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Time management feels like a bit of a joke when it comes to being a special education teacher, am I right? Our time is so precious and there’s simply never enough of it! So, how do we get a hold of it?
1.) Determine where your time is being spent.
Have you ever read the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? While I am personally not one to consistently dive into the “self-help” genre, this book is essential for anyone and everyone. Stephen Covey lays out some really important habits that those who are truly effective embody. One of my greatest takeaways was his Time Management Grid.
What in your day fits into each of the 4 quadrants? Where are you spending the bulk of your time? I created a grid for special educators to show the generic overall events and expectations in our field, and where they might fit into the time management grid.
Most people spend the majority of their time in quadrants 1 (urgent/important) and 3 (urgent/not important) because these items take the longest and feel the most pressing. But – we often forget about the hugely important quadrant 2 (important/not urgent) which can help us manage the time we spend in the 1 & 3 quadrants. The more time we spend planning, relationship building, and providing self-care, the less time we might have with student crises and guardian concerns!
2.) Find a to-do list that supports time management.
I have found that a standard to-do list (AKA writing down everything on a post-it note) isn’t enough to actually determine what needs to be done in a day. You’re going to have items across all 4 quadrants in your face at once, which makes it so difficult to determine what takes priority and what needs to be done first.
To no surprise to those who know me, I was gifted this sloth to-do list from a teacher friend and it has become my favorite note-pad I have ever owned! Not only do I love looking at the cute sloth graphics every time I’m checking off a task, but I love how I can organize my priorities (or my quadrants!) on paper. You can grab this to-do list here.
1.) Take control over quadrant 4.
Quadrant 4 – ohhh, quadrant 4. This is when I am cleaning my kitchen even though it’s already clean, or complaining to my coworker about admin issues for 40 minutes after school. It’s not urgent, and it’s not important. SOME quadrant 4 tasks are crucial for brain breaks (like chatting with a colleague over coffee in the teachers lounge during your prep period, or scrolling Instagram during your lunch), but some are total time wasters that end up making you exceptionally more stressed. What to do?!
I find that the most crucial time suck for me, and for most teachers I chat with, are cell phones. It is so easy to spend an hour on Facebook or Instagram, or reading articles and taking quizzes on Buzzfeed. While that can be a fun decompressor, it’s a good idea to set a time limit so you can stay on track throughout the day.
The best part about a phone time limit? It’s an option on iPhones! Here’s how:
In the Settings app, click on “Screen Time”.
Here’s the good stuff! You can set a specific time where you will be prompted into “downtime” where your apps will be unavailable unless you “snooze” it, limits on apps (for instance, only allowing 1 hour per day for Facebook), and then the option for specific apps (like texting and calling) to be available regardless.
With this feature, you can also now track how much time you are already spending on social media, your email, games, etc. You can see your baseline, and create a goal to decrease use until you’re at a certain time limit that feels right to you. Is the data-loving special educator in you squealing yet?!
