How to Make Your Day 10× More Productive as a Teacher

How does it feel when you’re busy but not productive – tired?

Your guess is as good as mine.

So in this post, we will explore simple ways to improve your work rate with results to show for it.

Before we dive into how to make your day 10× more productive as a teacher, let’s discuss what “productivity” means.

During the cause of researching for this post I stumbled upon a definition that gives a modern explanation of what productivity means:

“The rate at which important work is completed.”

This leads me to: What then is the difference between “Productive and Busy”.

Well, it’s so easy for you to get caught up with things that make you feel busy, but they aren’t moving you to your major goals.

So, do you want to be productive and not just be busy? I bet you do. Then come with me.

1. Develop a growth mindset

Someone with a growth mindset believes their results and success can be gotten through consistent work, discipline, networking with others, etc.

While on the other end, a fixed mindset has to do with the belief that talents are something we are born with and don’t need any extra work to harness them.

A growth mindset helps you as a teacher to seek ways to improve yourself to be able to teach and impact your students positively both within and outside the four walls of the classroom.

2. Good time management

Having good time management will help you to go to and leave school early.

This attitude will help you to get into the teaching mode or be prepared to handle any situation throughout that day.

And one thing leaving early does for you, is that it helps you to better prioritize your time and if you want to get some school work done before you go, trust me you will get it done.

3. Work at home (but not always)

I know you’ve been told that you shouldn’t bring work home. I was like you and that is why I say so:

My dad was a teacher and some days he brought some school work home to finish them. Then I thought I wasn’t cool till I read an interesting article on the research carried out by Stanford University From the findings, there are a lot of benefits to employers too for allowing their employees to work from home.

4. Embrace optimalism and not perfectionism

Getting things done often is more productive than making them perfect.

How?

Waiting for your work to be perfect is the reason there are a lot of unfinished projects or why many people do have dissatisfied self. And this will never cause you to develop a productive work ethic.

Don’t get me wrong. Here’s what I’m trying to say:

Before you start a project, decide what level of quality you’ll be willing to accept and what simply is not important to the success of the work.

To embrace optimalism, apply the Pareto’s principle (80/20 rule) to your teaching work.

And don’t invest your time and energy into things that will simply not provide any relevant value to your work.

5. Learn how to rest well

Resting allows you to come back to your work more focused and skilled than you left it.

This is possible because while you’re resting, your brain will take time to digest and process the work you were doing. Rest is important to your health so try and work within your best periods to get your best work done – this can be preparing a lesson plan.

6. Eat, sleep, and workout

To be productive, your health is needed. When you feel energized with a clear head, you’ll perform or teach well than someone who isn’t.

I know as a teacher, you’re probably thinking that getting a full 7 to 8 hours of sleep is a bad idea.

Well, answer me:

When was the last time you got 7 to 8 hours of sleep?

There are many people who feel it’s not possible but you can work toward going to bed and waking up at the same time, every night to work.

Also, taking short naps of 20 minutes throughout the day can help restore your alertness and help you feel less weak or tired.

Add some gym sessions or take a walk or jog every morning to get you excited and optimistic for the day.

7. Use Gradely

Gradely makes it easy for you to teach, give and grade your students’ assessments.

Download the app here.

Having a Gradely account means you can use it to teach, prepare and edit your lesson plans. You have your entire schedule set up with designated schedules available to assigned parties.

It also has content that teachers can use to teach better and also a very robust reporting system that easily tracks student progress and create automatic report cards.

Conclusion

As a teacher, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Make it a habit to always ask your colleagues for feedback on any project in school.

You can also partner with others to create something great that’s simply not possible if you do it alone.

Because the ideas and innovations you’ll create together with others will be way more than if you were to all work individually.

Nothing kills productivity like being overwhelmed and feeling alone. So join a group that will help support you.

Read Also: Creating an Assessment on Gradely

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