As a full-time education consultant, Allison Zmuda works with educators to grow ideas on how to make learning for students challenging, possible and worthy of the attempt. Over the past 19 years, Zmuda has shared curricular, assessment, and instructional ideas, shown illustrative examples, and offered practical strategies of how to get started.
By Allison Zmuda and ________________ (Your name here)
What time management strategies have you found to work best for you? As I scoured the Internet, asked my own children, and interviewed educators, here is my start to the list.
- Limit your time on Social Media. The pinging alone can pull your focus away (let alone beginning to scroll through feeds).
- Lay out a plan for the week ahead. Writing down and scheduling “known” to do’s for the week gives a better understanding of top priorities. This doesn’t just include work — should reflect a balance of personal and family/friends time.
- Identify next step(s) for all projects and major assignments. Only you know how to break an assignment down into one chunk at a time that is reasonable, actionable, and doable. It helps when you identify this step when you are finishing the last chunk so that you can pick up where you left off.
- Make good use of travel time. Instead of aimlessly scrolling through social media, do something that is restorative (e.g., gratitude journal, listening to a podcast or guided meditation), productive (e.g., responding to emails, reflecting on the day to identify key priorities and next steps), or fun (e.g., watching something that makes you smile, coloring or doodling, playing a video game). Unless you are driving. 🙂
- Keep a time log for a few days. Write down what you are doing and what mood you are in when you are doing it. This may help you identify regular time peaks and valleys as well as areas that you can be more efficient.
Want to join in? Submit your strategy on the Google form down below. I will provide a link in the next newsletter to see the responses. Get your students, your children, your colleagues in the mix!
Is there a tool that you think helps with time management?
Email me: allison@learningpersonalized.com to share. Please provide a brief explanation of the tool, a link to the tool itself (e.g., an APP, software tool, illustration), and when it is most helpful.