Chapters 1-3: Share your thoughts about this passage: “There are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say you’re contracted to work around 40 hours and you work another 20 hours every week for free. That’s 6o hours a week spent on school-related tasks, leaving you with 108 hours for everything else. If you factor in around 7 hours of sleep a night, that still leaves you with 59-60 hours a week for yourself…” How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
One of the biggest things I learned before teaching was this: as much as possible, do NOT bring work home. Of course, with looming deadlines, this is not always possible. However, it has definitely helped me to ensure that most of my "free time" is "free time". If I do need to bring work home, I try to make it something that I enjoy - i.e., lesson planning, not grading papers, haha! Most days leave me exhausted, so I spend most of my "free time" on week days vegging out and recuperating.
ReplyDeleteI have 2 kids in middle school. Most of my "free time" is spent getting them to or from activities, doing house chores, or wasting time on screens- tv or phone, I also read about 30-45 minutes every night, and bringing more active movement back into my life . A lot of the house chores are done during the weekend which takes away time to do something a little more exciting, so I think the biggest take away right now is to start delegating areas to clean every day so it is done continually and not all in one day. A part of this would also be to have the other 3 people in my family take on a piece of the house too. I saw a reel the other day that the family had an alarm set every day at the same time, when that went off- everyone in the house had there "area" to clean and the house was always being worked on by everyone!
ReplyDeletePost writer is Shelly Berning
DeleteMuch of my "free" time is spent decompressing and relaxing. My teaching position recently changed from first grade in a rural school to third grade in a bigger district. There have been many changes in my life along with this. I am looking forward to working on myself and allowing time for me and not so much after hours time in the classroom preparing.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe that I have 60 hours of “free” time. With 3 teens, we have a lot of extra curricular activities and time spent driving. I know it is a choice and I truly love supporting my daughters in all that they do, but the long hours spent driving, at games, at tournaments, etc. can be draining. While I would not give up the things that I do with and for my kids, there are other commitments (committees) on my plate that I could let go.
ReplyDeleteMy first response was to think "That can't be right." My second response was to do the math myself, ha! My third response was a little feeling of depression because how the heck do I have that much time and still feel burned out?! I am a mom and primary keeper of the home, so a lot of that time goes towards laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, childcare... and scrolling for ideas online for teaching Math, cooking, quilting, teaching my kiddo things like how to read, and other ideas that are endless out there on the internet. I think I need to get rid of quite a bit of stuff in my house, so I spend less time on cleaning it. I also think that although the internet has given me tons of quilting, cooking, and teaching ideas, that maybe it's given me enough for now and I should try unplugging for a month and see how that goes. I would like to put more time into just enjoying my daughter, taking care of my health, and practicing piano again.
ReplyDeleteThis passage is a lot to unpack. I have a 7 month old so I'm definitely don't getting 7 hours of sleep! Also, it doesn't feel like I have that much free time. I get to school at 7:30, leave school after basketball practice around 5:45, and get home around 6:00. I don't know if I get 60 hours of free time but it is actually a lot. I spend the 60 hours of free time spending time with my family when I get home and trying not to think about what I just left at school. Being able to shut it off is something I've struggled with. The past month I've tried doing a better job of taking care of myself and being present with my family. Unfortunately, I think I have to spend some of my free teach preparing for teaching and coaching. I want to to a good job in all areas and right now I'm just working on how to balance those 3 areas.
ReplyDeleteI currently spend most of my 60 hours a week that are free with my family, cleaning, or on social media. I know that social media is something that I need to cut out more. So often I ask myself later, what did I get out of that? I would rather spend my time with my family. Also, I am working to become more efficient with my cleaning and cooking time to help make sure that I do not have to spend my whole weekend catching up. I am currently doing certain tasks on a specific day so that I just do a little at a time instead of it all at one time. I have realized that if I somewhat keep up with all of my cleaning and picking up, it takes a lot less time than starting over every week. It can be very hard to find balance in education, but it is something that I am working on all the time.
ReplyDeleteThis passage reminds me of the saying, that everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day. It’s a good reminder that there is time, but it’s how we choose to fill that time that can really make a difference. I feel pretty content on how I spend my free time. My husband and I try to divide up running our kids around to their activities and other household chores. We both have family time and a little time each day to pursue our hobbies and things that interest us. I do not want to make changes to how I spend my time, but I think it’s good to reflect every so often and change it up, if needed, rather than continuing to do the same thing day after day.
ReplyDeleteI was very encouraged to hear that I have a generous 60-80 hours available in my week for things other than contracted work time and sleep.
ReplyDeleteOf course, as a wife and mother of 3, a fair amount of the time goes into managing a household. Commuting from work/home takes 5 hours/week, but I'm thankful for that decompression time. Right now, I'm content with how my out-of-work time is balanced between family, friends, exercise, hobbies, play, and rest. My husband and I have time to set goals for what's important to us, and achieve those goals.
This passage was very interesting. I have never really thought to break down the hours in a week and see how much was left after everything was done. I feel like I spend my extra time grocery shopping, cooking supper, spending time with dogs, exercising, showering, reading, then going to bed. I occasionally do a puzzle at night or watch TV. I have become intentional with my weekend times unless I feel that I will be more productive the following week if I get some work done. I have stopped bringing my work home on the weekends because I am not going paid, so it is not a requirement to be working. I am thankful for my commute time of an hour to and from school each day as a gear up and decompression time. I have realized that that is my choice to make each day and I am okay with that choice. I am excited to read the rest of the book and learn how to be more intentional in other ways!
ReplyDeleteIt's Callie Dutenhoffer here. When I was working in the school district, I never once thought about how many hours I spent on work related duties. Yes, I knew what my contracted hours were, but to me, if I had more things that needed to get organized or needed to get done for the future plans, it just was a natural thing to get them done. After it being broken down like this in this passage, it really made me start to think about how I spend those remaining hours. My husband, daughter, and I are very social people. We spend a lot of time out and about with friends. Summer time is a lot easier to be outdoors at the park, going for walks, being out on the lake or golfing. Winters are harder as I'm from South Dakota and it gets freezing!! We find other ways to socialize at friends' houses or at a shop playing indoor games. We enjoy going to church on the weekends and imaginative play with our two year old toddler. When I was still actively teaching, times looked a little different. Papers were brought home, laminating things were being cut, errands were being run for the upcoming things I needed in my classroom whether it was a craft or we were out of snacks. The weekends never truly felt like a weekend when I was teaching because I was always worried and stressed about being prepared enough for the upcoming week. I obviously made a lot of changes once my daughter was done and found myself being better prepared ahead of time rather than waiting to do it last minute and this really helped my time management with not only the classroom, but my family time as well.
ReplyDeleteAs a JH/HS Math teacher - it was interesting to see my "free time" put in as a number. I never really thought of it that way. My life definitely doesn't feel like I have that though. Factor in prepping and cooking meals, laundry, housework and that "free time" dwindles even faster. I have one child still in HS as well. He is active in sports and we obviously are going to attend all of his events as well, which I thoroughly enjoy. That is how I want to spend my "free time". I do tend to come in early as well as stay after school later on the off nights preparing my lessons, correcting papers and all the other needs to maintain my classroom. Knowing what my weekly schedule entails for evening activities, allows me to prepare for the week and helps keep me sane. In a couple years after my last kid graduates, I feel that I will have more evening hours to myself...that is until the next family priority pops up!
ReplyDeleteCurrently I spend my free time exercising, playing with my kids, cooking supper, playing volleyball, and cleaning the house, bible study, and just hanging out with family or relaxing at home. I really do enjoy how I spend my free time and think that I have been better lately about fitting in what I enjoy doing. One thing I would like to spend less time doing is scrolling on my phone. Somedays I can definitely spend too much time doing this without even realizing it, so it would be a good habit to maybe put my phone away for a few hours in the evening to help me accomplish this goal.
