When to Stop Working for The Night.

Recently I was given some advice from an Associate Teacher. She was packing up her computer and planning to take home from the night and unplugged the computer from the power before turing to me and telling me her trick to shutting off from the classroom while at home. She said, "When you are taking work home with you, don't take the charger. When the computer goes flat its time to finish for the night."

I am horrible for always wanting to finish one more thing before bed meaning as a student teacher I survive on 4-6 hours sleep. Long term this is not a sustainable way to live so I decided to try out the advice. I came home on a Friday and I was tired and dreading the work I had ahead of me over the next few days. I decided to unplug my laptop and move away from my desk and began to work. As the night went on the battery quickly began to decrease and before I knew it I was looking at a measly 5%. Time to stop I thought and I plugged my laptop back into charge and walked away. That weekend I was more successful than any before. By limiting my work timeframe I was able to work more efficiently as well as allow myself to shut off from the classroom and enjoy life.

Moving forward into a position where I will be teaching full time after graduation I am starting to consider how I logically can maintain my time as a teacher without causing myself harm long term. By restricting my time working at home I can shut off the school talk for a few hours. To quote my AT "The work that needs to be done is like saying how long is a piece of string? At some point you need to decide to stop and actually allow yourself to relax."

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