Can good routines save me time and energy?

Published Feb 27, 2022, 12:38 AM

Are you feeling tired, worn out or overwhelmed by ALL there is to do in the classroom, let alone in your personal life? If you are nodding along with me then this episode is for you. Check out some questions you can ask yourself to discover what routines will be most effective for you. I also share some teacher hacks that have helped me create some routines that have made a difference in my world. You can create change, you can save time and you can regain your energy.

  • The Teacher Collective - Inspirational Quote Cards for Teachers
  • The Bible - Romans 12:2 & Isaiah 40:31
  • Episode 3 - Can mindfulness actually improve my wellbeing?
  • Robin Connelly Downs 
  • www.carlythosmon.com
  • Instagram: @carlythomson_faithwriteteach
  • For a full transcript - head to https://www.carlythomson.com/pages/podcast

Can good routine save me time and energy? It's not a silly question. Come grab a cup with me, Carly Thomson, for a little spiritual soul timeout as we explore how routines can save you time and energy. John C. Maxwell says the secret to your success is found in your daily routine. Routines are important. They can save you time and energy, both in your personal life and in the classroom, but it actually looks different for each of us. There's not one specific formula I can give you for this. Each of us have different things going on in our lives, whether you have family at home, maybe you have teenagers, maybe you have other commitments outside of school. It looks different for everybody, so there's no one set routine that will fix it all. However, there are some questions we can ask ourselves to figure out what we need. The first thing I like to ask myself is, why do you need things to change? Starting with your why is really important, because if you can figure out from there why you need change, then you can put some routines in place, you can look very specifically at what you need. You might think about things like I need more time at home, not doing school work, or I need a more energy, I'm feeling worn out and run down all the time, I need less stress in my life or less marking. I recently read a quote from a set of teacher cards that I received from the teacher collection that said the secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Sometimes we think about, oh, I've just got to change this habit and that habit, but maybe where we really need to start is with our thinking first. What do I need? Why do I need it? What is important right now? What new habits and routines do you need to focus on? Let's go back to your why and we'll take a little moment to answer some questions together. What do you want more of in your life, and what do you want less of? You might like to take a little moment, pause and write down some things. Just have a full brainstorm, brain dump on a piece of paper. What do you want more of in your life, and what do you want less of? Now, write down what could be holding you back from these things. Is it I've had too much marking on, I have no time to do these things, I have no energy to do these things? Be even more specific. Do you know what's zapping your energy? Do you know what is taking up all your time? Be specific. I have too much marking. Well, if you've got too much marking, that is something that's holding you back and that's a place that you can start to look at change. The Bible tells us, " Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect," that's in Romans 12: 2. Designing routines in your life begins with changing your mind and then your habits. Take time to pause with Jesus and ask him to guide you in these changes. It is so critical and so important to spend that time with Jesus and ask him to guide you in this, ask him to give you wisdom in what to let go of and what to hold onto, ask him to give you wisdom in finding time and creating space in your day. Robyn Conley Downs writes, " Mindset, habits, and routines are the building blocks towards your wellness goals." If you want to create and cultivate a good sense of wellbeing within yourself, routines are going to be essential in building that. Perhaps it starts with those routines in the morning, like we talked about in episode three, where you are practicing mindfulness. Bringing that routine into your life, life changing. Creating routines will improve your wellbeing when it's done really well. I guess some small little hacks that I can think of, I've done a quick little brain dump of things that I've done or am wanting to do to change some of my habits and routines. My first thought is take some time on a daily basis to meet those either mindfulness needs, those prayer needs, those reading your Bible needs, or maybe it's exercise, a walk and pray. Set aside a time each day, create a daily routine for this habit. It will make a difference. It will be hard at first, but it will make a difference. If you're not a morning person, don't set it for the morning. Don't put that on yourself, it will stress you out. Make it an evening routine. Perhaps before you go to bed, you make yourself a herbal tea, you get out your Bible, you sit in bed and pray and read. Or maybe when you've finished work, you go from work to the gym and you get your exercise in, or you go for a walk and a pray. Do what works for you. Everybody has been created differently and we you need different routines to help us have energy and time. Creating routines like that meets my spiritual and soul needs, which is something that I always want to be working on, but it also meets some of my physical needs too. If I'm putting in a walk and pray, I'm getting a walk in, which then I know exercise is creating energy in my body, it's releasing endorphin. I'm getting a extra hit there of energy and happiness, I guess, with the endorphins. It's building up my wellbeing. In the classroom, routines are so vital. It's important at the beginning of a school year to be setting up routines that are going to work well for you. It takes time and energy every time we are thinking about how we're going to move students around the classroom, but if there is routine set up from day dot, and that will look different, again, for everybody depending on your class and your needs and all the rest of it, but having those routines will save you energy during the regular work day, once they are established. One of my goals this year is to have a copying day. That would be one afternoon or one morning, whatever works for you, where I look at my week's need of copying and I go ahead and I spend time at the printer and I get all of those things printed out. I've seen on Instagram, and I've posted one myself of mine because this is one of my goals, you can get these trollies from Spotlight or Kmart and they've got little drawers and you can look on Teach Starter or Teachers Pay Teachers to find some really cute little Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or you might like to do it by subject English, math, science. In those drawers, you put your copies, your photocopies for the week and they're all done, they're all there ready to go. That's one less thing that you are rushing about in the mornings to try and get done. Another great idea is to have a big brainstorm and create things or goals that you want to achieve each day. You might do a big list and you might look and go, " What is most important on Monday that needs to get done?" Make that your main thing, aim to achieve that one thing each day. If nothing else gets done, well, you're still winning, aren't you, because you've got that one thing, that important thing. Because there's a lot of things that can jump in at us and say, " I need to be done right now," but if we just can stay focused and intentional on that one thing, once that's done, then you can meet those other little needs that are coming through at you. Remember what we tell our class at school, the brain is able to change. It is neuroplastic, adaptable, which means you are adaptable. You can create change through repeating routines regularly. Yes, at first change is hard. I am right in the middle of trying to create some change myself and it is hard to stick to those routines. Fall off the wagon, get back on, that's okay. It will take a little extra focus and energy to begin with, it always does, but long term, the changes will be bring you closer to living the life that you were imagining earlier. Remember, you are more likely to have success in the changes you are making by creating a daily routine. It takes time and repetition and it will be challenging, but worth it in the long term. You will save time and energy. Drawn near to Jesus as you make these changes. May you find time to create new routines this week. May you draw close to Jesus as you make room for things you need more of in your life. May you find new strength and fresh grace. May you let go of those things that are not important. May you find time to rest and play and enjoy your life, so you can give your best both inside and outside of the classroom. Thanks for joining me for episode four of It's NOT a Silly Question! A Spiritual Soul Timeout For Teachers. You can email your so- called silly questions to me at carly@ carlythomson. com. You can check out my Instagram, @ carlythomson_faithwriteteach, and you can have a little sneak peek at my little teacher tray of photocopying and keep me accountable. If you've really enjoyed this episode, perhaps you could hit subscribe or share it with some of your teacher friends who you know would benefit from some daily routines. Remember to show yourself grace through these changes. Change is hard, but there's so much grace for you in it. " Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength," Isaiah 40: 31.

It's NOT a Silly Question! A Spiritual Soul Time Out for Teachers.

It's NOT a Silly Question! A spiritual soul time out for teachers is a safe space to grab a cuppa, t 
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