Don’t Make This Mistake When Trying to Balance All the Things

Hello CEO teachers. Welcome back to the show. Thank you as always for being a listener. And today we're going to talk about a topic that everyone talks about. I tried to stay away from this guys. I absolutely despise when people try to teach you balance because I don't believe that balance really exists. I believe that every person has their own version of that. But what I do know is that I've gotten really good at understanding habits and discipline and routines lately. While I've been going through this journey of 75 hard, I feel the best I've ever felt. I cognitively and physically feel more alive than I have ever in my entire life. And so I thought, okay, you guys constantly, I mean, that's our number one message that we get is Casey, how do you do it all? And so today we're going to talk about the system and the process that I use to help me quote unquote do it all. But before I get there, I want to be very honest. If you're listening to this and you don't know me, hello, I'm so happy that you're here. And if you do know me, maybe you've forgotten. I am not a classroom teacher anymore. I was an eighth grade English and language arts teacher for eight years. I have been out of the classroom since January of 2018. So please take what I say with a grain of salt and know that I live a very fulfilled life of freedom that does not require a lot of work. So what I do may not fit for you. But what we tried to do in today's show was to take some of the habits and the routines that I have learned and show you how you can do it too. So whether your goal is to stay in the classroom and learn how to balance all the things or to leave the classroom, I can help you do both. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you in today's show. Hey teachers, welcome to your home away from the classroom. Whether you are a full-time educator just getting started and thinking about the possibilities to advance past your current pay scale or you're a seasoned CEO teacher looking for extra strategies to make money online, you're in the right place. No impressive tech skills or marketing experience necessary. Just the passion and desire to transform your life by doing what you love, leaning into your unique teaching magic. I'm Casey Morris, a former eighth grade ELA teacher myself, mom at a five teacher marketing expert and while I am the visionary behind the CEO teacher movement, this amazing community is continually being built by you, one beautiful dream at a time. Coming your way every Wednesday as an extra credit bonus exclusively for teachers, welcome to the CEO teacher podcast. The most successful teachers looking to make extra money online all have a few things in common, a solid foundation, a community that supports them and a proven plan to follow. The teacher income challenge was made just for you, an educational rock star who is looking to turn their passion into profit online. If you're ready to finally make your worth and go from teacher on a state pay scale to creator of your own future, the teacher income challenge is for you and it starts right now. The world's only proven pathway for success made for teachers by a teacher. The Tardy Bell is ringing so grab your seat and head on to the front of the class by going to kazimorris.com slash challenge. That's K-A-Y-S-E-M-O-R-R-I-S dot com slash challenge. I love this guy. Sad guru, I think is how you say his name, it's S-A-D and then there's the letter H and then the word guru, G-U-R-U-S, his name. I've read a few of his books. I love watching his videos on social media, but he says this about balance. There is no such thing as work, life, balance. It is all life. The balance has to be within you and that's what I've learned so much in the last 50 days. Today is day 50 of 75 hard is that the balance has to come from within. Next is we have overstretched our personal boundaries and forgotten that true happiness comes from living an authentic life fueled with a sense of purpose and balance and that was written by Dr. Kathleen Hall. So let me ask you this question. What do you want? What do you want out of life? Is it to stay in the classroom, to find balance, to have more freedom to get a little bit extra income and have your summers off? Is that what you want? Or do you say, Casey, I have a teaching degree and I don't want this life anymore, but I want to look for other ways to make income because our teachers choose those pathways. Whatever that looks like to you, I hope that today we can help you understand what mistakes you don't need to make when you're trying to balance all the things. There is a big divide right now in education of people that think you should stay or you should leave or if you love your job or if you hate your job and that's really not what this discussion is all about. I will forever encourage the community of teachers that want to dream big that want to take chances on yourself and I'm never going to underestimate your goal in education whether that looks like a traditional classroom teacher or someone that is teaching on the outside that looks different than what we thought a teacher would look like before. So here's the deal. Education has changed so much in the last 50 years, the last 25 years, the last 10, especially in the last three years and it will always be an ever evolving profession. Your experiences matter whether that's from five years ago or just five minutes ago. What you bring to the table is valuable and it has a huge impact on how you navigate your life. So don't let anyone discount that. Your life is different from mine from anyone else that's listening to this. So I don't want you to think I'm trying to understand what you're going through or that I know what it feels like to be in the classroom in 2023 because I don't. I haven't been there for five years but I do know that what you're going through is tough. My husband is a high school principal. My community and my friends are filled with full-time teachers. My best friend teaches fourth grade. I know that you are struggling. So hear me out. I see everything that you're doing. I know you're holding it together for your families, for your students, for your sanity and here's the caveat. Burnout is happening and it's happening a lot faster than it used to. So the tips and strategies that I'm going