ReplyDelete60 hours of free time a week, and how do I spend it? First, there are a lot of obligations to take care of like erands to run, a house to clean, laundry to take care of. Then taking care of family members who need transportation to doctors appointments and help with their daily tasks. Church on Sunday and going out for lunch with friends afterwards is one of my favorite things to do, and taking time to enjoy TV is another way I like to spend my free time.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 12 years I have spent over an hour a day on the road driving to and from my teaching position. Now every second and way more of that hour plus are spent getting my 12 and 8 year olds to their various sports and activities! The rest of my time is spent making sure things for my kids are taken care of, and getting my renewal credits taken care of. I am sure I could/should be using my "free" time for effectively, but sometimes lack of planning is what the doctor ordered.
ReplyDeleteShare your favorite line or analogy stated by William Clark in his talk, Dare To Say No. According to Adam Grant, 80% of us can't say no, we feel like if we don't say yes, we are missing out on something.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes it hard for you to say no? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Why may you, and in what instances, would you like to consider saying no more often? I seem to end up hosting all of the get togethers, I wish someone else would host once in a while, or come up with an idea to go out to eat. I wish other people would come up with something fun to do instead of it always being left up to me.
It is really interesting to take an objective look at the actual hours that are left after work hours. My free time, like most people's, is mostly spent fulfilling family/church/personal commitments and responsibilities. All of these things are valuable in some way, but I would like to take a closer look at how I can allocate even smaller amounts of time to a few areas that I neglect because I think I don't "have time" for them. What can I cut out & replace with things that mean more to me/invest in my long range goals somehow?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was teaching, I definitely didn't feel like I had 60 hours of free time. I would rush to pick up my son from daycare, cook supper, take care of random household tasks, and then begin the bedtime routine. The desire to make the most of my time with my son was a great motivator to truly keep work at work (for the most part). When it came to grading essays, I had to (chose to?) take grading home, and I would do that on weekends or after my son went to bed. Now that I stay at home with my two boys (ages 3 and 1), I don't feel the constant stress or pressure that I once did. I now consider my kids' nap time and bedtime my "free time", and I like to read, exercise, listen to podcasts, or watch TV with my husband. I would like to make some changes with how I spend the time right before I go to bed. It's easy to fall into being on my phone during that time, and I'd like to cut out that screen time for reading a book instead.
ReplyDeleteHow I currently spend my 60 hours of free time:
ReplyDeleteI just got done with basketball season, so that should free up some time, during basketball season that was probably taking up 20 or so hours a week. I try to not take work home, but that does not always happen. I try to watch a movie or part of a movie with my wife. I also try to read or do some woodwork. I would like to change and be consistent with my free time. I would like to schedule some time with my wife so I don't short change her, because she needs me and my help. I need to talk with her to figure something we can do. I need to schedule or get ideas for woodworking and start working on it. The big thing with me is that I need to put it on my schedule otherwise I tend to push it off. The other thing that is pulling on my time, which I can consider a privilage, and I get to, and not have to is to visit and call my parents because my dad is in the hospital right now.
A few years ago, I found myself in a really unhappy mindset. I was always sick. So I dove into my autoimmune disorder. I got on track with working out and nutrition. I became a beachbody coach and helped others. This work brought in a lot of content on mindset. The choice we make to spend 30 mins a day working out. People tell me they don't have time. You could do 48 thirty min workouts in a day!!! I realized I was exhausted like everyone from doing lots of things that didn't bring me joy. So my life was full but of all the wrong things. I started to say no to people. And guess what.... they just found someone else to do what they needed. Life went on. I started to skip lunch in the workroom and ate at my desk. I got to leave school on time! And that gave me 30 mins at home to play with my kids instead of listening to teachers complain in the workroom. I started to listen to the Bible while I got ready in the morning. It filled my mind with the thoughts I needed. I was getting more done, I was happier, and I had more time left. And I still felt like I was helping a fair number of people. I think making a list of what matters, finding creative ways to get them done, and saying no to everything else is the key to success and happiness. You have to know and inforce your own boundaries.
ReplyDeleteI recently came across this same idea from a podcaster (time in a week vs. time in a day). I had thought about the concept of time management/use, but focused more on the "hours in the day" instead. I think the "weekly view" is perhaps more helpful because it does account for plenty of sleep and plenty of time for work, leaving the rest of the time as "manipulative" time. I am realizing that I do have a lot of weekly time that I spend "busy", but not always in the ways that are right for me, for my family, or for my work. I do think there are ways that I can get creative and I have been working to finesse these areas over the past year or so. For example, I am realizing that if I can stay at work until 6 or 7 one night a week for lesson planning, I'm usually able to head into the weekend with little to no planning or homework (allowing my husband and I to spend more time together with our son). If I use my plan period and lunch wisely, and if I close my door to remove extra noise and distraction after school, I am able to focus more closely on the productive activities of grading and planning. My focus now will be the things that I can do (or not do) during the evening that will free up more time to either spend time with my family or allow me to pursue some of my creative hobbies and fitness (all of which have taken a back seat since I became a parent five years ago). So far, I've enjoyed the reading. It hasn't necessarily been things that I haven't heard or thought of, but having the concept fleshed out in the direct context of a teacher's life is so helpful.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of changing how I spend my free time. I'm trying to prioritize leaving school at a more reasonable time and going to the gym most evenings. With the new year, I decided to try and push myself to go to the gym at least 4 week nights each week, and so far it has been working. I set an alarm on my phone to make sure I get up and leave school in enough time to get home and get changed and ready for the gym. But, that does mean that my evening is then cut short of actual "free, relaxing" time. I think the trade off is worth it, though, since I am feeling better and getting better sleep in return. I'd like to also build the habit of reading more for fun. That's my next goal to work into my free time.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking quite a bit about where my time has been spent and the choices I have been making with my time. My 60 hours goes towards coaching, teaching CCD, family activities, church events, and a list of other items I truly enjoy doing. My choice. If I could choose, and I guess I can choose!, to eliminate something it would be grading papers. Correcting papers is time that I do not enjoy doing but I haven't thought of a way around it....yet. I also spend time for myself as well which I very much need. Whether it is a long hike, bike ride, run, meditation or reading, I feel a bit guilty about taking that time from my 60 hours for myself but really, taking that time allows me to be great in the other areas, correct?
ReplyDeleteI have 4 kids, so I usually spend my free time after school and on weekends with them. We go to the park, find something fun to do at home, or go somewhere. A lot of nights I'm too tired to do anything so I just scroll on my phone. I think I can be more intentional with my time and make room for some of the things I really enjoy, like reading, or going for walks.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it’s an easy computation, it’s honestly something I’ve never tried to figure out, but it really does put things into perspective. We all have the same, finite time, it’s what we choose to do with that time that really matters. I currently spend my 60 hours of weekly free time pretty wisely. I am currently expecting my first child, so I am spending my free time getting rest, getting his room all set up and ready for him, prepping freezer meals as my husband will be staying home with him, and working overtime when I can because I will not qualify for parental leave for awhile. However, when I was teaching, I can’t say I used my free time efficiently and that is probably why I am no longer in the education field. I was the person that spent WAY too much time overworking myself thinking that somehow made me a good teacher. The question I would ask myself was “would this activity benefit the kids?” And if the answer was yes (which it always was), I would spend countless hours packing in extra things. As you can imagine, this leads to a fast burnout….I left the teaching profession after 5 years. So if I were to ever go back to teaching, I would really need to brainstorm more efficient ways of using my time. And giving myself some grace knowing that I can’t do it all, nor should I have that expectation of myself.
