The 40-Hour Teacher Week Myth (and 7 Tools to Help You Reclaim Your Time)

black and white photo of clocks — Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels.com

If you’re a teacher, you know the truth: 40 hours is a fantasy.

Between planning, grading, answering emails, attending parent meetings, professional development sessions, hallway duty, IEPs, MTSS meetings, and trying to catch a breath for a moment, teaching is a job that routinely demands 50 to 60 hours per week, and sometimes even more. It’s not that we’re bad at time management. It’s that we’re swimming against a system that wasn’t designed for sustainability.

But here’s the good news: while you may not be able to control the system, you can change how you manage your time within it.

In this post, we’re going to:

Debunk the 40-hour teacher week
Explore how to design your time like a limited resource
Share seven time-saving tools that can help you win back your evenings and weekends
Provide practical, teacher-tested time hacks you can implement right away

Let’s dig in.

Why the 40-Hour Teacher Week Is a Myth

The idea of a 40-hour workweek originated from industrial labor models—you clock in, you do your job, and you clock out. But teaching isn’t just a job. It’s a calling, a performance, a planning-intensive, people-heavy, paperwork-dense act of organized chaos.

Here’s how time gets spent:

Instruction: 30+ hours/week
Lesson planning & prep: 5–10 hours/week
Grading and feedback: 5–8 hours/week
Emails and communication: 3+ hours/week
Meetings (PLC, IEP, PD, admin): 2–5 hours/week

And that’s before you factor in classroom setup, tech troubleshooting, data analysis, sub plans, hallway coverage, behavior documentation, and the emotional labor of being “on” all day.

SaleBestseller No. 1

Four Thousand Weeks

Burkeman, Oliver (Author)
English (Publication Language)
304 Pages – 06/27/2023 (Publication Date) – Picador Paper (Publisher)

SaleBestseller No. 2

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

Tracy, Brian (Author)
English (Publication Language)
144 Pages – 04/17/2017 (Publication Date) – Berrett-Koehler Publishers (Publisher)

SaleBestseller No. 3

Time Management from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule — and Your Life

Morgenstern, Julie (Author)
English (Publication Language)
304 Pages – 09/01/2004 (Publication Date) – Holt Paperbacks (Publisher)

Teaching is a job that will expand to consume every available minute if you let it.

That’s why reclaiming your time starts with a mindset shift.

Time Budgeting vs. Task Management

Traditional time management says, “Make a list and get it all done.”

But that assumes time is infinite and predictable. It’s not.

Instead, use a time budgeting mindset: you start with a finite amount of time and allocate it intentionally.

Try this:

Budget 30 minutes to plan tomorrow’s lesson. When the timer goes off, stop. Done is better than perfect.
Give yourself 45 minutes to grade a set of quizzes. Use a single-point rubric or comment bank to expedite the process.
Block off 1 hour for parent communication. Use templated responses, voice memos, or batch them in your planning period.

You wouldn’t overspend your money without consequence. Don’t overspend your time.

The 80% Rule: Done Is Better Than Perfect

Aim for 80%.

We waste enormous energy trying to make things perfect—the perfect slide deck, the perfect anchor chart, the perfect assignment. And while excellence matters, so does survivability.

Let go of perfection and embrace “effective enough.”

7 Time-Saving Tools Every Teacher Should Try

These aren’t miracle apps, but they are real tools that save real time.

As always, some of these links are affiliate links, and if you end up purchasing, I get a small fee.

1. Planbook.com – Streamlined Lesson Planning

Planbook is simple, flexible, and lets you align lessons to standards, shift days easily, and copy units from year to year. One hour of setup can save you dozens later.

Pro tip: Create reusable weekly templates for each prep.

2. Grammarly Premium – Faster Writing, Clearer Feedback

Stop second-guessing your grammar and tone in emails or report card comments. Grammarly speeds up communication while maintaining professionalism.

Use it for: parent emails, student feedback, lesson materials.

3. Mote – Voice Notes in Google Docs

Instead of typing out detailed feedback, record a voice note and embed it in student work. Mote works seamlessly in Google Classroom.

Why it works: it’s faster and more human.

4. Notion or ClickUp – Your Teacher Command Center

Whether you’re tracking coaching cycles, unit pacing, student data, or PD goals, these tools help you visualize and centralize your work.

Tip: Build a dashboard that integrates your calendar, to-do list, and major goals.

5. Text Blaze – Instant Text Snippets

Turn common feedback into keyboard shortcuts. For example: type “/mtss1” and paste a pre-written MTSS note. Huge time saver for documentation and repetitive tasks.

6. Rocketbook – Smart Paper for Analog Teachers

Love to write things by hand, but need to digitize them fast? Use this reusable notebook to scan and upload to Google Drive, Notion, or email.

Perfect for: lesson brainstorming, meeting notes, coaching logs.

