There are two kinds of teachers in the world: those who use their planning, and those who do not.

I have been both kinds of teachers. I have been the teacher who needs to physically be around other adults just to regain a sense of sanity. I have been the teacher who blew off any tasks that I needed to be done during my planning because of anxiety about my looming workload. I have been the teacher who parked herself in her teacher bestie’s classroom just to share a ridiculous story from my morning, knowing full-well that report cards were due in two days.

I have also been the teacher who shut the door and dimmed the lights, signaling to everyone that I. Am. Busy. I have knocked out task-after-task so that I could leave at the end of the school day, guilt-free. I have hashed out what I need to do every single day to ensure that my classroom is fully stocked for the next week’s lessons.

Everyone has days where they just need to chat with their team. A day before a long break, or the morning after parent conferences…the days pop up where you just want to share a story with your team, and no one is going to laugh harder at something embarrassing you did in front of a parent than your teacher friends. That kind of friendship is solid gold, and I do not want you to internalize for even a second that camaraderie should be sacrificed in the name of a crossed-out to-do list.

Being the social butterfly during planning on occasion is one thing. But we all know the teacher who absolutely never uses her planning time. You may be that teacher. This teacher always manages to wander into someone else’s room, and just kind of hovers in there. They may come in pretending like they have an important question, but really they just don’t know what to do with this time.

Often, this teacher is also working all weekend. This teacher may also be the person who asks you for last minute copies of something they see you doing, because they have “nothing” for that morning’s lesson.

There are also the silent sufferers…those who stay diligently in their rooms, but are plagued with “Planning ADHD”. I was in this camp for YEARS. You start a task, then get an email, which prompts you to start something else, which leads you to an area of your room which needs to be straightened up, which reminds you that you don’t have your copies made for social studies yet…the result is a giant mess you have to shove into piles before your kids walk in. And you got nothing done.

Today, I have three simple tips that saved my planning life. And my personal life. Planning is one of those things that really isn’t guaranteed every day, but when you have it, you have to USE it as often as possible. The gift of this time can get you ahead or set you massively behind, depending on how you use it.

Tip 1: Create your to-do list the day before.

I would sit down (while my class cleaned up the room for me…a tip I will share another day!), and I would jot down a handful of things I knew I would need to get done the next day. Sometimes I would divide this up into tasks that needed to be done in the morning, before the kids walked in, and tasks to do during planning. At the end of a busy day, your mind is reeling with all of the things you didn’t quite get to, or what you need to do before your week is over, and a list is the perfect way to get all of that out. Plus, walking in the next day with a clear list of things to do keeps you much more organized about where to start.

Tip 2: Assign Time Frames, and Set Timers

When planning time comes, choose a handful of things from your list that you know you can do during that window. Assign time-frames to them that you will allow yourself to complete them. This takes practice. You may not know right off the bat how long it takes you to send an email or set up a science lab. So you may beat your timer by a whole lot, or the timer may beat you the first few times you attempt this. But something about knowing that you’re racing the clock makes you move a little faster, which is just a mental hack that has helped me get a LOT more done during crunch time.

It also helps you refocus. I set a timer for 45 minutes to write this blog post, for example. I just clicked over to another tab to look something up that popped in my mind, then remembered I had 18 minutes left…back to work!

Tip 3: Save All Leave-the-Room Tasks for the End

If you have to check your mailbox, or run a class set of copies for something that afternoon…save these things for last. Leaving your room opens you up for random “I’ve been meaning to email you, but while you’re right here…” conversations. Those are awesome, if you have nothing to do. If you have things to do, stay in your room for as long as you can manage, and leave your last 5-10 minutes to run out to make copies/refill your water bottle/drop off field trip money/etc. on your way to pick up your kids. It just makes for the most efficient use of time!

I could literally write about this all day. More content on this topic will certainly be coming your way in the coming weeks. In the meantime, consider checking out my store to see what resources I may have to help you in your classroom!