My Secret to Teacher Productivity

 One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone says, “Teachers are so lucky. Their job is so easy, AND they get long holidays!” I’m not gonna lie; I am so grateful and I know I’m so blessed to have those long holidays. But as one of my deans said,

“That just means teachers have to get 12 months’ worth of work done in 9 months!” 

Teachers wear many hats and spend many more hours planning lessons, buying supplies, grading exams, giving advice, and doing a million other things.

How do I juggle everything? Through batching.

Batching is the best way I’ve found to get everything done and stay somewhat mentally stable. 

Step One: Batching Tasks

So what is batching?

Simply put, it’s organizing your tasks so you’re not hopping from task to task, but instead are grouping similar tasks together. So, instead of working chronologically or just picking tasks at random, you’re doing all similar tasks at the same time. Plan all your lessons together. Make all your PowerPoints before adding in pictures. Find videos for five of your lessons, rather than just one. Brainstorm games and homework activities for a whole quarter rather than lesson by lesson.

Of course, don’t plan too perfectly too far in advance in case things change. But when you’re looking at all the work you have to do, group tasks and let yourself get in the zone of each category, rather than breaking focus and hopping back and forth between different types of work.It’s a lot easier to batch prepare five lessons than it is to prepare five lessons from top to bottom, starting over each time. When you’re in the middle of a creative task like planning lessons, after switching a technical task like making a PowerPoint, it’s that much harder to swing back to a new creative task. Once you get the creative juices flowing, let them keep going!

Step Two: Batching Days

Batching worked pretty well for me, but I still noticed some problems. I’d be looking for a video to use for class and be distracted by the pile of quizzes I had to grade. As much as you can, batch days. Assign Saturdays for lesson planning, Tuesdays for finding videos, and Fridays for grading. Of course, you’ll have to make this work for you, and sometimes things come up, but I’ve found this helps me stay focused on the tasks I’m actually doing. I’ve even started applying this to other parts of my life! Now, when I’m grading and a see the laundry that needs to be done, I just say to myself, “Friday is my grading day. Saturday is my cleaning day. It will get done tomorrow.”

Give batching a try and hopefully it will be as game-changing for you as it has been for me! Not only am I working more efficiently, but I find it easier to focus and take a mental break, rather than having all of my “To-dos” swirling around in my mind. 

Have you ever tried batching? What productivity hacks work for you?