When building a business your teacher schedule is the piece everyone wants to know about. How do you get it all done, especially if you are teaching full-time? Time management is like that golden egg that everyone wants to know more about, and yet if I teach you how to better manage your time, you will often feel more overwhelmed than when you started. 

I could say, color coordinate your Google calendars. And then I could show you exactly how we do that with our Google calendars in business, life, and with all these kids because I live and breathe it every single day. I could say, go get the new Pioneer Woman’s planner from Walmart (hello, I grabbed one this morning) and take everything from the Google calendar and place it in there for a second check. That way you can carry it with you everywhere or leave it on your teacher desk. 

I could also say – prioritize your teacher schedule and give you and ladder of prioritization. But even that would cause you more stress and be more overwhelming. So instead of me telling you how to manage your time as you work on your teacher business, and actually teach in your classroom. I want to share with you some unique ways to multiply your time and find gaps inside of your days to schedule your time – not manage it. 

This is all about multiplying your time so I want to share with you the number one place you’re getting stuck in a time vortex. Or a state of perpetual procrastination.

Did you know there are 4 different types of procrastinators? And when I was researching this topic, I laughed out loud because I said to myself “I’m not really a procrastinator, I just work well under pressure.”

Well, wouldn’t you know the first type is the person who says: I work well under pressure. My mind constantly works on a shortened schedule. I will wait until the last minute, as a matter of fact I have 33 mins left to write this post before I have to go get my kids. I’ve put it off all day because I knew I wanted to go to the gym, cook lunch, scroll on TikTok, read 2 books – and the list goes on and on. I know that I’ll get this done in the 33 mins left I have because I put it off until the very last second. My biggest obstacle is actually GETTING started. Which may be where you are struggling too, so here’s where I come in with a cape and save the day. 

Quick Win #1: Begin placing timed tasks on your schedule. These are the most important things, the very first thing you do each morning. Even if you’re a teacher that means getting up a little earlier to brainstorm.

Coming in at #2 is another one that hits a little too close to home. It’s the permission to just be chill and forget work. You’ve been so busy as a teacher all day, you have permission to be lazy and you deserve that. But here's where the psychological harm can come into play. Permission to be lazy is fine until it becomes a habit and when things become habits they take a turn. They become expected and that means that your one-time permission slip to become lazy turns in 3 days a week. And then it turns into 7 days a week and that then becomes the permission slip to get out of your routine. To become a couch potato, To fall into depression because you stop caring for yourself. Your biggest issue is actually taking a break in the first place without feeling guilty or like you always have something to do.

Quick Win #2:  start making time in your schedule for recharging. That means taking an entire weekend off from your teacher business to recharge. Doing so will pay off in the long run. 

#3 on our list of how to organize your teacher schedule to build your business goes hand in hand with another one of Rory Vaden’s quotes and it’s ‘You’re too busy”!

High performance coaches like Rory and Brendon Burchard say that their busiest clients often get the most done. Meaning that they have the craziest schedules ever but they are never “too busy.” Sorry for some tough teacher love coming at ya – but rather than facing a challenge head-on or admitting you don't want to do something, it's just a heck of a lot easier to say you’ve got other stuff to do, am I right?

I also find people in my life that do this on a regular basis and I can see it clear as day now and label them as “chaos creators.”  I made that term up, but it’s true and based on some pretty powerful research about people who crave chaos. They hate it, but they are addicted to it. You know the ones I’m talking about, their day is going great but they have to derail it. They think happiness is boring. Or that it’s overrated. They take a positive conversation and add the “yeah but you wouldn’t understand” line. 

They can’t sit in a room and just listen. They have to be constantly speaking up or out of turn to turn things around. If everyone is chill, they have to find the chaos. Period. It’s not that they are too busy, they are constantly creating chaos in their lives to be able to take that road when someone asks why they haven’t accomplished a goal. You know them,  you may even be them.  I told my oldest the other day that the day he learns that an uncomfortable situation right now is better than a million uncomfortable situations later when it all becomes chaos.

Quick Win #3: Ask yourself how you can take quick actionable steps to avoid chaos later.

Finally, some of you are ping-pong bouncers. Hahaha! Another term I coined that means you like ideas to take you off track. My 3-year-old watches Moana as much as the rest of us do. Because sissy is in her Moana phase and we don’t mind it. But there’s a scene in the movie when Moana and Maui go down into a cave. They find a large grab with diamonds – and the crab sings a song and says “shiny”. And that’s the only part my 3-year-old remembers so anytime something shiny is in sight – which is a lot, he sings shiny as loud as he can. 

That’s my goal for you. When you hear or see something that’s taking you off track I want you to remember that's just a shiny object or a ping-pong that’s trying to get your attention. Using that as an excuse to lack focus and a good schedule could be your biggest issue. Your biggest challenge is finishing a project! You have a million ping-pong balls bouncing. Another quick story about this topic is a cleaning hack I recently read about that states before you leave a room that you’re cleaning ….

Quick Win #4: focus this week on finishing what you start and stop leaving a project before it's finished! 

The CEO Teacher® Reminds us all we have the skills needed for teaching and making an impact, and you can contribute to the world in a positive way, outside of the 4 walls of the classroom. Make your teacher schedule work for you!

If you need more help organizing and scheduling your life you can listen to the CEO TEACHER® planning series here.

Or listen to Team CEO Teacher® share all of their time management strategies here.

Best Time Management Tips for Teachers Who Want to Live Their Best Lives

Let’s set those measurable goals for your future and begin to create a teacher schedule that will set the foundation of your business for years to come. And showcase the ideals that our teacher schedules can actually help us thrive while building a business.