to share with you today are the ones that have helped our students over the last five years feel at peace with the decisions and the choices that they make on a daily basis whether that's while they're still teaching or as they begin to transition out of the classroom. So I want you to take what you need and leave what you don't leave the rest because you are my people. You are the helping hands, the sensible superstars, the purposeful perfectionist, the fun loving leaders and the friends till the end. And if you don't know what I'm talking about this is one of our five quiz results that you get if you take our quiz learning about who you are and what your CEO teacher type is. So if you're listening to this and you're new here if you go to caseymorris.com slash quiz you can take a quiz that'll tell you if you are a helping hand a sensible superstar a purposeful perfectionist, a fun loving leader or a friend till the end and based on that personality type I'll be able to help you down your pathway to success. So let's get down and dirty with the data. Here's what we know only 60% of employees say that they're able to effectively balance their work and their personal commitments. I remember that stress of wearing a heart monitor of not having my life together. I know it was five years ago. Actually, I've been that stressed in the last five years but I'm not anymore which is great. So I know what it feels like and I don't want you to be part of that statistic anymore. 94% of people in the professional service industry work more than the 40 hours a week and recently I've realized that teachers are still working way more than 40 hours a week. On average teachers who are working 10 to 12 hours a day and that translates to 50 or 60 hours per week. And I know that many of you work even more than that. These are just averages and we're just talking about your school commitments, not the rest of your life that you're trying to manage. So today we're going to chat about some things that you can do to create that teacher work life balance by getting radical. Now, you know, we love some acronyms around here. So radical spelled R-A-D-D-C-L is a way that you can learn to manage and balance all the things. The R stands for respect your time. Have you turned off your electronics in the last year? Have you just turned your phone off for an hour? 81% of adults never turn off their phones. I think it's more than that. I would say it's more than that. Recent research finds that being on your phone within an hour before bedtime means you are almost three times as likely to get less than five hours of sleep. One huge habit that I have started since this entire journey began that has changed a lot for me is I moved my phone on the other side of the bedroom and I have it charging on my Chester George. If you're from the south, thank you for that. The Chester George are still a thing. Apparently it's chest of drawers but it took me 35 years to know that. We always thought it was Chester George. So on your chest of drawers, wherever you put your clothes, I put my charger there. It's across the room so when my alarm goes off, I have to get up and go turn it off. It's been great but I have, well, I think I'm sleeping better because of it too. I have this thing about brain waves and I just feel like if it's laying right there close to my head, I can't sleep as good. Add to that two tablets of magnesium. I take 400 milligrams of magnesium every night before I go to bed now, sleeping like a baby. I'm also working out twice a day so that probably has something to do with it as well. So set your phone away from your bed so you aren't tempted to just check it real quick before you fall asleep. I am setting my phone alarm, putting it on the charger and then getting in bed and reading my 10 pages that I have to read with this challenge and writing in my journal so that when I go to sleep, I don't have that light that look of me looking at that blue light for so long and it's been really helpful. Have no screen time an hour if you can before you go to bed. Also start implementing the No Schoolwork at home. 49% of US employees check their work email every few hours. Really? That's so bad. No way. I don't even have Gmail or our business email on my phone anymore. No way. I'll check that when I get to work. Not worried about that at all. So if you are freaking out about that, I say this to my best friend a lot. I tell her, nobody cares that much. Well, if I don't respond to this email, nobody cares. Get to it when you can. We feel like as teachers, they care, but if they send you an email on a Friday night, you are not obligated to respond to them. And I bet you won't get in trouble if you don't. And if you do, you can say that's not my contract at hours. Sassy. I'm feeling really sassy today. Somebody said something on social media that sparks some anger and rage in me today, but I'm over it. So leave them at school. Leave your responsibilities at school and tackle them when it is in your contracted hours. All right. Radical is our acronym. Let's talk about the A. A stands for aware of your health. Use those PTO hours if you can. There is a sub shortage. So this is not your sole responsibility to fix that. You have PTO for a reason that stands for paid time off. I use those as mental health days, but you get no special award for not using your paid time off. Don't wait until summer to schedule all of your health or your wellness appointments. Use your paid time off to get your nails done. Get a facial to lay in your bed all day. I don't encourage that because that's where depression gets me. But whatever you need to do, take those days. Remove yourself from staff that causes drama. That was the best thing I ever did was put black construction paper over my little window and it appeared like I was not in my classroom when you walked by. It looks like the lights were off, but I was there. I was there avoiding the drama. If the stress isn't yours, then don't add it to your plate. It serves me no purpose in life to carry someone else's stress. It serves me no purpose in life to talk smack about someone else because it's not making me radiate any better. So negativity breeds negativity and that isn't good for your overall health. So this could be after school hours if you're in those group text messages. Love yourself enough to let go of the