Organize Your Path to Optimize Your Work Day

Many educators can attest to feeling as though they have just hopped off a treadmill set to 5.0 speed and an incline of 10 at the end of the day. Regardless of how many unforeseen events, conflicts, and unexpected changes we encounter at the start of each school day, we are expected to manage these obstacles while providing high-level, engaging, and meaningful instruction.

In contrast, there are those educators who enter and leave for the day with an unfrazzled, air of serenity and calm almost every day. Of course, factors such as one’s personality, personal life, and other unrelated matters contribute to these differences, but one distinction could be the level of organization.

Are you consistently...?

• missing meetings, emails, and deadlines

• behind on grading student work and updating your gradebook

• skipping breakfast and lunch to do tasks, surviving on coffee until 3:00 p.m.

• unable to find anything among the scattering and stacks of papers and books on or around

your workstation

• making copies two minutes before each class starts

• staying super late to catch up, but still behind

• failing to meet your instructional goals

• unprepared to teach lessons or constantly borrowing lesson plans from colleagues

If these traits sound familiar, your everyday operating systems are out of sync or ineffective.

Implementing decluttering routines, using organizational tools, and adopting intentional habits can help you eliminate stress, optimize your time, and reduce your risk of burnout.

Create a Clear-the-Desk Routine

If you are like many other teachers and me, your workstation becomes a catch-all for everything from laptop chargers to a confiscated football being tossed around the room. The amount of clutter that accumulates depends on how chaotic a year I am having, which in turn determines which routine I use to regain control of my workspace.

My colleagues and I have come a long way since our early teaching days, learning that consistently staying late and arriving hours before our contractual time takes a toll on our mental health and damages our work/life balance. However, setting aside time to restore order in our workspace improves our efficiency and instruction.

One routine I have used is to choose a day, usually Wednesday or Thursday, to come in early or stay late to restore order to my desk and other areas of my classroom that have become messy. Some of my colleagues do this on Mondays, but I prefer to enter an immaculate workspace on Monday mornings. For me, it is a blank canvas from which I can begin planning my day, and it sets a positive tone for the week ahead.

Another decluttering routine that works for me is tidying the classroom before leaving for the day. The benefit of this system is that my classroom is always put together, which promotes a better learning environment for students. Plus, if I am running behind or stuck in traffic, instruction can begin when I arrive. In the article “Why Orderliness Is a Predictor of Classroom Management Success,” Michael Linsin suggests that “Tidying up your classroom is the first and best thing you can do to begin gaining control and reversing the tension, bad behavior, low motivation, and poor work habits.”

Commit to Using a Work/Life Planner

Six years ago, I was still using a classic lesson planner, a separate personal planner, and a digital calendar to organize my life. Because the curriculum was readily available online with suggested lesson plans, I usually printed the lesson and annotated my changes on the printed copy. When I was really pressed for time, I would pin it to my desktop.

Downsizing, I ditched the standard lesson plan book, relegating it to a nostalgic memory, and began using a digital calendar, which has since become a must because of its easy access and convenient updates. However, I still need a physical place to plan for work and life, as well as to journal, dream, and set goals.

So, I went to Amazon and discovered The Happy Planner, and it was a game-changer. For one thing, the availability of many distinctive inserts makes it customizable to one’s specific needs. It is also motivational, with a variety of covers and insert patterns, plus stickers to annotate your calendar with upcoming events, important dates, and inspirational messages. There are also journal and notes page inserts. Each week, I genuinely look forward to mapping out my week. Now, if something is not recorded in the planner, it does not happen. Also, I no longer keep a separate personal planner. I keep everything in my Happy Planner.

List it. Do it. Check it off.

If planners are too expensive for your budget, too time-consuming, or simply not your style, consider using the Notes App or creating a simple pen-and-paper to-do list. Use it at the start or end of your day to stay focused. When I am especially inundated or feeling overwhelmed, a 4x6 lined Post-It Note Pad is my go-to. I post them on my desk, inside the jacket of my tablet cover, on top of my laptop, on my bulletin board, on the dashboard or console in my car, on my mirror, or wherever I need to keep on top of things.

Want to add more tips? Send your suggestions to ms.witt@outlook.com. If your comments are selected, they will appear in our next newsletter, and you will be notified by email.

Ms. WITT

References:

The Happy Planner. 2026 Planners. n.d. www.thehappyplanner.com.

Linsin, Michael. "Articles." 7 March 2024. www.smartclassroommanagement.com. 12 1 2026.