I am sure there are many professions where a growing to-do list is an everyday occurrence. For people who are lawyers, solicitors, ground keepers, shop workers - all walks of life really, the humble to do list is employed to all those niggly tasks which once applied to paper feel much more manageable.
My advice for people working in education is this. List all jobs that need doing and then order them in order of priority and urgency. Get these done first - starting with the one that will get you in the most trouble if you don't do it! After this, accept that not everything will get done if you are to have a life outside your job.
Accepting this is the hardest part. Once you get over this hurdle I believe you can become a better teacher. You will prioritise and get things done but will also be able to relax and re charge your batteries. A teacher who didn't quite get round to laminating that last welcome sign will be a much calmer, relaxed person compared to a teacher who stayed up until 2 am preparing an over the top Olympic-athlete-style PE lesson which she is then to tired to teach effectively the next day.
To conclude - 1. prioritise, 2. have the confidence to close the door on work for periods of family / relax time and 3. ask yourself, at the end of the day, will Class 3 even notice that you have spent 5 hours adding glorious clip art to their science worksheet?
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