things that no longer serve you and encourage yourself to be the best version of yourself. So I mentioned that our acronym was radical. I'm going to spell it for you though because it's not spelled the traditional way. Okay. R A D D C L R stands for respect your time. A be aware of your health. D delegate your tasks. Make sure that on the weekends, if you can, you are going through an organizing frenzy. I spend about 10 minutes at the end of the week. Now some people do this at the end of every day to put things together, but I like to do it on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. I am really, really focused in on planning out my week on Sunday evenings. It only takes about 10 or 15 minutes. Set a timer and plan out your life. Now when that comes to your teacher business, it could look like blocking 20 minutes a day every day for the next week on when you'll be able to work on your business. If it comes to your teacher planning your lesson plans, then you want to make sure you probably are doing that a week in advance, but also that you have a plan because when you don't have a plan for your students or students have a plan for you. And learning that discipline of I need to be prepared and everything in life has really helped me reduce stress and feel better about where I'm going the next day when I wake up. The next D in our radical acronym stands for do something that lights you up each day. That means go outside, take a walk at any moment that you can, even if it's after lunch or during your planning period. Lift some weights. Now I know that that's not going to be something you can do during school, but you could do that after school. I go at 530 in the morning, have a bubble bath, read a spicy book, get creative, whatever allows you to feel human. Connect with your circle, your friends, or your family. I went outside almost every day my last few years in the classroom, but when I couldn't go outside, I had, I don't know if I told you guys this, I made a track in my classroom and I made these little rectangular black pieces of construction paper and I laminated them and I hot glued them to the ground and I had different pathways all in my classroom. So my students, if they were ever stressed or needed to get up and stretch, they could say, can I go for a walk and I would say yes and they could take any of the pathways that they wanted. But what I found was that I actually found a lot of joy in walking those pathways as well. And I was also trying to fight for 10,000 steps against my best friend, but that's neither here nor there. And so I would walk on those pathways. So if you can't go outside, find a way to do that inside of your classroom. The sea and radical stands for something you've heard me practice and preach, create systems. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Capsule wardrobes and meal prepping have saved me so much time and have taken such a big burden off of my chest. Set up your classroom before you leave the day before I loved planning out my week, but setting it up on a Thursday. I don't like to work on Fridays. I don't work on Fridays anymore, but when I was in the classroom, I had to. So what I found was that when I set up on a Thursday, I didn't dread Friday and I didn't dread Monday because I had already done the work. So if you plan your week enough in advance, you could do all the prep work on Thursday and then still have a chill vibe on Friday. Use your mornings versus standing at the copy machine at the end of the day, get it all done early and you won't have to sweat it or stress it. And then finally with our radical acronym is lean on your support system. Nobody likes to not ask for help more than this girl. Recognize though that your impact within your family and your classroom relies on your ability to say, I need help. Be sure to ask for help in both places. Ask your help from your family at home, whether you bring things home and work on them together like stapling papers or asking your children to help you file stuff or asking the families within your classroom to help. Maybe you need some additional help with making copies and you have a parent volunteer that would love to help. Whatever you do is make sure you lean on your support system. You are not a failure if you need to ask for help. Now all of this sounds great, but what do you do when your teacher work life balance includes a teacher business as well. The best part of running your own business is that you get to call the shots. So your ideas should always light you up inside. All I need from you is 20 minutes a day to help you move the needle forward with intentional planning. So when you stop checking those school emails and you're prepped for the week ahead of time, you have given yourself those 20 minutes to be able to work on your business instead. And when you love what you do, you don't feel like you work a day in your life prioritize why you wanted to start a business in the first place because it is the sole purpose of having a creative outlet. It might just be lower on the priority list each day. If you created your business to make more income and more impact, then you may choose to spend more than those 20 minutes a day. And you could get even more time by stopping the scroll on social media, turning your phone off and focusing in on your dreams. The best part is that there is no wrong answer. It's all about blending and balancing ways to make your life work for you. Thanks so much for listening to today's show friends. As always remember the best is yet to come and I'll see you right back here next Wednesday. Have a great week. The most successful teachers looking to make extra money online all have a few things in common. A solid foundation, a community that supports them, and a proven plan to follow. The Teacher Income Challenge was made just for you, an educational rock star who is looking to turn their passion into profit online. If you're ready to finally make your worth and go from teacher on a state pay scale to creator of your own future, the Teacher Income Challenge is for you and it starts right now. The world's only proven pathway for success made for teachers by a teacher. The Tardee Bell is ringing so grab your seat and head on to the front of the class by going to kacymorris.com slash challenge. That's K-A-Y-S-E-M-O-R-R-I-S dot com slash challenge. .