Do You Really Need to Get Everything Done Before Half-Term?
Half-term is nearly here. Finally.
You've probably got a list of things you were hoping to finish before Friday. The marking, the emails you've been meaning to reply to, the planning you thought you'd get ahead with.
And then there are all those little jobs that somehow keep appearing.
Just when you think you're getting somewhere, someone pops up with another request. Something else that apparently needs doing before half-term.
Are you for real?
You'd quite like to finish everything, clear your desk and head into the break without a load of work hanging over you.
But the list never seems to end, does it?
The last-minute rush
You cross a few things off, feel like you're making progress, and then another email lands. Or there's a last-minute meeting. Or someone remembers something they need from you.
And now you're looking at the clock, wondering how you're supposed to fit it all in.
So you stay a bit later. Maybe take something home. Tell yourself you'll just get it out of the way.
And by the time you've finished that, something else has landed in your inbox.
Before you know it, you're already planning which bits you'll do over half-term.
Not quite the break you had in mind.
Does it really all need doing by Friday?
Some things do. Deadlines are deadlines, and there are responsibilities you can't just ignore.
But when you're trying to get through a long list, it's easy to treat everything as though it's equally urgent.
The thing someone asked you to do this morning. The task you've been putting off. The job you'd really like to get finished before the break.
They all end up on the same list.
So before you decide you're going to stay late again, pick one thing on that list and ask yourself:
Does this really need to be finished before half-term, or have I just decided it should?
Maybe there's a genuine deadline.
Maybe you've assumed it needs doing because someone asked.
Or perhaps it would just feel good to get it out of the way.
And if you're not sure, there's nothing wrong with asking when something is actually needed.
It won't make the workload disappear. But it might stop you spending your evening on something that could have waited.
Still got a list as long as your arm?
Not sure what to tackle before half-term?
I've put together a free Teacher Task Triage worksheet to help you work out what needs doing now, what can wait and what you might need to have a conversation about.
Nothing complicated. Just something practical for those times when everything seems to need doing at once.
Subscribe to my mailing list and I'll send you a copy, along with occasional emails about managing demands, setting boundaries and switching off from school.