As a teacher, your to-do list might feel never-ending, with lesson plans, grading, and meetings all competing for your time—on top of the countless ways you support your students. But with a few smart time-management strategies, you can regain control of your schedule, reduce stress, and even find a little breathing room in your day.
We’ve compiled the practical tips to help you streamline tasks, stay organized, and create more balance, so you can focus on what you love most: making a difference in the classroom.
How much time do you actually have?
Let’s start by calculating how much unstructured time you have in your schedule during contracted hours. The easiest way is to conduct a time audit.
- For 3-5 days, record how much time you spend on different activities (e.g. making copies, doing lesson plans, setting up Google classroom, getting coffee, chatting with colleagues).
- Add up the unstructured time you have available daily.
- Then, analyze the results. Where is your time going? What’s taking the most time? Do you want to spend time on these things?
Now let’s figure out how to rearrange tasks to fit more neatly into your schedule.
- Create a list of tasks you do regularly. This can be daily and/or weekly.
- Assign a time estimate to each. If need be, break down larger tasks into smaller, doable chunks to more easily fit into your schedule.
- Categorize each task as creative (lesson planning, writing emails), analytical (grading), logistics (paperwork) and tasks that take less than 15 minutes to complete.
- Mark the priority tasks that must get done.
- Urgent and important – clear deadline and consequences for not acting
- Important – no set deadline but helps you stay on top of things
- Neither – helpful but not necessary, good to do when time allows
Use a planner to map out your week.
- Slot in tasks in available timeslots, starting with the ones you marked as priority.
- When possible, group similar tasks together. Task switching takes more energy and is less productive.
- If any tasks do not fit in the schedule, keep them on a list to do as you have time.
- Consider theming your days to make organization easy, e.g. Monday is administrative work and filing, Tuesday is gathering materials, Wednesday is grading, Thursday is lesson planning, and Friday is photocopy day for the following week’s lessons.
Tips for Better Time Management
Good time management takes practice. Continuously evaluate and adjust your strategies as needed. Here are some additional tips that can help.
- Touch it once. When you pick something up, put it where it goes. Those few extra seconds will save you time in the long run and keep you organized.
- Tackle 2-minute tasks. Completing these small tasks will keep them off your to-do list later.
- Close your door. Anytime you’re without students, keep your classroom door closed to help prevent interruptions. Silence your cell phone and don’t check your email. Set aside time to work on the project at hand.
- Protect your prep. If you have a prep in a shared space, put on your headphones and sit in the least visually distracting spot. Put up a sign above your workspace saying “Easily distracted! I’m happy to catch up later. I promise!”
- Not everything has to be graded. Use a grading matrix like the one below.
| URGENT | LESS URGENT | |
| IMPORTANT | Must grade ASAP (course exams, school/county state requirements) | Must grade when time allows (tests, projects) |
| LESS IMPORTANT | Students can self-assess using a rubric or grade each other (quizzes) | Consider not grading (practice, homework, warmups, portfolio pieces) |
- Do the thing you don’t want to do first. Tackling the most challenging or dreaded task early in the day allows you to apply the greatest focus. It also boosts your motivation and makes the rest of your tasks feel easier by comparison
- Leverage tech tools to make your life easier. Try Artificial Intelligence (AI) in lesson planning, creating grading rubrics, and writing notes to parents, among other tasks. Just be cautious if you use AI for grading. That has raised some concerns among parents.
- Get help from your students. Assign your students roles to help maintain the classroom. They can update centers, file papers, and grade each other’s work on simple quizzes like weekly spelling tests. Similarly, you may be able to use parent volunteers to do some of your photocopying if your school policy allows it.
- At the end of each day, write down 3 things you will get done the next morning. That way, you don’t have to think when you walk into class. Prepare your workspace and materials the day before. Similarly, make a list before you leave on Friday for the week ahead.
- Learn to say no. Be selective in taking on additional responsibilities beyond your contractual obligations. Pro Tip: When you want to say no but can’t bring yourself to vocalize it, say “I’ll have to let you know.” Then you may follow up with an email declining the task.
Too much work and too little time
If you’re like many teachers, the workday doesn’t always end when the bell rings. There’s always more you could do—but should you? Decide how much time you’re willing to dedicate outside of school hours and set clear boundaries. Even reclaiming a few hours each week can make a meaningful difference.
- Schedule appointments or commitments at the end of the school day to ensure you leave on time.
- Collaborate with your administrator to prioritize tasks and manage your workload effectively.
- Discuss ways your school can help teachers avoid burnout.
- Prioritize self-care. A well-rested teacher with good work-life balance is a better educator.
At California Casualty, we’re committed to supporting those who inspire and educate the next generation. Happy American Education Week!
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