How to Manage Workload

We've been back in school for a half term now, but after 6 months of isolation, it's a been a hurdle getting back into the swing of things, especially with workload.

Most people feel like they have all the work in the world, overwhelmed with a mixture of homework and school, with no time in-between for a break. You're not wrong, it can be a lot, but there could be some techniques that could help reduce the stress and manage the workload.

First of all, take breaks. Scheduling in downtime is essential for productivity, or you’ll burn out and make no progress at all. In fact, studies have shown that taking a 5-minute break every 25 minutes leaves students with more motivation and drive to complete tasks, as they feel more refreshed, ultimately increasing productivity compared to those who didn’t take any breaks. So, even though it may seem counter-intuitive, breaks are essential to getting work done faster and getting that workload off your shoulders.

Another way to reduce the stress of an impending deadline, similarly to the last technique, is to make a plan. This helps you set aside time for each subject, and helps you feel more organised and ready for the due date, as you know you will get it done. When setting time aside, or making a study/homework plan, make sure to add in an extra 10 - 15 minutes to allow time for breaks and have a little spare in case anything unexpected crops up.

Something essential to managing workload is sleep. Sleep helps you relax, retain information, and prepares you for the next day of work. Sleeping for 8-10 hours is ideal, and allows you to keep stress away as well as helping you work well to prevent a backlog of work.

Most of these tips are techniques for preventing an overload of work, but what can you do if a backlog has already accumulated? First of all, you’ll need to prioritise, do what you can that’s due the next day (there’ll be a maximum of 5 homework tasks to do at one then) and from there you can start doing extra pieces each day if they’re quick, or dedicating an hour or two over the weekend to homework, or maybe even spend half your lunch in the LRC getting ahead. This way you slowly chip away at the backlog while not missing any assignments. I’ll admit that I fell far behind in year 7, but worked hard, and did each assignment, slowly making my list of homework tasks a little smaller each day, until I finally caught up at the weekend. And let me tell you when I saw that ‘no set tasks’ on google classroom, I sighed with relief. My work was done; I had finally discovered who let the dogs out.

Teacher's top tip: Don't bury our heads in the sand, and hope everything will magically get better - ask for help. When you ignore it, you end up feeling resentful towards your work and subjects, you walk into class feeling annoyed at ourselves but often project that onto our peers and teachers by being moody or giving attitude, you resent going home and knowing how much work you have to do and ultimately you're just making it worse for yourself. When you're struggling, when it's all a bit much, ask for help. Sometimes that might be asking a friend or classmate to help you with your work, but also, talk to your teachers. We welcome open and honest discussions with our students, for example politely asking us for an extension and briefly explain why you need that time, apologising if work is overdue, emailing us asking for guidance or suggestions on your work etc. If we can see that you are actively trying to manage your workload, reduce your stress and ultimately learn, we will understand.

So, a quick summary: Do what you can to stay on top of your work, keep a healthy lifestyle (do not sacrifice sleep to complete a task), reach out for help, and even if you do fall behind, there is still hope. You can still get back to that satisfying feeling of accomplishment when google classroom is empty.