ReplyDeleteThese first few chapters were eye opening and a bit to unpack. At first, I was like, "Wow, really?!" Then, I realized 34 of those hours are over the weekend, 10 hours are spent getting ready over the weekday mornings, and 16 are left over for the weekday evenings. Which only leaves about 3 hours of free time each weekday evening - and that felt more accurate. Like there is no time for anything unless you save it for the weekend. During those 3 hours during the week, it's cooking supper, cleaning up supper, and then it's bed time for the kids. It can get really depressing, filled with mom-guilt, and cause me to wonder if I should work at all. But then I remember the student loans and that snaps me back. While I'm thankful we have breaks and the summer, it does get really hard during the school year. But over the years, I've learned NOT to take work home with me. If grades aren't in for another day, then so be it. If I don't have submissions in PlanBook, then so be it. If I'm not 100% ready for my next lesson, then so be it; if I bring the energy, the kids won't know the difference. I love teaching, and I love giving them knowledge, but I love my family and my life more. So far this book is wonderful in describing what fewer things better actually means.
ReplyDeleteThere are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say you’re contracted to work around 40 hours and you work another 20 hours every week for free. That’s 6o hours a week spent on school-related tasks, leaving you with 108 hours for everything else. If you factor in around 7 hours of sleep a night, that still leaves you with 59-60 hours a week for yourself…” How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time?
ReplyDeleteTen hours a week are for commuting to and from school. The rest of the time is spent on obligations such as chores at home and enjoyable time spent with my family.
Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time
Much of my free time is spent with my family. I recently started to spend more time exercising and reading to relax and do things to make myself a better person. One area I could spend less time on is scrolling through social media on my phone. I get sucked in and regret it every time.
ReplyDeleteHow do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteMuch of my free time is spent with my daughter, Brecklin. She is 2 1/2 years old and she is BUSY. We love to spend our days together outside or enjoying crafts/art together. When Brecklin is napping or sleeping, I spend time scrolling on social media, walking on my treadmill, reading books for enjoyment, or spending time with my husband watching movies/TV shows together. One area I could spend less time in is social media. I actually gave up social media apps for Lent this year and the amount of time I have now to complete more tasks or read more books is phenomenal. One area I could spend more time in is personal care. I often times make sure everyone else is taken care of: my husband, my daughter, my students; that I forget about filling up my own glass. I would like to spend less time scrolling and more time focusing on bettering myself and filling up my glass before I pour into others.
During my free time, I am with my family and at home catching up laundry, cleaning, and other household chores. I have three children, and they keep me and my husband very busy! I have learned recently that I can't do everything myself. So, I have started giving my other family members "chores" to help me get things done around the house. This allows us to get tasks completed quicker and allows us to have more time to spend together. I used to try to do everything myself, but I realized that it was causing me to feel burnt out and like I was on an island by myself. By asking my family to help out has been extremely helpful for myself.
ReplyDeleteDuring my non-work time, I enjoy spending time with family. I enjoy going to events to support my grandkids. I enjoy taking time for me to replenish my own bucket. I enjoy doing genealogy and puzzles of all sorts. Of course day to day stuff has to get done too (housework, laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc.) The trick is finding balance. I am lucky that I have a husband who is a fabulous and true partner. We work together to get stuff done and support one another.
ReplyDeleteA good part of any free time is spent taking care of my 3 kids and our home. I love being present with them while playing or hanging out together. When they go to bed early, I usually spend 1-2 hours cleaning up the house and then spend the rest of the time before bed with my husband. The one thing that pops into my head to incorporate more into my “free time” is to do more for myself. I don’t do many things that I want to do because I like to give my kids and husband all my attention that they want. I do get burned out sometimes and think to myself “I just want to do something that I want to do” but then I remind myself that when my kids are older I’ll have more time for “my time”.
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ReplyDeleteSeeing all of those hours spelled out that way is really eye opening! I am fortunate in my role that I don't do a lot of work outside of my contracted time outside of the start of the school year. I FEEL like all of my free time goes to household management activities; if I took those 20 non-contract hours and applied those to my household chores - that leaves me quite a bit of "free time". I know I spend a lot of my free time on mindless activities such as scrolling my phone, looking things up on the internet, and watching TV. It's actually quite upsetting to think about when it is all spelled out in this way. Raising two elementary aged children does take up a lot of my "free time" - but that is something that gives me great joy. I know something I would very much like to change is being more intentional in my time outside of work - and stay away from my phone! Seeing how much time really does exist in my week, I would like to be more mindful of scheduling time for exercise, and giving myself time to think and journal about what is really important to me.
With two little kids at home (and a dog), I currently spend a lot of my free time caring for others...prepping and planning for the week and then for each day...feeding everyone, going to preschool and appts and activities and then having family time before the kids' bedtimes...
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking a lot about "What if I didn't do it..." and I would like to make some changes that stem from this idea. For example, I want to spend a little more time prepping grab and go breakfasts for the kids in the morning like I do for my husband and myself rather than making breakfast each morning.
I also want to change my mindset on certain obligations, because I know in the end it's important for me and my family and it is my choice so I don't need to complain about it.
Teaching became more established throughout the years and my mind quieted down some. I could never settle for doing the same thing every year. Especially when I discovered a better way to do something and needed to revamp. This is what probably took up most of my time. I have to admit my husband was the one who was mostly running the boys around to activities. Science involves a lot of materials, supplies, inventory, chemicals etc... I loved to do hands on/visual activities. Even though the students helped with a lot of set up and take down, it still required so much set up and clean up. I always felt the students enjoyed their learning, and it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteHow do I now spend approximately 60 hrs free time? Still trying to keep up with boys, including the husband. My own free time is spent at the barn, which I call therapy. If I can get 10 to 15 hrs a week at the barn, I can feel somewhat mentally refreshed.
I have really been reflecting on "time" this week. Weekdays and weekends obviously look very different. On weeknights, each night is pretty much the same--come home, make dinner, pick up my son from sports, clean, get ready for the week, and bed. The weekends are where I feel I could really "tweak" my time management. I find myself overwhelmed with what "needs" to get done, and often I feel paralyzed and overwhelmed, and very little actually gets done. I am going to try to be more deliberate about what truly needs to get done and making a specific plan/timeline for getting it done. I am hopeful that this will allow me to quickly get done the needed tasks and then be able to open time for what I WANT to do. I think I may need to be really intentional on how I ensure the enjoyable tasks will get done--As the beginning of FTB has made clear, it can be easy to let time slip by without enjoying life.
ReplyDeleteI found this math to be eye-opening because it certainly doesn't feel like I have that much time to myself in a week. Part of the reason for that is because, as a busy, working mom, so much of my "free time" is spent driving kids to and from activities, doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, and doing other household chores. However, I do also devote an hour to walking every day and probably about 30 minutes to reading for enjoyment every day. Honestly, I don't know that I would change much about how I spend my free time right now. I don't necessarily want to do all those household chores, but I also want a clean house, well-fed kids, and the ability for my kids to be involved in activities. I know that someday I will have more time for myself and I will miss these busy days! I guess, if anything, I would delegate more of the household chores to my children so that things could get done faster and we could have more time to just hang out as a family.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a lot of my free time is used for being a busy mom. I learned a long time ago not to bring stuff home from work because 9 times out of 10, I wouldn't do it anyway. It helped me to reorganize how I do my work at school and my efficiency. With that being said, I don't feel like I utilize my free time in a way that fits what I want into my daily routine. I have started to try to shift my focus into what is important for my family and I. I try not to spend hours on chores on my days off and instead do little things throughout the week. We have busy weekends all the time and we try to plan where we just stay home if possible through the weekend. I could try to let go of the need to do things myself and support my family to try and help me instead of just doing it myself.
ReplyDeleteMost of my "free time" is centered around my family, primarily my two children who are 11 and 8 years old. I try not to over-schedule my children's activities, I want them to enjoy their childhood not be so busy with sports and activities. Even so, I have soccer, football, Girl Scouts, church, and volleyball to juggle. I try to keep an organized and clean house and I meal plan/prep to allow more time during the week. I love spending time with my kids, and being organized during the week helps with that. I'm also trying to holding my children accountable with responsibilities so that they can help out around the house. When I'm not busy with my kids, I love to read. I find as they're getting older, I'm able to sit outside and read while they play with neighborhood friends. I'm doing something I enjoy while still being involved with them. I also love to take walks when the weather is nice, garden, try new restaurants, and hang out with friends. I try to make exercise a priority in the morning, but I could be more consistent. I've been making an effort recently to stay off my phone, and its been easier than I thought!
