A work life balance is always going to be an ongoing, ongoing struggle for sure. Because it, because the more, the more work you're putting in to be the most effective the less time you're going to have throughout the year. And this is something I'm especially thinking about this year. I'm starting my masters this fall. And so ultimately being together is going to be even more critical. Because I'm going to have to be figuring out, not only when am I doing all of my teaching, but when am I going to be writing papers and things like that. And ultimately, when am I going to be living a life? >> In this last video, I want to leave you with five tips that will help you make the most of your week. And like Keith said, keep you happy. One, mind your energy level. I mean really. How many of us have roamed the school building in search of chocolate or a cola instead of doing our work at 4 p.m. ? Intentions aside, exhausted is exhausted. Too many teachers try to do the heavy lifting after school when we're beat. Instead, figure out when your energy is highest and use that time wisely. Are you a morning person? If so, write your plans then and save the mindless copying for the afternoon. Two, batch process similar to-dos. When I was teaching, I'd make five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a row, and I'd put them in the freezer for a week. When you batch together like-minded to dos, you use your time more efficiently. Imagine this. One weekly trip to the copier instead of five daily trips. Three, plan out bite-sized tasks. When you move to-dos from the upcoming to-do list to your weekly plan, make sure they're really, really, small. Here's why. Create Unit Two probably won't happen during your prep period, but create the calendar for unit two, or finalize the handouts for unit two. That might just happen. Make those tasks teeny-tiny. Four, maximize small pockets of time. Nobody's going to gift you three or four hours of uninterrupted time to get your work done, though wouldn't that be nice. You have to make the most of five minutes here or twenty minutes there. One of the best teachers I know is prepared to grade or lesson plan at the drop of a hat. She once told me about getting a set of essays graded while sitting in the dentists chair waiting for the hygienist to clean her teeth. Five, plan and enjoy those loose moments. In other words, know when you need a break and take it. For me, after I give a big workshop, I usually end up half-heartedly looking at my phone or staring out the window, instead of getting the next thing done or truly relaxing. Honestly, I should just plan some break time so I can enjoy it and recharge. Listen to how Melissa plans a breather into her lunch period. >> Lunch is another time, you know, that I do have, but me personally I split lunch and I do 15, 20 minutes sitting down, eating, talking, no work. I check my phone you know I check in with people like, oh Iet me send that text back or you know look at this email, fun email, not work email. And I just kind of like be a human being and be like Melissa not Miss Cominski. So I need that, you know, for the first half of lunch. Then the second half I really run around, and I like physically move and do whatever I need to do. So, if I need to drop a paper off at another, you know, office or I need to go and, you know, talk to somebody about something. Like that's my movement time so I kind of like split those up, my prep. I sit in one spot and I cannot move, and if I need to go get something it goes on the list for lunch. >> We've reached the end of our time together in this course and I truly hope it's just the beginning of your togetherness journey, so now what? You have the resources here and you have tons of other information available on my website, if you haven't already sign up for my monthly newsletter and you can find me on Facebook or Twitter. And at the risk of sounding crazy, I think finding your perfect togetherness system is like finding your life's mate. Now some of us, we're already in committed relationships with Google or Planner, or suite of apps, and some of us well, maybe we haven't settled down yet. We're still playing the field, searching for the one tool. I would encourage you to commit to something, try it out, see how it goes, make adjustments as you go, and a deep thank you to everyone who made this course possible. Especially the teachers who opened their lives to us. My goal has been to equip you with a mindset and a few tools,. To help make your success as a teacher and your sanity as a person really possible. Thank you for joining.
