Working in schools can feel like riding a rollercoaster—rewarding one minute and overwhelming the next. With so many demands, personalities and unpredictable moments, strong emotional self-regulation isn’t just helpful…it’s essential. The ability to stay calm, respond thoughtfully and manage our internal state, directly affects our relationships, decision-making and our well-being.
It often feels like there is never enough time. Emails, meetings, paperwork, planning, marking, conversations with parents and supporting students can quickly fill every minute of the day. The Pareto Principle, often called the 80/20 Rule, offers a simple way to think about your workload.
It’s early morning. A teacher walks along a beach after a storm and notices thousands of starfish scattered along the sand. In the distance, someone is picking them up one by one and gently throwing them back into the ocean. Curious, the teacher approaches and says, “There are too many. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The person bends down, picks up another starfish, tosses it into the water and replies, “It made a difference to that one.”
Working in schools can be tough and seems to be getting even more challenging. Each year things seem to get tougher! Changes in the curriculum, increased accountability, demanding or absent parents, poor student behaviour, changes in society, tightening budgets and a push to do more with less, all contribute to increased pressure in schools. We work with people every day and people are unpredictable
We need to consider how and why we are using email. Whilst it can be an effective communication method if used well, used poorly, it wastes a lot of unnecessary time. Think before you write, not when you write – remember that a face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication.
A study by Microsoft found that a third of our day is unproductive. That’s more than two and a half hours each day. That’s too much! If you feel like a lot of your day gets wasted, keep reading. It can be beneficial to look a lot deeper at what you are doing. We need to pay attention to what’ s going on around us and how we show up and impact on our own productivity. Self-leadership starts with self-awareness.
Schools can be crazy busy places. The most common response you hear when you ask someone who works in a school, how they are, is busy! However, there is a fine line between being busy and being productive. Here are seven tips from international best-selling author Tim Ferriss.
In busy school environments, multi-tasking feels like a survival skill. You’re replying to emails, managing student (and parent) behaviour, planning lessons and supporting colleagues — often all at once. But here’s the truth: multi-tasking is not making you more productive. It’s slowing you down, increasing errors and burning you out.
Teachers make countless decisions every day—lesson planning, which student behaviour to address, parent interactions and workload management. If you find yourself overthinking, second-guessing or feeling mentally exhausted from constant decision fatigue Anne Bogel’s book “Don’t Overthink It!” offers practical strategies to break the cycle.
Best selling author Dr Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, provides staff in schools with habits worth developing. Covey advised that, “Real greatness was the result of the slow development of character over time; it is our daily habits of thinking and acting that are the ground on which that greatness is built.” Here is a brief overview of Covey’s famous 7 Habits: