Welcome to The Flourishing Teacher's Field Guide. 

This week, we're tackling every teacher’s favourite task-tracker: the to-do list. 

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by your teaching tasks or struggled to find work-life balance amidst a sea of responsibilities, this one's for you!

The To-Do List Dilemma: Why Traditional Methods Fail Teachers

We've all been there…

The satisfying scratch of pen on paper as we write our to-do list; that fleeting feeling of being in control.

Fast forward a few hours (or minutes in my case), and that same list becomes a source of anxiety, a constant reminder of everything we haven't achieved.

Traditional to-do lists often fall short because they don't account for the complexities of a teaching workload. They can't account for the impromptu parent meetings, cover, the student who needs extra support, or last-minute assembly prep.

More importantly, they rarely align with our deeper goals and values as educators or help us achieve a work-life balance.

It's time to reframe our relationship with tasks and create a system that works for us, not against us. Here are some strategies that work for us…

5 Strategies For A Healthier Relationship With Your To-Do List

1. The "MIT" Method: Most Important Teaching Tasks

Start each school day by identifying 1-3 Most Important Tasks (MITs). These are the teaching tasks that, if completed, would make the day successful. By focusing on high-impact classroom activities, you'll make meaningful progress even on the busiest days, reducing stress and boosting a genuine sense of accomplishment.

Our pro tip for teacher productivity: Write your MITs on a sticky note and place it somewhere visible in your classroom. This visual reminder helps maintain focus amidst the daily teaching hustle (and adds a dash of accountability, too).

2. Time-Blocking: Your New Best Friend for Managing Teacher Workload

Instead of a long list, try scheduling your teaching tasks into specific time blocks. This method helps you be realistic about what you can achieve in your school day and ensures you allocate time for different types of work, promoting better a work-life balance.

Our key insight for reducing teacher burnout: Don't forget to build in buffer time for unexpected issues. 10 minutes of reflective time built into your planning isn’t you being lazy - it’s you being organised.

3. The "Two-Minute Rule" for Efficient Classroom Management

If a teaching task takes less than two minutes to complete, don’t add it to the to-do list. Do it immediately, even if it feels counterintuitive or seems to interrupt the flow.

It prevents small tasks from piling up and cluttering your mental space, reducing teacher stress. It's also surprisingly liberating to tick off these quick classroom wins!

Our to-do list rule for flourishing teachers: Don’t add tasks to a to-do list and then do them immediately. It’s a totally false economy of time. (And however much you’re tempted, don’t do what I used to do and write tasks on a list that you’ve already completed, just to feel good about ticking them off)!

4. Regular List Audits to Manage Teacher Workload

Set aside time regularly to review and prune your teaching to-do list. Be ruthless in questioning whether each task still serves your goals or is a requirement for learner progression. 

It's not just okay to let go of tasks that no longer align with your priorities, it’s a crucial step in avoiding teacher burnout.

Our reminder for teacher wellbeing: Saying no to some tasks means saying yes to your wellbeing and most important teaching work.

5. Celebration and Reflection for Sustained Teacher Motivation

Use your to-do list as a way to mark your achievements. End each school day by acknowledging what you've accomplished in the classroom, no matter how small. Reflect on what worked well and what you might do differently tomorrow. 

Honestly, the sense of pride I get from checking my list and reflecting on everything I’ve achieved compared to where I was the day before is palpable.

It genuinely helps build a positive teaching mindset and reduce emotional exhaustion.

Our key reflective technique: I rewrite my to-do list every morning, using my notes from the day before. It helps me track what I’ve achieved and reminds me of the tasks I’m stalling on.

Implementing Your New To-Do List Strategy for Better Work-Life Balance

Changing teaching habits takes a while, so start by incorporating one new strategy at a time into your school routine. Remember, the goal isn't to do more; it's to do what matters most, both for your students and for your own wellbeing.

As you experiment with these approaches, you should find that your teaching to-do list transforms from a source of stress into a powerful tool for self-care. 

And that’s a to-do list worth having.

What Are You Waiting For?

We believe that teachers achieve extraordinary things under challenging circumstances and that we all deserve to be valued, supported and celebrated.

That's what this newsletter is all about.

If you haven't subscribed yet, why not join the Marigold community? You'll get weekly strategies for sustaining your wellbeing, avoiding burnout and flourishing as a person, not just a teacher.

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Thank You For All You Do

Remember, your worth isn't measured by the length of your to-do list, but by the impact you have on your students every day. 

You're doing amazing work, even if not every task gets ticked off!

Here's a quick recap of our strategies for taming the to-do list beast:

Next week's newsletter is packed full of super-valuable reframing strategies to help you build the emotional resilience we all need as teachers.

Until then, remember, you're more than your marking, your lesson observations and your planning.

You're you. And that's all you need to be.