two days and doing absolutely nothing work related. Personally, I usually spend my Saturdays doing things I want to do outside of work like watching TV, exercising, sleeping, or just lounging on the couch. If you need to work on the weekend, choose one day and set aside a couple of hours to do so, but make sure you reserve time to unplug and relax.  This will help you go into the work week feeling so much more refreshed and better prepared to be the best you can be for kids.

Take Care of your body.

This may be the most important tip of them all. A healthy and happy teacher that takes care of him or herself is able to perform his or her best for children.  Too often teachers get burned out because we forget about our own health. Yes, our students are important, but we must take care of ourselves if we want to be able to give our students our very best each and every day.  This means exercising, maintaining a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep, leaning on family and friends for support, and taking the time to unplug and physically and mentally relax. When I go running or do any type of exercise, I know that I am taking care of my body. These are a few things I do to ensure that I am taking care of myself and I have noticed that I am able to perform better when it comes to my professional duties.  As Ruiz mentioned, we cannot give what we do not have. I know that when I am tired from lack of sleep or mentally drained, I do not perform my best for my kids.  Therefore, make sure you are taking care of yourself so that you can show up and show out each and every day for your students.

Just as we must be impeccable with our commitments professionally, we must also be impeccable with our words and our commitments to ourselves. I hope that these are tips that you can try that will help make this one of the best years yet, personally and professionally Here’s to a healthy, work life balance and a productive school year!

By Tamera Malone

Like this piece? Check out Teaching and the Off-season by Jon Alfuth about how to rejuvenate yourself and your professional life. 

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