Rocketbook Core Reusable Spiral Notebook, Letter Size 8.5x11, Navy Blue - Dotted Pages, App-Connected, Erasable, Durable Cover, Ideal for School, Work, and Creative Projects

Rocketbook Core Reusable Spiral Notebook, Letter Size 8.5×11, Navy Blue – Dotted Pages, App-Connected, Erasable, Durable Cover, Ideal for School, Work, and Creative Projects

Create, Digitize, Erase, Re-Create: Capture ideas with the included Pilot Frixion Pen, digitize effortlessly using the Rocketbook app, store in your preferred cloud service. When done, simply wipe the pages clean with a damp cloth and start fresh.
App-Enabled for Digital Organization: The Rocketbook app allows you to scan and upload your visual work directly to cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneNote, etc. The app-connection ensures your creativity is accessible from anywhere.
High-Quality & Durable Materials: Crafted from reusable, premium dotted paper, the Rocketbook Core features a spiral binding and waterproof cover. The grid layout offers flexibility for everything from bullet journaling to geometric sketches.
Portable and Versatile Sizes: Available in two sizes—Letter (8.5 x 11 inches) and Executive (6 x 8.8 inches)—the Rocketbook Core is compact enough to fit into backpacks, purses, or briefcases. This notebook offers portability and versatility.
Eco-Friendly Reusability: Designed with sustainability in mind, Rocketbook notebooks help reduce paper waste with a reusable alternative. Enjoy a paper-like notebook that can be used repeatedly, allowing you to save work and erase everything else.

7. Google Keep – Digital Sticky Notes That Stick

Use it to capture quick ideas, batch feedback, or create checklists. Label and color code for visibility. Bonus: integrates well with Gmail and Calendar.

5 Time-Saving Habits to Build This Month

Tools help. But systems sustain. Here are habits to pair with your tools:

1. Theme Your Days

Monday: Lesson planning
Tuesday: Grading
Wednesday: Family communication
Thursday: Data and meetings
Friday: Catch up + self-care

2. Use Comment Banks and Rubrics

Create a Google Doc with your most-used feedback phrases. Pair with single-point rubrics in Google Classroom.

3. Batch Like a Boss

Group similar tasks (e.g., grade all assignments from 2nd period, then all from 3rd) to reduce cognitive switching.

4. Automate What You Can

Schedule recurring parent newsletters. Use auto-responders during peak grading periods. Build email templates.

5. Reflect Weekly

Take 15 minutes each Friday to reflect:

What worked?
What drained me?
What can I tweak for next week?

Final Thoughts: Time Is a Teacher’s Most Precious Resource

You are not a robot. You are not lazy. You are not doing it wrong.

You are working inside a system that asks too much and gives too little.

But with the right tools and some intentional design, you can reclaim your time.

You deserve to leave school without guilt. You deserve a weekend. You deserve a full life.

It begins by treating your time as sacred.

The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!

14 November 2023

Quote of the Day

“Nontraditional students appear to be more at home and successful as learners in classrooms where teachers connect them to subjects in new ways. The students we interviewed recognized and appreciated teachers’ efforts to get to know them and to create classroom settings that encouraged academic engagement and expression of ideas. Yet nontraditional students describe most of their classes as highly structured, teacher-controlled, and regimented.”

Jal Mehta, A Pernicious Myth: Basics Before Deeper Learning

Musical Interlude

Daft Punk is releasing a “drumless” version of their 2013 “Random Access Memories,” and I am absolutely here for it. Here’s the drumless version of “Motherboard”

Long Read of the Day

No one fully understood how smartphones or social media would transform every aspect of our life in the span of fifteen years. AI is a dynamic field, and its impact on education is beyond what any of us could probably comprehend today. The only way we can keep up is by building strong guardrails and regularly assessing and evaluating the extent to which AI tools are enhancing educational outcomes. We must also constantly anticipate and respond to unintended consequences as they emerge. This should include information from academic assessments, surveys, and feedback from teachers and students. The data collected should be used to refine AI implementation strategies and inform policy decisions.

Let’s get this right.
– Khaled Ismail

Photo of the Day

At my daughter’s academic team match last night, I thought I’d grab a quick pic of one of the library shelves. Apparently, there are some Brandon Sanderson fans at this school.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about my obsession with Notion as my primary productivity tool. I do my best to put everything in my Notion workspace in some form.

Today, Notion released a beta of the “Q&A” feature that allows you to “talk” with the information in your workspace.

I’m chasing the ultimate content curation strategy with my own Zettelkasten implementation, and this may just be the final piece to the puzzle form. Imagine having quick access to the thousands of articles, highlights, and more you have stored in your Notion workspace. All just by asking a simple question.

Pretty frickin’ cool.

How to Use Notion to Create a Zettelkasten System for Note-Taking

If you’re looking for a note-taking method that combines the flexibility of digital notes with the structure of a physical card-based system, the Zettelkasten method might be just what you need. In this post, we’ll explore using Notion to create a Zettelkasten system that matches your unique needs and preferences.

What is Zettelkasten?

The word Zettelkasten is German for “note box.” The Zettelkasten method is a note-taking system that was developed by the 20th-century German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. It involves recording individual ideas on small index cards (or Zettels) and organizing them in a way that allows you to easily connect and refer to related ideas.

The purpose of a Zettelkasten system is to create an interconnected web of ideas that reflects how you think. Rather than simply collecting notes, a Zettelkasten system emphasizes connecting, indexing, and recalling information. By doing so, it allows you to generate new insights and ideas that you might not have otherwise discovered.

How to Create a Zettelkasten System in Notion

Notion is a powerful note-taking app that works well for creating and organizing a Zettelkasten system. Here’s how to create your own Zettelkasten in Notion:

Step 1: Create a Database

Start by creating a new database in Notion. You can do this by clicking on the “Add a Page” button in the sidebar and selecting “Database” from the options.

Step 2: Set Up Your Database

Once you’ve created your database, you’ll need to set it up to match the structure of your Zettelkasten system. Here’s an overview of the most important fields you’ll want to include:

Title: This is the name of your note.
Note: This is the body of your note, where you’ll record your ideas and thoughts.
Tags: Use tags to help you organize and sort your notes. You can use multiple tags per note, but be careful not to overdo it.
Next Entry Point: This field allows you to connect related notes together. If a note is a continuation of another note, you can use this field to indicate that connection.
Last Entry Point: This field tells you which note the current note is connected to. It’s the opposite of the “Next Entry Point” field.
Type: This field indicates whether a note is a main idea, a continuation note, or a subordinate note.

Step 3: Use Unique IDs

To avoid confusion and ensure that you can easily find and connect related notes, it’s a good idea to use unique IDs for each note. These IDs can be simple time stamps or more complicated alphanumeric codes.

Step 4: Use Tags Wisely

Tags are a key part of organizing your Zettelkasten system, but it’s important to use them wisely. In general, you should aim to use just one or two tags per note. To determine which tags to use, ask yourself what the note is about and what other topics it relates to.

Step 5: Use Templates

Notion templates can save you a lot of time and effort when creating your Zettelkasten system. For example, you can create a template for inserting a new note, a template for adding a keyword, or a template for adding a link to a book or article.

Step 6: Use Inline Links

Inline links are a powerful feature in Notion that allows you to quickly link to other notes, books, or articles. To create an inline link, use the double square bracket syntax (i.e., [[note title]]). Notion will automatically create a link to the note with that title.

Step 7: Use Comments

Comments are another useful feature in Notion that can help you keep your notes organized and easily navigate. You can use comments to add definitions, highlight important points, or add reminders to yourself.

Step 8: Use Formulas

Notion formulas can help you automate many aspects of your Zettelkasten system. For example, you can use formulas to calculate the century of a year (e.g., 1950 is in the 20th century), sort notes by tag or keyword, or automatically populate fields based on other fields.

Step 9: Use Views

Notion views allow you to see your notes differently, depending on your needs. For example, you can create a view that shows all notes sorted by date, a view that shows only notes with a certain tag, or a view that shows notes in a certain category.

Conclusion

The Zettelkasten method is a powerful note-taking system that can help you generate new ideas, insights, and connections. By using Notion to create your Zettelkasten system, you can take advantage of the app’s powerful features and customization options to create a note-taking system that matches your unique needs and preferences.

Using Notion as a Doctoral Dashboard

In all of my previous degree programs, my biggest struggle was knowing what was due when and what I needed to accomplish next.

I have been an online student through two degree programs. One of those programs, at the University of Kentucky, did a tremendous job of connecting the students through synchronous meetings. The other, at a place I won’t name, did not.

Both degree programs required independent learning, fully expecting that all students could take it upon themselves to have enough organizational prowess to complete tasks promptly.

I can tell you that I was awful at that. Too often, I raced through work at the last minute because I forgot about it, mostly because it was buried in a module in the learning management system that I’d missed.

Last week, I began my doctoral work. I was determined not to repeat past mistakes and to be more organized.

It’s not that I’m not an organized person. I usually am. I like checklists. I like writing things down on note cards and tearing up the note cards when I’ve completed the work.

But I couldn’t wrap my head around why I struggled so much with my studies. Then, I had my lightbulb moment.

The problem wasn’t that I was not organized; the problem was I was using someone else’s organizational process and trying to figure out why they did what they did and how I could work through it.

Now, I’m working my way through this semester and organizing my work in a way that makes sense to me.

Enter Notion. I ran across The Redhead Academic and how she uses Notion for her own doctoral studies. She put together this fantastic tutorial and even has a template you can grab to use for yourself.

I’m new to using Notion, so the template helped me familiarize myself with the service. But now I’m burning it up.

I’ve quickly created my own dashboard for my studies and shared it with my entire cohort. So far, that dashboard allows us to keep our sanity.

I’ll have more updates for Notion soon, along with a few tutorials you might find handy.