Teaching is stressful, so be tough with yourself - and with others - about time management. Put yourself first:
* Audit the ways in which you use your time - and how you waste it. Keep a log for a week. Identify and eliminate time-wasters
* You’re keen and you want to make your mark - so you say ‘Yes’ to every working party, and offer to take the minutes. Learn to say ‘No’
* Think ahead - organise yourself in advance. Before you leave school at night, put together the next day’s materials
* You have a non-contact period, and an urgent task - find a quiet corner, not the staffroom. You don’t need another conversation about someone else’s problems
Establish your priorities
* Preparation comes before everything
* Deadlines don’t come from nowhere - do a few reports a day rather than in one batch on the due date
* Delegate where you can. Your tutor group is full of people who would love to make a set of labels for your Open Day display
NEVER LOSE YOUR PLAYTIME
* Set aside time, even in the working day, and definitely at weekends, for doing what you want to do
* Remember that you have a life
Harry Dodds
