You’ve just wrapped up a day of delivering workshops, marking assessments, and answering a flood of emails from students. The clock says 7 PM, but your to-do list is still feels a km long. Sound familiar?
For professionals in any industry, the line between work and life often feels blurry. Between managing student needs, staying compliant with industry standards, and juggling professional development, it’s easy to let work take over, but maintaining a healthy work-life balance isn’t just good for you – it’s essential for your effectiveness as an educator!
Join me today as I dive into strategies to help you thrive both inside and outside the office – wherever that may be.
Set Clear Boundaries: Leave Work at Work
One of the biggest challenges in any industry – education and IT, I’m looking at you especially – is that the work often follows you home. If you are like me, you might spend lots of your time in your home office – Lesson planning, marking, and administrative tasks – these are all tasks that can easily creep into my limited personal time.
🥊 What do clear work/life boundaries look like?
I remember once, during a date night with my husband, I checked a work email and responded to something I had seen from my boss. It turns out it was trivial, but it pinged and, like a well-trained puppy, I was eager to respond. My husband asked me if I was getting paid to check that email, and it was at that moment that I realised the importance of setting boundaries. In order to reclaim my personal time, I did these things: –
Create a designated workspace:
If you work from home, like me, keep your work materials confined to a specific area – and a separate desktop. When you leave that workspace, work is done for the day. The work is left in that office. On that desktop.
Set “office hours”:
Clearly communicate to students and colleagues when you’re available and stick to it. You can achieve this with a simple out of office message or with an email signature stating your office hours. I like a simple note – “I have sent this message at a time that works for me and my work schedule. I do not expect a reply outside of your working hours.” –
Turn off those notifications:
Once your workday ends, disconnect from your work. For me, that means turning off my work phone and laptop. I don’t have teams or work emails on my personal phone. If you can’t bear completely disconnecting, then compromise by silencing those email and app alerts. Your downtime is precious.
Prioritise Self-Care: You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup
As educators and professionals, we’re often focused on helping others, but if you’re running on empty, it’s hard to give your best to anyone. Self-care isn’t selfish – it’s necessary.
Self-care means taking care of yourself, and it can look different depending on how you’re feeling or what’s going on in your life. When you’re happy and feeling good, self-care might be trying new things, spending time with friends, or doing something fun, like painting or playing outside.
If you’re feeling sad or upset, self-care is about feeling better, seeking help and taking small steps. You could go for a short walk, talk to someone you trust, or watch your favourite Star Trek series that makes you smile – Earl Grey. Hot. Here are some ideas on what self care can look like… just in case it’s been so long that you don’t remember what it actually looks like.
Schedule “me time”:
Block out time in your calendar for activities you enjoy, whether it’s reading, gardening, or a morning walk. And I don’t mean mentally scheduling it between errands and the next class. I mean actually blocking out time in your calendar for you to do whatever it is that makes you happy – and then protecting that time in your calendar like it’s the most important work meeting of your life.
Focus on the body:
I spend every Sunday night painting my nails. I’m quite terrible at it, but that’s not the point. I enjoy it. I make a cup of tea and I go through the ridiculous pomp and circumstance of choosing a colour for the week. It’s also not uncommon to see me watching a movie with booties on my feet in the middle of the week. Take time to pamper yourself. You deserve it.
Practice mindfulness:
Mindfulness isn’t some whimsical hippy technique that therapists suggest. It can actually be really helpful – but you’ve got to put in the time to find out which mindfulness technique is for you – as not all mindfulness is created equal. I know that I find techniques like meditation or deep breathing can help me manage stress and anxiety. There are even apps like Headspace for guided meditation sessions. My favourite is Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Try it for yourself!
Get moving:
Exercise is a proven stress-buster and my dog needs a walk every day – hence it won’t be surprising to you that I find exercise to be it’s own little stress-buster for me. I have access to this amazing creek that is home to a range of Australian wildlife. Listening to the sounds of the bird calls and frogs… It never ceases to amaze me how those few minutes in the fresh air help me transition from “teacher mode” to “relaxation mode.”
Finding happiness in the little things
As life gets busier, and our calendars get fuller, self-care might mean finding micro moments to rest or recharge. This could be enjoying a quiet cup of Yorkshire tea, stretching for a few minutes, or simply asking for help with some household tasks when you need it. Doing little things, like writing down your feelings or hugging a furry kitty, can also help.
When someone you love is very sick or passing away, self-care means eating, resting, and talking to people who care about you. Death is hard, grieving can be harder. It’s okay to feel sad and take breaks when you need them.
