2014-2015 Year in Review: Work & Life Balance

This is more of a comment on things I did outside of the classroom rather than in, but it was something that my wife and I made a focused effort to do during the second semester.

The idea was simple: buck the routine of the house (and classroom) during the week with something specific that didn’t involve work. Make dinner with friends. Go for a walk to somewhere new in the neighborhood. Watch a movie. Work on a fun side project.

These scheduled, specific plans meant I had a reason to leave my classroom and end planning earlier than the usual, which often pushed well past 5:00 PM. If there was a need to do more before the next day, I’d take a look at it before going to bed. I took the time to ask myself whether the work left unfinished was actually going to make the learning better the next day. Sometimes it was, often it was not.

I realize now that Parkinson’s Law is notoriously problematic for perfectionists like me:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:


Parkinson’s law is the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion….

There is always more tweaking that can be done. The law of diminishing returns (and importance) is a major reason not to do so, particularly in light of the restorative energy that comes from spending time with good people.

These reasons for wrapping up work and being more efficient also made a big difference in my use of planning time throughout the day. I prioritized much more effectively knowing that I had a limited time to complete planning for the next day.

One important comment here: specificity was crucial. I couldn’t just say I wanted to finish early to have more free time at home. It made a big difference to be able to picture the end goal of these time limitations. The goal is having a specific activity to look forward to rather than just a negative space formed by the absence of work.

I will be deliberate about continuing this throughout the coming year. This is too important.

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