Angela Watson - Fewer Things, Better: The Courage to Focus on What Matters Most

Unshakeable:

20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day No Matter What

Awakened:

Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching

The Awakened Devotional Study Guide

for Christian Educators

The Cornerstone:

Classroom Management That Makes Teaching

More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable

Angela Watson

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Fewer Things, Better: The Courage to Focus on What Matters Most

by Angela Watson

Copyright 2019 by Angela Watson

Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the

anonymity of persons and events mentioned herein.

Published by Due Season Press and Educational Services

ISBN-13: 978-0-9823127-4-2

ISBN-10: 0-98231

This book is dedicated to the innovative educators Ive had the privilege of connecting with through the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club. Thank you for believing in my mission and having the courage to lead by example. Your daily work gives other teachers hope that theres a sustainable way to do an excellent job for kids and restore balance in an impossibly demanding profession.

This is our movement, and this book was inspired by what Ive learned through coaching you and cheering you on in your journey. Your willingness to disrupt the status quo and challenge conventional beliefs about what it means to be a teacher is paving the way for others to step into their courage and power, too.

Ive created a free mini-course with printable workbook to help you implement the ideas youre about to read. These resources will give you a clearer understanding of your priorities so you can develop an actionable plan for what fewer things better looks like in YOUR life.

I recommend reading the book first and then completing the exercises in the project, but take whatever approach feels right to you.

Go to FTBproject.com when youre ready to begin, and you can download all the resources.

Im guessing youve picked up this book because you want your life to have a real impact on the world. You care about making a difference, not only in the classroom, but in your family and community, too.

And yet that focus tends to feel impossible when youre always exhausted and overwhelmed.

How can you do whats meaningful when youre distracted by never-ending paperwork, meetings, errands, and housework?

How can you give the best of yourself when youre bogged down with mundane tasks and unfulfilling obligations?

This is the struggle I hear about constantly from countless teachers all over the world. So many educators want desperately to create better balance in their lives. But, theres always MORE to be done, and staying on top of everything feels like a losing battle.

Heres the truth these teachers hear far too rarely:

You are not to blame, and theres nothing wrong with YOU.

The problem is that the job of teaching is extraordinarily demanding, and theres no clear path to managing all thats required (much less maintaining a personal life on top of work).

Teaching requires an extremely complex skill set, and the stakes are high. With constant changes in technology, curriculum, standards, and leadership, its rare that teachers have the opportunity to master one thing before being told they have to do things in a completely different way.

Compounding the issue is the emotional labor required in teaching. Our students come to us impacted by trauma and experiencing record levels of depression and anxiety. Helping kids overcome these obstacles is yet one more thing teachers are supposed to handle.

We find ourselves trying to pour from an empty cup, struggling to offer students true empathy, understanding, and support while feeling worn down and under-resourced ourselves.

Add to that the nearly impossible standards set by society for being a good teacher, spouse/partner, parent, etc., and the only reasonable conclusion is this:

Meeting all the expectations is impossible. You really CANT do everything that seemingly needs to be done.

So at some point, you have to give yourself permission to stop trying.

Theres no magical productivity secret that will make it seem like there are 28 hours in a day. You can experiment endlessly with strategies for shifting tasks around and doing them more efficiently, and that still wont fix the root of the problem.

There are simply too many things demanding your time and attention.

The solution is NOT to manage your time better or work more efficiently. Or at least thats not the place to start when youre overwhelmed. The most important step is getting clarity: figuring out what matters most so you can do fewer things better.

You will always have more tasks than time, so you have to figure out whats most important and eliminate some things you feel you have to do. You must let go of the good to make time for the great.

Without this step, youll feel like youre neglecting your health and your family because you work too much, and when you try to correct the balance at home, youll feel like youre short-changing your students.

Youll be spreading yourself thin across so many areas that you wont do an effective job with ANY of them. A constant sense of guilt and overwhelm is almost unavoidable.

Throughout this book, youll discover that the things you say NO to are just as important as what you say YES to.

This is the missing piece for many teachers who are reaching for the elusive goal of work/life balance. Very few of us give much thought to what we dont do.

Instead, we focus on doing as many things as possible, and pack our days with the maximum number of tasks we can handle. We look for

ways to have more energy and time with the goal of getting more things done. Pushing ourselves to the limit is a daily practice. In fact, the day doesnt feel like a success unless were collapsing into bed at night. Anything less than total exhaustion leaves us feeling uneasy, as if we could have made better use of our time.

We use busy as our barometer of success, and so we never stop to ask ourselves:

• Am I filling my day with banal tasks and unfulfilling obligations because thats what everyone around me expects?
• Am I constantly trying to be more efficient with tasks that I shouldnt be doing at all?
• How can I create time for the most important things instead of trying to do as many things as possible?