ReplyDeleteWell, I try to bring his little work home as possible, I just can’t seem to get it done during my prep. Period. I feel fortunate to have a full hour to prep, as I know most teachers don’t have that. I am productive during this time, yet I still have lesson planning to do each weekend. It has gotten better so that I only spend about one or two hours per weekend working on it. The rest of my free time is spent with my family, specifically my three-year-old daughter. I try to have time for myself doing yoga, spending time in my yard, and getting other forms of exercise. I also enjoyed going on date nights with my husband , and reading in the evenings to unwind
ReplyDeletePlease excuse my above grammatical errors. I was doing text to type and it published before I had a chance to edit.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm not currently working in the education field, my work hours are a bit different. During different "seasons" I work many hours depending on what is happening. Other seasons I may have a bit more of down time and can stick closer to those 40 hour work weeks. In my free time, I like to spend it doing things that I enjoy in addition to the required "adulting" things - cooking, cleaning, laundry. It is getting to be closer to summer, so I enjoy reading for fun outside on my patio, bike rides, and of course catching up with a good tv series to unwind for the day.
ReplyDeleteLike so many, my free time is spent cooking, cleaning, and taking care of my family. I feel those are the "must" dos because if I didn't, who would? I also feel, I'm spending way too much of my free time scrolling. Some times, it's for educational purposes. Trying to make lessons better, but far too often, there's no point. I really need to scale that back so I have more free time to do things I love such as gardening, reading, and walking.
ReplyDeleteWow that is an incredible amount of time I definitely do not use well! I spend much of my "free" time thinking about school, cleaning, working a second job, and helping with my grandkids as much as possible. I often fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. The school position I am in right now dictates my financial struggles, so I have put my self on the learning side of things to get back on track. I am single and don't have any household responsibilities to anyone but myself, so you'd think I could get everything done and enjoy some downtime. I am looking forward to learning how to make my school life as uncomplicated as possible, since I really do love teaching.
ReplyDeleteThat number seemed so high to me because I was thinking "where the heck does time go??" That number is not actually "free time" in my life, because you have to do laundry, meal prep, cook meals, do dishes, laundry, get kids to activities, grocery shop, appointments, etc. etc. etc. So even if you cut out half that time for those personal things, it still doesn't seem like enough time to have "free time" for yourself. It feels like we're always running to the next thing or trying to prep for what comes up. If you have little kids, like me, you spend a lot of time just parenting like potty training and helping them eat. Older kids need a lot of chauffeuring to things so they're busy too. So where do these free time hours go?? I don't have time for hobbies, "me time" or anything else other than keeping my kids alive and onto the next thing, so where the heck does the time go? I can't believe how much of our free time we put into our classrooms and our students, it's astonishing! I love the idea of not bringing work home but that's not always the easiest thing to do, but a great goal! I look forward to a better life-work balance as much as I can try to do!
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of you, I also am a parent with busy kids! I have three boys ages 4-12, and I feel much less pressed for time than I did when they were pre-school age. They can officially do much more independently, though driving them to their activities when we live ten miles out of town is still a lot.
ReplyDeleteTeaching high school English, the hardest thing is balancing grading and assessing writing with my home life; though, thanks to a 4-day week with student help/work time Fridays, I have been able to get most of that done at school. I am so grateful for that. However, it sometimes means that I have to leave myself out of social hour in the hallway to do so.
One experiment that I recently did was to have AI schedule my weeknights, and I tried to follow it loosely for a week or two. It's weird, but I've liked it. If I follow it, it removes some of the DECISION FATIGUE that I know we all feel at the end of the school day. It makes me ensure that I set time aside for family time and a little me time when I can.
As a Father of four children all under the age of 9. My free time gets accounted for quickly like Angela Watson mentioned in the book of going back and forth between errands and activities. This past schoolyear, I was more intentional about not checking my email after 6pm and I found this to be helpful in allowing me to disconnect from work for a little while and be more present with my children. I would like to continue this trend in the evening and begin to develop more meaningful routines or activities with my families that will help us create memories to look back on fondly.
ReplyDeleteAs a mom of 3, I've tried hard to spent most of my "free time" with my husband and kids, especially on the weekends. I learned early on that I needed to make my family a priority so I try to work hard at getting my lesson plans, copies, etc. done during the week so I don't have to do it over the weekend. I still bring papers home to grade, find myself looking at teacherspayteachers for ideas, cutting lamination, messaging parents, and running to the store for items I need for school, but I've tried hard to separate my work and home time as much as possible. Time goes by so fast, I don't want to regret not spending as much time as I can with those that mean the most to me. I still feel stressed by so many obligations and balancing life all together, but I am looking forward to trying more of what I'm learning, like the word "no."
ReplyDeleteI can hardly believe the math on this as I never feel I have that much time, but currently I find myself doing mindlessly activities such as table games or Pinterest and then wonder where did the time go. I do find time to spend with my youngest talking and combing her hair as a way to connect with her. Some changes I would like to make are making sure my body is healthy with drinking water and watching my blood sugars. I found too often that I say to myself that I didn't have time to drink enough water or watch what I eat. I know that my health needs to be a priority in order to be the best wife, mother, and teacher.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I try to spend most of my weekday evening hours with my family. But when the weekend arrives, I feel like I'm always playing catch up with planning, creating, and grading. When I adjust to my routine, I feel I have more time, but this depends on what I need to grade or prepare for, for the next week. As always I would like to make changes with how I spend my free time to have more of it. I think this book will provide helpful suggestions.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to actually look at it as "hours each day" rather than just days or weeks. I also agree that when you make the choice to take some things home from work to complete and it doesn't feel like work - that is because it is a hobby or things I enjoy. I am going to remember this when I pack up my "school bag" to take home each day. Is it something required for me to complete and I need to take it home? Maybe then that needs to stay at work and be completed during actual work hours. However, I enjoy finding and creating new things for my classroom, so take those things home and do them while I watch tv, etc! So far this is a great read!
ReplyDeleteI really try to focus my hours outside of school on my family. I am usually running to their activities or busy helping with their needs. I feel like I really try to get work done at school during break times, but still bring home work more than I should. I feel like this book will be a great way of teaching me that balance and applying the "what will happen if I don't" idea.
ReplyDeleteI have four sons, whose ages range from two to twelve years old, so at my current stage of life, I feel like a lot of my free time is spent driving them to practices, games, or other activities. With four kids whose schedules are becoming busier each year, it can be overwhelming at times. While it’s technically my free time, by the time we get home and get everyone fed and off to bed each night, my husband and I are exhausted and have barely enough energy to watch a show together (and we’re often folding laundry or doing some other task while doing so). For me, I recognize that every tiny moment adds up. The summer is when I have a bit more flexibility when it comes to free time, but I’m also using my extra time at home to do more cleaning and cooking than I would normally have time to do when school is in session. During the school year, I would like to make small changes by remembering that every little moment counts. I’ve gotten into the habit of staying past four during the work day, often leaving closer to 4:30. That doesn’t feel like a lot of time, but it adds up to 2.5 extra hours that I spend at work per week when I don’t have to be there. Instead, I could leave at four and go for a walk or run. I know that spending an extra 2.5 hours a week exercising and taking care of myself physically would obviously benefit me much more in the long-term than sitting at my desk and doing busy work would. Plus, I know that I can be in a better mood for my family if I’ve had that time to decompress a bit after work.
ReplyDeleteDuring the school year much of my "free time" is spent coaching or driving bus. When I'm not doing that, I spend time with my wife and dogs, and do home improvement projects. I love to fish, but that really only happens during the summer months. I know I would benefit from being more active, and I have been working on that more recently.
ReplyDeleteMy work-free time is spent at work, running errands, grabbing toddlers from daycare, making dinner, working on homework, doing laundry, giving baths, prepping for tomorrow, etc. I constantly feel as if my day is 100% consumed by what NEEDS to get done when I finally walk out the door from work. I feel as if my day flies by with little to no time to do what I want to do. I'm hoping as I continue to read this book, I learn tools in prioritizing the limited time that I have on this Earth doing what I truly want to do.
ReplyDeleteWith only one child left in high school, I'm enjoying having much more fee time than I've ever had! I have now budgeting time for working out most days and have the time to do some much needed decluttering during the summer. I have a few "must watch" shows that I enjoy during the evenings and can spend some time relaxing with my husband and adult children at the lake or even taking a vacation!
ReplyDeleteI'm single mom of 3 boys, so I often feel I work at home when I get home from work. I have fallen into the same routine of work, cook supper, clean up the kitchen, do any outside work that needs to get done, go to any school activities for my youngest that's involved in dance team, cheer, and competitive dance, and get ready for bed. I definitely need to break this routine!
ReplyDeleteI guess I never stopped to count the hours of free time I have weekly. It doesn't seem like 60! During the work week, I usually go into work early. I find I am more productive when my mind is fresh and it is peaceful in the building. I try not to take work home anymore, but I do stay late at times to get things finished up. Weeknight evenings usually consist of cooking, cleaning up around the house, exercising, grocery shopping, preparing lunch, etc. for the next day, and trying to find a few minutes for reading or maybe watching TV. Weekends are spent cleaning, catching up on chores around the house, running errands, going to church, and spending time with family. I would like to work on prioritizing my time better on weekends so I can spend more time with family and friends and time doing some of the hobbies I enjoy. I always like to get my "work" done first before starting on my fun activities and I often run out of time for the fun and enjoyable things.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of crazy to me to think about the extra hours we have in a day or week instead of just thinking about them as an extra few days. We have four day school weeks, so I usually spend my Friday's off running errands, doing housework for the week and catching up on cleaning. I try to get all of that done on Friday so then I still have Saturday and Sunday free and I am able to choose to do something a little more fun or enjoyable. Sometimes it might just be reading a good book, watching a movie or just relaxing at home. However, sometimes it involves going out of town or spending time with friends and family. Usually one night a week during the school week I try to stay a little later to get caught up on my stuff for the next week. I am comfortable with how I spend my extra hours in the week because it has been working for me so far.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think about this - that I have as much "free time" as I do work time. I will say that this last year, I did try to leave when my contract time was up. However, that meant that not all of my responsibilities got completed to my standards or liking, specifically my lesson plans. I try not to work on school at home because it makes my children and husband resentful. I don't stay late for the same reason. Most of my "free" time is spent trying to appease everyone else in my house with little/no time to do what I want. Heck, I don't even know what I like to do anymore! I realize that's the choice that I've made. However, my children won't be around forever. Once they're actually out on their own, I'll have much more time to pursue my own interests. I do feel guilty, though, if I do spend time doing what I want. I feel like I'm neglecting those who need me. Also, my husband is a pastor, so much of our weekend is spent with church activities. Also, during those holiday breaks, when most have the time to rest and relax, those are his busiest times of year. Our family from out of state usually comes to visit during those times, too, so my "break" is spent entertaining and managing schedules to make sure we don't miss anything.
ReplyDeleteI feel I have made better quality use of my free time. I try to make sure to do something that is just for me. I am usually busy running kids to activities/practices so while they are there I will use that time for me. I think finding the balance of work/family/me time/etc can be tricky but by being intentional with all of those aspects in life you can be more well rounded.
ReplyDeleteMoving forward, I would like to lessen the amount of time I bring work home and to delegate more responsibilities in groups that I volunteer with.
Like most others, much of my 60 hours of "free" time does not actually feel free. Household duties, immediate and extended family responsibilities, and church responsibilities take up quite a large chunk of that time. However, I appreciate Watson's direction in using different language such as "I choose", "I I've opted to", or even "I get to" to help reframe many of those responsibilities. I would like to intentionally CHOOSE to spend my time in ways that give me more energy/joy for my immediate family instead of sometimes giving them the "leftovers".
ReplyDeleteThis passage was pretty eye-opening for me as I had never really thought about it in that way and you would think as a math teacher that I would have! A lot of that 60 hours of free time is spent with my family, pursuing hobbies like playing guitar and cards, shuttling my 14 year old to and from her activities, and overall just trying to relax and decompress from the busy school work. If I'm being honest, though, I do spend a fair amount of this time in school, especially on the weekends, catching up on things I could not get done during the week and preparing for the upcoming week. This book has reminded me that this is a choice I am making and I have decided that moving forward I want to limit this time I spend in school on the weekends or stop going in altogether. I would also like to make time for things like exercising and spending more quality time with family.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people who is a scheduler, and I'm keenly aware of the way my time is spent. This can be a really great thing, and it can also be stressful for me (and my family! :)) at times.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the author's point about time spent "working" and time spent "enjoying" work. I do spend a lot of time outside of my school day working on school, but except for grading research papers, I generally enjoy the work I'm doing. It makes my teaching time better, makes me feel more confident and relaxed, etc.
The rest of time my "60 hours" is spent on all the usual things in a smaller community: serving on boards, volunteering for church and schools (as a parent and as a teaacher), teaching youth group, taking care of the yard and house, planning meals and cooking, and on and on.
We have three kids -- one graduated from college, one a senior in college, and one a senior in high school, so we're still on the extracurricular train, and trying to soak up every second of it in this last year while also visiting college kids who live five hours away.
This summer, I've made a commitment to work out every day, and every day still I find myself saying, "Self, you have so many other things to do! This can wait." :) Then I remind myself that it's not a crime to take specifically for me. Hoping I can stick with it, because besides being healthier and feeling better, it's a real change of mindset.
How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteThose are good questions! Some time goes to getting my girls up and going in the morning, eating supper, doing dishes, doing other household chores (laundry, vacuuming, etc), helping my girls practice spelling words, etc. Once a week, I have handbell rehearsal time (plus driving time). Each week, one of my daughters has Girl Scouts, so I either help at the meeting or drop the other while I go to work (don't even ask about Girl Scout cookie season!). Plus, there is church and spending time with my family afterwards.
Other than that, I try to find time to read. There are also days, though, that I must admit to needing to decompress, and I mindlessly scroll through Facebook. I really do not watch TV/movies, unless we do a family movie. But I still wonder where all the time goes and feel that all I do during the school year is school work and that I never have time for myself.
YES! I want to make changes to how I spend my time (especially during the school year)! I was trying to figure out if her 20 hours of extra school work number covered what I did last school year, but it is hard to tell. I definitely want to cut that back - some years I have been a lot better about not doing a lot of extra work, but last year was horrible with a lot of paperwork on top of a brand new science curriculum that needed a lot of prep work. During the summer, I feel I do better with this, but I still know that this is definitely a big area to improve in!
How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? That time is spent doing things or activities that I feel help make our school successful outside of the classroom. Depending on the time of the school year that time is consumed in various ways. During the fall I coach high school volleyball, so that pretty much eats up all of the "free" time that I have. If I am not playing catch up with classroom expectations then I am watching film, game planning, or putting in extra time in the gym for those athletes who want it. I also volunteer my free time to assist with planning and prep work for the Junior class prom as well as creating opportunities for our elementary students to get involved in basketball and volleyball programs. My husband and I also own our business, so when not doing school related activities, I have the obligation to assist with the family business.
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, I LOVE my life. I love being busy and find happiness and contentment with giving back to our community through various activities.
