A teacher friend recently came to me upset after receiving her evaluation. Usually rated \u201chighly effective,\u201d she\u2019d received a rating of \u201ceffective\u201d this time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI guess I need to go back to spending weeknights and weekends in my classroom,\u201d she sighed. \u201cI let myself slip this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The reason for this \u201cslip\u201d? She was tired of missing her first0-grade child\u2019s soccer games on the weekends. She\u2019d taken <\/span>over<\/span><\/i>time spent in the classroom and spent it with her family instead.<\/span><\/p>\n She was upset\u2014and so was I! I told her she shouldn\u2019t <\/span>dare<\/span><\/i> go back to sacrificing time spent supporting her child to toil away in the classroom during her rightful time off.<\/span><\/p>\n As teachers, our work doesn\u2019t end when the last child files out at the end of the school day.<\/b> We spend hours upon hours prepping, perfecting lesson plans, entering grades, keeping our inboxes cleaned out, and staying up-to-date on the latest instructional methods.<\/span><\/p>\n Most teachers are perfectionists by nature. We run on high-octane fuel to ensure all of our ducks are in a row before the next day, the next week, the next lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n And it\u2019s just not working.<\/span><\/p>\n Teachers are sacrificing everything from their personal time to their personal sanity.<\/b> Worst of all, this extra work and worrying doesn\u2019t always guarantee the results we want to see from our students. It\u2019s leading to major burnout. <\/span><\/p>\n When your work life is so full, so demanding, that you don’t have time for the people who matter the most, well \u2026 it’s time for a change. It\u2019s time to remember ALL of the things that are truly important in your life and work to prioritize them.<\/span><\/p>\n My friend, Matt Miller, author of <\/span>Ditch That Textbook<\/span><\/i><\/a> writes about this philosophy. He calls it finding the MED\u2014the Minimum Effective Dose. He says we can begin to change our lives as educators by optimizing our time and resources as educators.<\/span><\/p>\n Tim Ferris, author of <\/span>The 4-Hour Workweek<\/span><\/a>, defines the MED as \u201cthe smallest dose that will provide the desired outcome.\u201d And he says anything beyond the MED is wasteful.<\/span><\/p>\n Take his example of boiling an egg. The MED to boil water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Sure, you can boil those eggs at 329 degrees \u2026 but it won\u2019t make them <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> boiled. The higher temperature simply consumes more resources that could be applied elsewhere more productively.<\/span><\/p>\n Ask yourself (and be honest!): How much more effective are you as a teacher if you spend less time in the classroom than another teacher does after the bell rings?<\/b><\/p>\n My thoughts? Teachers are simply trying to do TOO MUCH\u2014arriving early, leaving late, working through lunch, working at home, spending time in the classroom on weekends and holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n Extra time is occasionally necessary; that\u2019s just a fact of life. <\/span>But we have to recognize when putting in overtime is actually making a difference\u2014and when we\u2019re doing it out of guilt, worry, or misplaced obligation.<\/b><\/p>\n Each teacher needs to figure out his or her MED, and then KNOW WHEN TO STOP!<\/span><\/p>\n And I think the answer comes down to happiness. Scientific research has proven that when we are happy, we are 31% more productive. <\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m increasingly getting called into schools to teach and <\/span>speak about the science of happiness<\/span><\/a>. Administrators are recognizing that good teachers are reaching a breaking point. They\u2019re understanding that it\u2019s not about working harder; it\u2019s about working <\/span>happier<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n