#004 Your New Normal: Balancing Virtual Teaching, Mom Life and Self-Care

organization teaching virtual teaching Apr 23, 2020

So let’s chat today about your new normal. Balancing virtual teaching, self care and, for some of us, mom life.

As we work from home in these trying times, we have to continue to keep up with our work while still managing our own families and home life while figuring out all of the details of this new way of teaching [and taking care of ourselves].

Here's a few tips to help you apply what we know about organization, routines and habits to this new life you're living.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

First off, you need and deserve a break. If you aren't giving yourself a mental and physical break every day and week, you are going to wear yourself out and make yourself sick. And that means… you’ll be unable to help anyone else. I know that's not a newsflash, but it needs to be said. We all need to admit it. Working all the time is not sustainable, and working all the time when you're in a stressful situation, is even worse. I know it can feel like taking control but there’s a balance and we need to find it.

In fact, if you get the mental and physical rest you need daily and weekly, you'll be more productive, happier and more focused in all you're trying to do. I know taking a break seems counterproductive when you have a lot to get done. Time to rest, process and even grieve for the loss of your normalcy, seeing your students every day, your classroom and your colleagues is important. You NEED time for you, even if it’s just a short time each day.

Your new normal...

Finding a new normal for the rest of this school year is challenging but as the days go by and we figure out the details of teaching our students remotely, it's important to come up with new routines. Here's a few things your new days should include: exercise, prayer or meditation, a system for planning and grading in batches [so you're not working all the time], family time, rest and time for something you enjoy doing just for you. That’s a lot!

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my systems for adapting routines and habits to create a sustainable virtual teaching life.

Maybe it will help you, too.

Here's a peek at what's inside this episode:

How and why to plan your time, including self care.
How to manage your own school-aged kids learning and free time.
Balancing teaching your students and teaching your own kids.
Why batching is your friend.
How to not let parent communication take over your day.
How templates can help simplify and streamline tasks.
Tips for managing little ones while teaching.

Click here to listen. If you need a little extra help getting organized and started, I have a free checklist and guide for you in the links below.

Subscribe and Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I add bonus episodes to the mix, create all kinds of free resources and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Click here to subscribe in iTunes, or go to wherever you like to listen and hit the subscribe button there.

Now if you’re loving the podcast, I would be really grateful if you left me a review, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is or how it's helped you. Thank you!

Links from this episode:

You can grab 3 the following resources from my Freebies Vault here.

Batching 101 Checklist
Virtual Teacher Mom Cheat Sheet
Remote Schooling Daily Checklist

Here's links to other resources you might find helpful: