A New Year’s Resolution, For Teachers… Finally!

The new term is underway, and you’re settled back into the swing of things.

Now is the time for teachers to think about setting a New Year’s Resolution or two for the months ahead.

Here are a few suggestions:

New Year’s Resolution Number 1: Be More Organised

Many teachers start the year well but then things start to slide.

Being organised doesn’t necessarily guarantee you will have a great lesson, day, or week, of course. However, if you are continually disorganised and running around chasing your tail, those good and great days will be few and far between.

And the thing with being disorganised is that it never gets better – it always gets worse.

So, Resolution Number 1 has got to be to get more organised!

Whether it’s to try to get to school 5 or 10 minutes earlier, or to vow to keep your desk tidier, any small way that you can try to be more organised will help.

It should even result in you having a calmer and less stressful day.

It will make you feel on top of your workload. For any teacher, this is massive.

If you’d like to read more around how you can get a little more organised on a weekly basis, check out this handy blog from asana!

Resolution Number 2: Take Less Work Home

Work/life balance is a major issue for any teacher. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

However, teachers are sometimes their own worst enemies. If you set out to take less work home – either on certain days or at the weekend (occasionally), you will stop the blurring of school and home.

And it might even stop you feeling like you are working all the time.

How do you do this?

You can try to work smarter when you are setting homework to reduce the marking load.

Is there a day of the week when you could stay in school to work later to finish things off and prepare for the next day? It’s a great feeling to get home and know that all your time that evening is for you, your kids, or your partner.

Listen, you’re a teacher, so realistically you’re never going to make every night like that.

But once or twice a week, or just every once in a while, would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Resolution Number 3: Prioritise Your Own Wellbeing

As teachers, we are wired to put our students first. It sometimes seems difficult to prioritise our own mental health and wellbeing. We feel guilty if we put ourselves first.

However, this is the most important resolution of all.

Putting your mental health first will not only make you a better teacher, but it will also make you a better parent, partner, family member, and friend.

You will know what it is that is good for you and what works for your wellbeing, but typically if you try to eat healthily, get regular exercise, and give yourself time to spend on a hobby or interest, you will get a big mental health boost.

It will certainly help to eliminate stress – something we’ve discussed here previously.

You will be happier, have more energy, and be far better placed to take on the challenges of teaching, and whatever else life throws at you.

It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?