Managing Your Workload to Reduce Stress

Managing workload is an approach to supporting you to achieve a healthy balance between your work and the rest of your life.

Knowledge bank

Teachers in the maintained sector have on average 5.5 days off sick per year. Stress-related illness is the fourth official reason for teachers taking time off, but headteachers in one survey cited it as the number one reason. This points out the importance of managing work effectively to maintain health and well-being.

Life-work balance is an important concept in managing your workload. It provides a rationale for adjusting your methods, practices and beliefs in relation to work. It encompasses an adjusting of your work patterns so that you find a rhythm which combines work with other aspirations and responsibilities.

There are five steps involved in managing your workload:

Evaluating your current position - evaluating what's working and what is not working and in particular how satisfied you are with each aspect of your life.
Choosing your future by identifying in detail the kind of balance you would like in your life. This is about setting out a detailed ideal future.
Identifying habits that support you to achieve the balance you want, and those habits which prevent it occurring.
Planning your strategy to move you forwards towards your goals. This involves making an action plan as to how you will bring about your desired future.
Taking action to bring about change.

Setting goals which are SMART is important:

Specific - state the goal with as much detail as possible.
Measurable - be clear about how you will ascertain when you have achieved it.
Achievable - ensure it is a goal which is something within your gift to change.
Realistic - make the timescale for change something manageable.
Timed - put long-term timescales on your goals and also make interim timescales.

Your goals should also be compelling and be connected to strong positive emotions for achieving them.

An important element in taking control of your workload is to set up a working envelope. This is a contract which you make with yourself about the limits on time you'll spend working. This is important due to Parkinson's Law, which states that: 'work expands to fill the time you make available to it'. Therefore, creating a clear set of boundaries about how long you will work each week is critical.

Prioritizing is a key habit to adopt and keeping a list of your priorities is helpful. Dividing the list into two columns headed 'important things' and 'unimportant things' is a useful way of deciding what to give time to and what to de-prioritize.

Organizing your work space is important in terms of being effective with your time. Having a workspace which is clear and an efficient filing system (whether it's a filing cabinet or just a cardboard box divided up doesn't matter) is important. Organizing your paper filing and email folders, along with your 'my documents' folders so they all match, really helps you have an efficient system for filing and retrieval.

Perhaps one of the most important habits to develop for most people struggling with their workload, is to say 'no' to new tasks! But it's easier said than done. With proper prioritization and organization it is possible to be realistic and honest about what you can and cannot do for others. For some people saying 'no' is difficult. One simple approach that can help is to give yourself permission to 'say yes to saying no'.

A key issue for many teachers is to improve the degree to which they delegate the responsibility for learning to their learners. Having learners working harder and teachers supporting them in this is ultimately better for their learning. Equipping learners to do more self-and peer-marking is both efficient for the teacher and also highly effective in terms of learning outcomes for the learners.

Ask yourself

How balanced are your work and life priorities currently?
What would you like your life-work balance to be like?
How could you take steps towards an even better balance? Who could support you as you move things forward?

To do list

Review your current situation. Consider the goals you would like to set for managing your workload.
Get a supportive partner in your quest for a better balance, choosing a colleague or friend with whom you can have frank discussions and who could ask you challenging questions within a supportive approach.
Attend a course to support your development in this area.
Be prepared to challenge long-held beliefs about your work ethic and your approach to supporting others.