Work/Life Balance
Newsletter
In this week’s newsletter, we explore the concept of work-life balance.
Do checklists drain you? Consider an “un-checklist”, described in this post, in which you add daily experiences to a list that documents an interesting life.
Commit30 is my favorite planner. My wife introduced it to me. Each month, you commit to one habit in an area you want to improve. (This month is reading widely.) I can integrate work and home instead of always trying to find balance.
The concept of work/life integration vs. balance originates from the research by Dr. Ellen Langer, author of Mindfulness and The Power of Mindful Learning. You can find links to both books on the blog’s Recommended Reading page.
School/literacy leadership can be lonely. To combat isolation, I recommended five applications for creating a sense of connectedness in this post.
The concept of connectedness can be explored in Parker Palmer’s article Thirteen Ways to Look at Community (Center for Courage and Renewal).
Of all the applications, the most important one to me is Twitter. It’s what got me started on becoming a connected educator. Colleagues and I wrote an ASCD Express article on this topic, which includes several “edu-tweeps” to follow.
Don’t let Mondays get you down. Consider the ideas shared in yesterday’s post about clearing your desk (and your mind) by developing a Friday ritual.
Many of the ideas from the previous post are adopted or adapted from the resource The Together Leader by Maia Heyck-Merlin.
Must-have apps for any educator wanting to better organize their lives include Scannable, Evernote, and Things.
If you don’t use Apple products but want a to-do application similar to Things, I know other school leaders like Wunderlist and Remember the Milk.
I’ll be facilitating a one-day workshop on integrating digital portfolios in the classroom on November 6 at CESA 3 in Fennimore, Wisconsin. Register here to learn more about portfolio assessment + connected tools for better assessments!