During the school year, I try to spend most of my weekday evening hours with my family (picking up girls from daycare, giving them my uninterrupted attention, making dinner, reading books with them, etc.) but often feel like that is not the case because I am trying to answer parent emails, or grade papers, and whatever else needs to get done for school. Then the weekend arrives, and I need to plan for everything the coming week. I hope I can adjust my way of thought, better plan things throughout my school day, so I have more time for all the things I want to do with my girls. Then if things come up that I have to take care of, it will not seem so much of a weight because it will be the exception not the norm. As with anything, this will take some experimenting and trial and error but I think this book will provide helpful suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated this paragraph, with how it laid out the reality of work hours and time available, because it can seem sometimes that all we have time for is work, when that simply isn't the case. However, I think it does take too simplistic a look at the obligations in a week, to come up with 60 hours of free time. For example, everyone has a commute of some length that reduces that time. Also, getting yourself and the family ready in the morning, dropping children off and picking them up at daycare also takes time. All that being said, there is still time available in a week for other activities. For myself, after spending time with my children, getting them to bed and catching up with my husband, I often watch some TV to relax before bed. While TV isn't bad, I would like to make some changes to focus more on other hobbies, such as exercising, or reading in the evenings.
ReplyDeleteDuring the school year, I spend quite a bit of time after school grading, cleaning up my classroom and reorganizing for the next day. I really don't mind doing each of those things and I am okay spending the extra time so that the next day I feel prepared. Perhaps that will change when I have a family, but for now, it is just me and my boyfriend and I don't have a ton of "extra-commitments". After doing that, I spend a lot of time at home doing the required tasks, like laundry, cleaning, making dinner, working out, and then relaxing. I think the biggest change that I want to make is prioritizing spending my time with my family and friends because those relationships are super important to me.
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3: How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteCurrently I spend my free time painting, reading, and doing errands that do not get finished during the week. I have learned over the years to be more organized at school and use my time effectively, so I don't have to bring work home with me. But, I will admit, when I have essays to grade I take the allotted time and grade. I enjoy reading my students' work. I think if you enjoy what you are doing and being around kids that is a reward. I don't have any extra commitments and that is when I say "no". After so many 24 years, I have learned that my health and family are more important, and I make time for myself.
I enjoyed those chapters and reminded myself of why I don't allow myself to take work home. On occasion I might have to do a few things at night but I try my best to keep work at school. It is a choice I have made for my husband, kids, and myself. The leftover 60 hours, I want to spend with my family and have put that as my priority. I think I have a healthy balance and I would not change it.
ReplyDeleteEverything written makes total since. It's the adaptability and practicality aspect that is a little more difficult. I am pleased that I do not take work home (other than occasional lesson planning over the weekend, but most of the time I can get that done week prior in school). It does feel like my free time gets taken with kids' priorities. However, I'm choosing to go to them and support them, so it's a choice that my free time is spent with them, and not doing something just for me. I loved the comment that everything is a choice...sometimes I need to choose ME! And that's okay.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first began teaching, I’d work in my classroom later in the evenings and on the weekends. There was so much to learn. It became too exhausting. I didn’t feel that I was taking care of myself, being there for my family, and since I didn’t take a break from school. I wasn’t the best teacher that I could be for my students. I knew I had to make changes. I began going to school earlier in the morning. This has worked well. I don’t bring work home. The evenings and weekends are for my family.
ReplyDeleteHow do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteI think that using the "free" time really depends on how I use the work time at school. I have learned that I can get my work done, most of the time, if I really use the 8-9 hours that I am at school every day efficiently. After watching my teacher aunts spend endless hours at their homes correcting papers, cutting things out, and making lessons, I decided very early in my 22 year career that I wouldn't make that choice. I think that the dedication to the profession is the same regardless how many extra hours are spent. I have my own three kids and I try to use my free time making sure that they know that my work is important when I am at work, but they are important when I am home.
I use my free time to manage my home, feed children, shuttle kids to activities, and hope to watch one TV show in the evening to unwind. I know that I like to wake up and workout first thing, but haven't been consistent to do that during the school year. I am consistent about working out directly after school so that I am choosing to spend that hour on myself before the at home work begins. I do find that I have some hobby work that goes along with my real work whether that is wanting to find new materials or videos to supplement a lesson. I am choosing to spend my free time looking up information that I also like reading or watching about. I would like to make more time to just sit and be quiet.
I definitely fall under the type of person who, for far too long, mismanages my time and then shifts the blame of this onto others or complain it is out of my control. I unfortunately am known by my colleagues and my family to be the last car out of the work parking lot each evening. It is never fun to walk out and see that my car is lonely, the only one still there. Even coaches of extra curricular activities are done with their practices before I exit the building. It has taken me far too long to realize that I should be taking action to fix this, and that it is all in my control. I put off working on my physical health because work takes up too much of my daily life. I spend way too much time focusing on school work in the evenings, even after being the last car in the lot. I spend too much time soaking in information online, whether it is reading the news or social media. I spend too much time trying to please everyone and be the super hero that does it all. My husband recently made a comment that I have trouble with time management. At first I was quite offended and upset about this. I do so much, both at home and work, often for others or to please others, so how could I be wasting my time? That is what I have often thought time management was. I don't slack, I am always busy. However, I am starting to understand that he was right. I am choosing what I spend my time doing, and I am mismanaging that time. I definitely embrace the idea of shifting my mindset to help me take control and chose how I spend my time in ways that positively impact my life instead of negatively.
ReplyDeleteBeing a mother of 4 kids who are all in school and being a full time teacher I think what I need to do is shift my mindset more. Less complaining and blaming and realizing the positive things in what I “get” to do. Example I get to spend time with my own kids when I am taking them to activities, or enjoy that I get to be at school with them. I do try hard not to take papers home to grade because it makes me crabby but sometimes planning is fun. So really prioritizing what work gets done at school and what work gets done at home is probably essential for me or at least my mood!
ReplyDeleteI definitely spend them differently now that my kids are out of the house. For many years I spent them going to my children's sporting events and music concerts. I find myself spending time doing my school paperwork after school hours such as writing IEPs. When I am home, I now I find myself mindlessly watching Hulu. It often isn't a deliberate choice but a mindless default activity. I definitely need to be more intentional in spending time taking care of my health and spending time with my husband and friends. I'm looking forward to reading more about how to make that happen.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which I view my free time has completely changed this year as I am now a first time mom of a 5-month old. My goal for this school year is to get to school and leave school as close to contracted time as possible. When I am home, I need to be present with both my husband and my daughter because they deserve it! I only get so much time with them so I will be making the most of it. This will involve boundary setting and me actively working towards protecting those boundaries as well, because my time is valuable!
ReplyDeleteThis was the portion of this section that resonated most with me. It is truly crazy that the amount of time is equal because it never actually feels that way. My free time is currently spent mostly cooking, cleaning, helping my children with homework, and working out. I want to be more intentional about what things really need to be done and what can be eliminated. I liked her example about the trip to the grocery store. It could be possible to skip and make due until your next trip. I want to try and focus more on what unimportant things I can let go of not only as a teacher but also as a wife and mother.
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer time, it looks quite a bit different than the school year. Either way, I do a lot of refereeing. I enjoy this and it provides a nice boost to my income. I would like to travel a bit more going forward if I can swing that. I enjoy spending time with my kids and my siblings and their families when I can. I also enjoy reading books for pleasure but have made choices that keep me from doing that as much as I like. I hope to change that soon.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an eye opener. Outside of school, I feel like a lot of my "free" time goes to my family -- making sure things run smoothly. There are definitely areas that I could better manage though. Scrolling mindlessly on my phone is one of them. I should be using my phone for better purposes like recording pictures of my kids for memories. I do feel like I am pretty good at keeping work items at work. There is the occasional times where I need to bring stuff home.
ReplyDeleteDuring the school year, I usually walk with my husband and dogs after wor, make supper, unwind with a netflix series, spend 30-60 minutes prepping for the next day's lessons. Our children are grown and this schedule works for me, but I wouldn't want to keep this schedule if I had littles at home. I don't feel like I have the time or energy to be social with people in the evenings. I think I would enjoy and benefit from choosing to be involved in a weekly evening activity--dinner with friends, bible study, craft group, hmm.