Remember, self-care is different for everyone, but it’s always about doing what helps you feel better and stronger. It could be spending time outside, drawing, listening to music, or just sitting quietly. Taking care of yourself is important because it helps you handle life’s ups and downs.
Whether it’s leaning on others for support, celebrating small victories, or simply allowing yourself moments of joy, self-care is about meeting yourself where you are and nurturing your well-being in ways that feel right for you.
Delegate and Automate: Work Smarter, Not Harder
You don’t have to do it all. I know you think that sometimes you do… but you don’t.
Delegating tasks or using technology to streamline your work can free up valuable time and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t make you less of an educator to have a fun file with various ways to check in with your students and reuse it for all your classes. Using digital notebooks to organise your lesson plans doesn’t make your lessons any less valuable.
What does that actually look like though?
- Delegate non-teaching tasks: If you have an administrative and student support team at your RTO, lean on them for tasks like data entry, class scheduling or answering student enquiries.
- Use templates: Save time by creating reusable templates for lesson plans, emails, or assessments. I like to use stamps and detailed comments when grading assessments so that my students know exactly which part of their assessment needs attention. Rather than writing these out every time I do my grading, I save them in my OneNote and reuse them. This saves me hours every week!
- Leverage technology: Platforms like Google Classroom, MS Teams, or Moodle can automate grading, track student progress, and reduce paperwork. There’s nothing wrong with using technology to improve our productivity. This can help us find more time for self-care.
When I started sending emails, last century, I would spend hours creating custom email replies for every inquiry. Then a friend introduced me to email templates. Even these days, I have pre-written responses for common questions, and I’ve saved hours every single week!
Finding time for yourself shouldn’t be an uphill battle, so if you are finding it hard to find time for yourself – it might be time to share the load.
Stay Connected: Lean on Your Support Network
Teaching can sometimes feel isolating – especially when you are working from home. Often you are running classes on your own, with little oversight in some cases. The smaller the RTO, the more demanding the roles can be.
Think about it like juggling balls… except you’re juggling compliance demands and complex student needs. And the consequences of getting it wrong might mean someone loses their qualification or huge fines for your organisation. All stressful things.
That’s why it’s important to build and maintain a support network. But how can we do that?
- Collaborate with colleagues: Share ideas, resources, and challenges with your peers. Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all you need.
- Join professional communities: Online forums or social media groups for educators can be a great source of support and inspiration.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help: Whether it’s from a mentor, a colleague, or a supervisor, reaching out can lighten your load.
I remember feeling so incredibly overwhelmed during my first lesson and holey moley – Z & E, girls, you talked me down off that ledge! – I am so thankful that I had people there to encourage me through it. We talked about things that were worrying me and they gave me some amazing advice. They pointed me to resources that made me look like I knew what the hell I was doing – and, honestly, that small gesture saved me hours and reminded me of the power of collaboration.
Celebrate Your Wins: Reflect and Recharge
In the hustle of daily tasks, it’s easy to focus on what’s left undone. But… I want you to try taking some time to acknowledge your accomplishments, however big or small. It’s such a small thing but it can boost your morale and keep you motivated.
Ways to Celebrate your Success
It takes time to learn skills and do things. *After all* – when you were a child, your biggest problem was whether you could tie your shoes or tell the time… things I’m confident you have mastered by now.
It might seem trivial but try these things anyway:
- Keep a gratitude journal: Write down one (or three) things you’re proud of each day. I have a 5 year journal with daily prompts – today’s is “Pick a weak spot. What can you do to strengthen it?”.
- Celebrate milestones: Finished a big project? Treat yourself to a nice dinner or a relaxing evening. Book it into your calendar and share those wins with your loved ones!
- Scream it from rooftops: OK – maybe don’t scream it but whether it’s with your family, friends, or online community, sharing your wins can feel incredibly rewarding.
I regularly attend my TAFE campus, as a student and a teacher. Even though I’m only there for a few days this year, I organise these days as “self-care nights” for myself. You will not be surprised to know that I splurge on the complete works – a room for myself and a face moisture mask thingy – which is almost like going to a spa. I treat myself to my favourite Guzman y Gomez meal, watch a movie and end the day with a really good book. There are no questions and no expectations and it is truly lovely.
It is, and will continue to be, the recharge I need to tackle the next term with renewed energy.
Work-life balance is a journey, not a destination. What works for one person might not work for another so, I’d love to hear from you:
- How do you create boundaries between work and home?
- What’s your favourite self-care routine?
- Have you discovered a time-saving tip that’s made your life easier?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below and let’s learn from each other. Together, we can create a community where vocational education professionals thrive both at work and in life.
Till next time.