Tackle the Time Vampires; use time wisely

We all know the legend of vampires and that they suck your blood. I thought this would be a good title for an article about how your time can be sucked up by things that aren’t really that important. So, in essence, it’s time to “Tackle the Time Vampires.”

Tackle the time vampires

Social Media

In today’s day and age, probably the biggest time sucker is SOCIAL MEDIA. So many people spend way too much time on social media (I’m guilty too). If this sounds like you, then it’s time to take a step back and take inventory of your usage.

When at our work locations, we are often unable to spend time on Social Media, but with so many of us now working remotely from home, some of us have found it MUCH TOO EASY to have that phone right next to us, dinging when something comes up on our platforms.

So, try to think of a strategy to diminish this usage. Perhaps set a timer for 45 minutes and vow to not check out SM until the timer goes off. Something simple like this can add tons of productive time back into your schedule.

TV watching

Now that so many choices are available such as Netflix and Hulu, many of us find that we binge watch certain show series in order to “see them all.” While there is nothing wrong with this, it certainly can suck up any of your extra time.

Perhaps you can schedule these “binges” into a calendar, and stick to only watching during those times. Many of us unwind at the end of the day in front of the TV, so I’m not talking about these times. But rather the weekend hours that can be “wasted away” in front a binge show. Rethink your habits, perhaps you can find some time here.

Chores

Of course we have to get our chores done. No one wants a messy house, or a sink full of dishes. But, maybe with a bit of rethinking, you can make chores more streamlined, and organized. Which might just free up some valuable time you need.

One idea is to take stock of how much others in the house or family are helping out with these chores. Even small children can be assigned certain ways to help the family out with a chore. If you start them small, they are more competent when they get older.

Another idea is to consider hiring someone to do it for you. For example, if both you and your spouse or partner hate yard work, is there someone you can pay to do it? Often there are neighborhood youth who are anxious to earn some money. Or even if they aren’t advertising, you can ask friends who have children from 12-17 if their child wants to earn some extra money by helping you out. You never know, this could work out great for all of you. In our home we have a landscaping business come each week, but if you don’t want that expense, ask a young person instead.

Drive to Work

For those of you who are back to driving to work (or who never quit). Often those 20 minutes to an hour of time in the car can feel like wasted minutes. But you can make those minutes productive in a couple of ways.

You can listen to podcasts or books on audio. There are so many informative podcasts out there to choose from. And I bet your drive ends up going by super quick if you do this.

Another idea is to use the time to think and brainstorm. Use your phone recording device, or another one to put items on a list that you need to remember (or add to your “to do” list). I used this technique years ago before our phones could do this. I was a Principal at a busy school so I purchased a small tape recorder and kept it handy to tell myself things I needed to remember. WHAT A LIFE SAVER THAT WAS!

Tackle the time vampires when doing Errands

I think many of us have gotten more creative when it comes to errands because of COVID-19. My two main tips when it comes to errands are: delegate and batch.

Delegate; try to pass family errands to other family members if they are able and willing to do it. Help them understand that you need their help immensely and that your sanity is at stake here (lol).

Batch; if you know you have a number of errands to run, jot a quick list and try to do them all in one trip. Yesterday I ran all these errands at the same time: bank, gas station, pharmacy, post office, and car wash. I had all these done in 45 minutes. Can you see how much quicker that is than trying to do one or two each afternoon after work. When you are writing out the list, map out the route to take to keep yourself from backtracking. You can really learn to be quite efficient when you do errands this way.

I’ve written a few other articles about teacher self-care. You can read them through the links here:

How to Avoid Teacher Burnout; a Little R & R

Inexpensive Weekend Get-aways for Teachers

Of course, the weekend get-away idea will be better for when the Pandemic ends, but you can always dream and plan right now. (wink)

Children

Of course we can’t delegate our children away (and we’d never even fathom it…lol), but we can ask for help when we are feeling overwhelmed. But there are some ways to get help with them when you need to add time to your day. First, I want to repeat that children can and should help with chores. They are part of the family and live in the home so should also help. And a quick reminder that the most important part of having them help with chores is that is builds the habit in them so they are better prepared for adult life themselves.

A second way to get extra time needed is to hire help for your children. Hire a tutor to help with a subject that your child is struggling with and won’t listen to you trying to help. Or hire a sitter to watch them so you can have time away from home to renew your sanity. Or hire a sitter to take them to a park or somewhere away so you can have time at home to either relax or get something done that you need to tackle.

And a third way to get help with your children is to make them solve their own problems or issues. They need this anyway to grow into responsible adults. If two come to you arguing, send them away to solve it themselves (unless it is involving physical fighting, then of course you need to intervene).

Tackle the Time Vampires when dealing with Pets

Some of my teacher friends may not have children, but might have a pet or two that takes up a lot of their time. My input is to either let it go, (as in skip the walk for today if you aren’t feeling up to it). Another idea is to hire it out or ask a family member or neighbor for help.

For example, if you live in an apartment in NYC and your dog must be walked each day, then you either have to do it or get someone else to. Well, what do you do when you’re sick. You usually call a friend or neighbor to come help. Well, do it this time too.

Laziness

I know we all have our moments of pure laziness. A little bit of laziness can actually be good for you from time to time. But if these moments are becoming more and more frequent for you, then it’s time to re-evaluate what’s going on in your life. Usually, when someone is overly lazy for long periods of time, it signifies that something else is the matter.

Lately, that “thing” that could be “the matter” quite possibly could be the world-wide pandemic and the ways it is affecting life and teaching. If you find yourself falling into the “trap” of becoming overly lazy try to stop yourself from this before it turns into a pattern. Can you take a walk? Can you take a mini-trip (when this pandemic is over)? Is there a simple task you can try to work on that doesn’t sound too overwhelming to you?

The way to get out of a pattern of laziness is to face it straight on and force yourself to do a few things that need to get done.

Well my teacher friends, that’s about it for this time. I hope that I gave you a few productive ways to “tackle the time vampires.”

Until Next Time,