ReplyDeleteI was always guilty of thinking I didn't have enough time, especially with 3 children and working a business alongside teaching. I felt that I was at school late everyday and/or bringing tons of things home eveynight working until the wee hours of the morning. Looking back, I chose to be busy. I chose to be the cheerleading advisor when asked. I chose to be a volleyball coach.
ReplyDeleteI chose to become an EMT. I chose to be a Pampered Chef consultant. I did give up cheerleading when I got married because I knew didn't want to be gone every night of the week to games and luckily someone else wanted the position. I held on to everything else staying up late at night working on Special Ed reports, drafting IEPs, doing things for my business until my youngest was born. Volleyball season had just changed to fall vs. winter and he was due in September, and I didn't want to have to worry about coaching and giving up time with my newborn so I gave up coaching. I also gave up being an EMT due to finding time to keep up my hours for certification. When my kids got to be high school age and graduated, I would stay at school much later unless they had a game or other event I needed to go to. I did that so I wouldn't have to bring so many things home. Looking back, I did not prioritize my time as I would have liked until the last few years. I rarely did things for myself. Now I try to set time aside for that.
Chapters 1-3: Share your thoughts about this passage: “There are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say you’re contracted to work around 40 hours and you work another 20 hours every week for free. That’s 60 hours a week spent on school-related tasks, leaving you with 108 hours for everything else. If you factor in around 7 hours of sleep a night, that still leaves you with 59-60 hours a week for yourself…” How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteCurrently I spend my “free time” doing a few things: school work or spending time with family or errands/house stuff. Our admin has always been very supportive of spending time with our family and leaving work at work although that is hard for many teachers. My goal for this year is to continue working on not being focused so much on school when I am with my family. Last year, I turned off sound notifications for school emails coming to my phone so that I wouldn’t hear that ding and go right to my phone to handle whatever email came through – that was a good first step in focusing on my family!
Chapters 1-3: Share your thoughts about this passage: “There are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say you’re contracted to work around 40 hours and you work another 20 hours every week for free. That’s 60 hours a week spent on school-related tasks, leaving you with 108 hours for everything else. If you factor in around 7 hours of sleep a night, that still leaves you with 59-60 hours a week for yourself…” How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteDuring the school year my "free time" is spent doing a number of things: school work, after school art club, running errands, meal prep, 30 minutes of daily workout, and spending time with my husband. I teach at a small school district and am currently the only art teacher. The work I do for school consistently takes up evenings and weekends if I am not careful with my time. Going forward, I would like to be better about setting boundaries with myself around what work "needs" to come home with me. Prioritize my tasks better and make sure I am focusing on things that will free up my time and not take more. I want to be able to let go of things that really in the grand scheme of it no one will notice it is not done but me. I find it is very easy to get overwhelmed with tasks I feel need to get done for work on top of the everyday activities and errands of my personal life. By setting boundaries and really considering some of the work I have set for myself I hope to free up my time and find more enjoyment in some of the things I do outside of school and not feeling guilty or overwhelmed when I haven't given my whole weekend or evenings to prepping for my classes.
10+ hours of that 60 is spent driving in my car (I live 45 minutes away from work). Outside of that I run a small business (4hrs+ depending on the week), Volunteer (2hr), bring my kid to his activities (4hr). Play soccer including the drive into town and home (3.5hr). Outside of the above scheduled things I cook, clean house, care for animals, yard work, showers every day. With my "extra" time I like to hottub with my husband every night, bake (this is fun for me), quilt/crochet/craft, watch TV. I do admit that I spend way to much time scrolling on my phone. That is the big thing I would change. While I know that I have "extra" time and I feel bad that most of the time when people ask me to go out or do something together I turn them down. By the time all the work is done my social battery/energy is shot and I just want to be at home. I feel bad when I turn people down, I wish I had more energy for my friends.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I are starting the empty nest stage of life. Our youngest left for college a few weeks ago. The days of going from one school-related activity to another are now done. Something my wife and I value is serving. I want to ensure we look for those opportunities now that we have more free time. Netflix or Hulu are nice distractions but I don't need that to be the norm.
ReplyDeleteI currently spend my "free" time on a vary of things - cleaning and cooking, laundry, gardening and yard work, walking, time with family, and attending my daughters volleyball games. Our youngest is now a senior so I do feel that I have a little more time to myself then I did when all 4 kids were at home and we had numerous activities to attend. I have recently gotten into reading just for fun....something I never had time for when my kids were younger.
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3: Share your thoughts about this passage: “There are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say you’re contracted to work around 40 hours and you work another 20 hours every week for free. That’s 6o hours a week spent on school-related tasks, leaving you with 108 hours for everything else. If you factor in around 7 hours of sleep a night, that still leaves you with 59-60 hours a week for yourself…” How do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteWhew, these are great questions to ponder. I am loving this book already. My husband and I have two young boys. I try my best to spend as much time as possible with my family as possible, when I leave work. This past year, I have tried to put as many systems in place to ensure that I being as efficient as possible. In the past, I feel as I was wasting precious seconds of my time. I feel like I really started using my time more wisely when I got married, and then it has improved with each kiddo that we have added to the mix. I am excited to see how this continues to evolve and improve. Efficiency is the key for me. Over the years in the classroom, I have also realized what NEEDS to be done and what I WANT to be done.
The past two weeks, I have been doing grocery pick up, as it is much easier than hauling two small kiddos into the grocery store. For so long, I felt that if I used grocery pick up that I was being lazy and not putting in the work. The beginning of this book validated that this is not the case; it is all about saving time! I needed that reinforcement!
I am looking forward to practicing the concepts described in the first three chapters. Our time is so precious and that is what we must remember!
I currently spend my 60 hours a week of free time with my daughter. I follow a typical schedule of work from 7-4:30, when I get home my daughter eats a snack, I make supper, and then we go for a walk. After the walk, we prepare for bed. I typically have 3 and a half hours a night with my daughter, which is hard for me. I would like to make changes by ensuring I am fully present with my daughter and not worried about household chores.
ReplyDeleteI used to spend a large amount of my time taking work home and planning for the next week. To be honest, sometimes I still do, but it's less. I've tried to prioritize my time at school, completing most of my paperwork there. I've spent more time with family and my animals. I've also done more with gardening and I enjoy canning the past few years. I've realized that the more stress I feel at work, the more I have to do for myself at home to avoid burnout.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is that math can’t be right! After I did the math myself, I now feel like I am poorly managing all the time I have. This quarter has beaten me up and worn me out. I can barely function when I get home some days. What am I doing all of those hours? I worked 2 jobs. I answered emails, created assignments, graded, and spent hours planning the nights away. I searched the web for better lessons, and created new materials. I also have a junior in high school and some of the activities I have been doing are supporting her junior class fund raising. At her school you volunteer or pay. I chose not to pay. I have a sophomore in college. I try to make time for her as well. I think that social media has eaten up a lot of my time. Also some television. I do all the cooking, most of the cleaning, and all of the laundry.
ReplyDeleteChanges I have made already: Quit working at Dollar General. Delegate some of the cleaning.
Other changes I would like to make: I am hoping to get my life managed enough so I can be more than a teacher. I want time for a hobby, to be able to sell on the web and visit my college student without feeling guilty. Maybe take on a second job again to pay down some debt.
This passage was very interesting for me. After working a full day, you may find me working another job. While this doesn't take up the full 60 hours of the free time discussed, it wears me out to the point where I don't want to do anything with anyone when I get home. Most time outside of working is spent watching TV or scrolling on my phone. Not only is this mind numbing but it also affects relationships because of my want/need to be away from others and do something for myself that doesn"t require me to make decisions or speak with others. I usually say I deserve this because I need to wind down when really it is not helping at all. I would like to change how I spend my time in the future and doing things that are going to fill my cup rather than rot my brain.
ReplyDeleteI am currently a full time teacher with 3 young kiddos in school full time as well as a farm wife/basketball coach/homework club teacher and active member of our church. I spend a lot of time on these different roles during the week and I think my biggest take away from this chapter is no matter how "busy" it makes it feel I have to remind myself that I chose these extra roles, time commitments. Because when I remind myself that I don't "have-to" do all of these things it really does change my demeanor/outlook on feeling so busy. Going forward I really want to do a better job of saying no when it isn't something that is going to benefit me.
ReplyDeleteI am nearly the end of my teaching career of 40 years. My "free" time looks much different today than it did when I was busy raising kids. Currently, I spend much of my time with my two-year-old granddaughter. I enjoy taking care of my home, planning meals for my husband and myself, and staying in touch with family. I love playing Words with Friends and scrolling through social media for ideas for my classroom and house. I am looking forward to two new grandbabies in February. I am happy to give up time in the future to be present for them!
ReplyDeleteThis is Brigitte Brucklacher.
DeleteI have 3 young children (ages 6, 4, and 2 months), a full time job, and a husband who works long hours. I spend majority of my free time helping the kids with homework, taking them to sports/activities, keeping up with things around the house, making meals, etc. I try hard to not take any school work home with me unless I absolutely have to (which isn't often). I rarely take time for me but I know that is just the season of life I am in right now and I wouldn't change it for anything. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed but then I remember that my kids are only little for a short time and I want to make the most of it. The only thing that I do want to work on is not always making a clean house a priority. I can be a bit of a clean freak and sometimes I feel like I spend so much time cleaning and I want to focus more on making memories with my kids while they are young. That is something I have been working on and will continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteI currently spend most of my free 60 hours a week with my family, exercising, cleaning, cooking, or viewing social media. I am working on decreasing the time I spend on social media. I would prefer to spend my time with my family and work towards more productive things. By decreasing my time on social media, I can be more present in the moment and hopefully stay caught up on cleaning and household chores, so it does not pile up. I am working on also becoming better at balancing work and my free time.
ReplyDeleteI currently spend much of my free time doing school work. I'm not proud of this, but, it's a fact. My kids have all graduated and are gone so then I feel like I should be spending even more time doing school work. I've taught over 40 years and when I started, just like the book says: that is just what you did - this doesn't make it right, it's just what you did - things were very strict and women didn't dare not feel prepared. I spend a couple of hours each night after school and an hour before school and when I get home I find myself doing more school work. Part of it is also because I have two part time teaching positions so I never feel like I'm done with either one. I spend the rest of my free time cleaning, exercising, organizing, and making meals. It's hard for me to 'shut off' my teaching job and I'm hoping this book helps with that. So far I've learned a lot from the first three chapters!
ReplyDeleteThere's been a lot of changes in my life recently. In March, we welcomed our first born daughter, Brexleigh. I interviewed for a third grade position in the BH School District a few weeks before I had Brexleigh and found out I got the job the week that she was born. These are both big changes and it's been super hard for me to put all of my focus on teaching. I definitely work more than 40 hours a week but that's one downfall that a lot of people don't realize about being a teacher. You bring work home with you and there's a lot of extra prep/work that goes with it. I spend my free time with my daughter and family. I also enjoy recreational leagues like bowling and volleyball. These things definitely keep me busy, but I wouldn't change any of it. I'm working on balancing time for work, family, and friends. It hasn't been an easy transition but it's definitely a learning experience!
ReplyDeleteI spend free time with my husband and our 4 sons, attending various sporting events and spending quality family time together. I don't bring work home and prioritize my planning times at school for work time.
ReplyDeleteI spend most of those hours taking care of my family. Making supper, attending sports events, helping with homework, cleaning etc. I have recently tried to push myself to read a book when I have time as that is a hobby I greatly enjoy and that has been very helpful- even if only for 15 minutes it's amazing what a short brain break can do from the treadmill of life with a big family.
ReplyDeleteAt my previous job, I had been there for so many years, I had much more 'free time.' Because this is my first year at my current job, I have very little time for myself. However, I do make time for me by spending time with friends, watching my favorite baking shows, and going out for dinner with my bestie. I have to allow myself that time because without it, I would feel resentful of my job and the kids I teach. Teaching is a very difficult job, and you have to find balance. Some years are easier than others. Next year I will find myself with much more time to devote to me.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to think about how you manage your time like you would money. You can’t get time back but you can always make more money. My time out side of school has a large chunk spend taking my kids to activities and attending sports games. My husband and I try and go together when possible so we can spend time together grocery shopping or running errands. I think our whole family needs to work on spending more quality time together without our phones or devices. Making meaningful connections with each other instead of passing the time in our own world on our electronics. We are missing out on so much when we do have a free hour at night. It is important to have down time and relax after being busy but we need to find a balance of not spending all of our free time the same way every night. These chapters made me think of ideas of how we can do that.
ReplyDeleteI spend a lot of my '60' hours mindlessly watching a screen (with my family or looking at things to do with them), if I am being honest. I would like to change that by being more mindful and purposeful in the moment with those I am with. I think a lot of that time was being justified as winding down from a long day and turning off my brain, but I am not happy with that either. I want to be creating, enjoying, and building a life I love; so I need to make better choices in moving towards that. Maybe I'll try a lock down on my phone or removing it to another area of the house, loosely plan the week with light activities to make memories with my kids and try to be more active, Lord knows I could benefit from more of that too!
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ReplyDeleteI currently spend the other 60 hours a week caring for my family. Feeding them supper, running to appointments, games, piano lessons, meets, recitals and appointments. I would like to organize time better with an hour a day for my own mental health. I would also like to look less at the social media as that time is wasted. The way the auther pointed out that time is not infinite makes the view of my kids growing up even faster and missing out on the opportunities with them. The way I view running around with them needs to be enjoyed as it will not last forever. I need to change perspective and that will help the my attitude of time or lack of time be much more positive.
ReplyDeleteHow do you currently spend your 60 hours of weekly free time? Would you like to make changes to how you spend this time going forward?
ReplyDeleteI currently get home from work and I decompress with screens, typically in Spanish. I make supper sometimes. I talk on the phone/facetime with family and friends. Sometimes I bring work home. I would l like to become more mindful with my time and do things that are more rewarding. I would like to be more intentional with my physical self-care. I also want to prioritize my environmental self-care since I just moved and some of my spaces still reflect the move. I would like to make a habit of organizing my time better by creating lists with the order of importance, so I spend less time on banal choices.
I really enjoyed this passage on time spent. It made me look at my own life and how I spend my 60 hours a week. We have three teenagers so a lot of time is spent at their activities as well as doing daily chores. The story about making supper being a choice was eye opening! I do have a choice! I realized how important supper is to me and my family and that time with my husband and kids is one of the best times of each day so making supper to me is time well spent. What a great way to look at that time everyday! I want to be more mindful of how I spend some of my time and make sure I am using it meaningfully. Just being aware that I have choices with my time is already beneficial and a much better way to view my day and time!
ReplyDeleteI spend my free time for my personal choices--taking classes to renew my teaching certificate, reading books for enjoyment, taking my dog for walks, spending time doing different activities with my family and just relaxing at home. I also clean in my spare time. I like to spend time with friends and make it meaningful.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that section, it really challenged me to think about how I am using my hours and how often I squander them. I have two young girls and I want to spend more intentional time doing family things with them. I have started to pay attention to the hours I waste on social media, watching TV, etc. I have found I waste more time dreading a project than just doing it. I heard from a life-coach to verbally count backwards and take a step... it often puts you in motion to accomplish the task: 3, 2, 1 - GO. Get it done! I have found I have redeemed a lot of time by cleaning as I go and "closing the loop". Putting things away immediately the first time. Morning were always frantic for me - I was always "behind" and yelling at my 1st grader to "get going" "we're late". I've since started doing small things in the evening to make the morning smoother. I also get up a little earlier and have a quiet time - which helps set my mindset for the day. Budgeting time really does make a difference! It's amazing how many books I've read the past 6 months just by putting down my phone and reading a little bit each day.
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