“How am I going to get all of this done?” Once you settle into a new term, you figure out what to expect from week to week.  But occassionally there’s a week that sneaks in that isn’t quite so normal, and the stress level starts to rise. You've ...  agreed to substitute for two of your colleagues. got a conference presentation on Thursday, which happens to be your busiest teaching day. just noticed after going through your emails that you forgot to put a committee project deadline on your calendar … and it’s in three days. On top of these additional responsibilities, your brain also reminds you that you have your own lessons to prepare for and classes to teach next week. One thought leads to another, and you start to feel overwhelmed. So, how are you going to get it all done? In today’s episode, I share five steps to help you figure out an answer to this question. Each one is practical addressing both logistics and personal wellbeing, and they don’t require a lot of time to implement. For full show notes of this episode, visit eltresourceroom.com/podcast/33-5-steps-for-managing-an-overwhelming-week    Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

In your experience teaching academic English, have you ever … stayed late at the office? worked on a weekend a time or two (or more than you can count)?  Maybe you’ve done so because it was the only way to get everything done. Maybe it's because you consider yourself a dedicated ELT professional. Or perhaps it's because working long and hard is just part of the job. On their own, there's nothing wrong with being dedicated to your profession and working late. But when the choices you make in your ELT life cause you to feel overwhelmed or stressed – or even guilty, then it could be because either you haven’t established any boundaries yet or the ones you do have are being crossed. In today’s Thrive in ELT episode, I focus on three major aspects to help you evaluate if taking a next step toward creating boundaries is right for you. Setting boundaries doesn’t mean that you won’t ever stay late again or take work home with you. But it does mean that you are aware of what you need to achieve and sustain the ELT life you'd really like to lead.  And guess what? It all starts with just one small step.   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

What if …? We make contingency plans for all kinds of moments in our lives. These plans provide us with an opportunity to experience less stress and overwhelm when the possibilities become realities. The probability of needing contingency plans in your ELT life is no less likely than in any other part of life. What if … your car won’t start? you or your child is sick and you have to stay home? your home heating system all of sudden quits and it’s in the dead of winter? In today’s episode I share three aspects you need to consider when it comes to creating a teaching contingency plan. I also recount a recent personal story to help you decide if a contingency plan is something you need as an EAP/IEP professional.   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn Forming a contingency plan requires time and multiple organizational systems to be established, and I know that that can feel a little daunting.  If you’d like guidance on putting a plan together, or setting up some organizational systems to reduce your stress and ease the overwhelm, I invite you to book a free 15-minute call with me to see if 1:1 coaching is something that would benefit you.

Have you ever noticed that no matter where you are in a term, planning never really stops?  Weeks into it, you’re still adding and refining, and at the end, you find yourself making notes about things you want to change for next time. So if it’s the case that you’re always planning, then why is it so important to make space for it before a term even begins? Well, it’s at this point in time that you have the opportunity to really set the stage for an effective learning and teaching experience. It’s also when you have more time to think. Giving yourself lead time to brainstorm and consider options will result in greater focus, productivity, and even creativity.  In today’s episode you’ll: hear about the process I went through recently to prepare for an academic writing course and  be led through a series of questions to get you thinking about how you can make space to lesson plan when you start your new term.   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

There’s nothing that says you teach English for Academic Purposes quite like your schedule, right? Classes, office hours, meetings, training sessions, and the list goes on. It can be really hard to get things done when you’re constantly on the move with few opportunities for extended periods of concentrated work time. Those dreams of teaching in the mornings and planning in the afternoons do come true sometimes, but when they don’t, you need a plan.  In today’s episode, I share just two steps that will help you be as focused and productive as possible for the next time you deal with a schedule that’s all over the place.  Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

Files, folders, the cloud …  If you're like me, you couldn’t survive as an ELT professional without them! But when you open your storage system, what do you see?  Three to five main folders?  Or hundreds of individual files? How long would it take to find that shared presentation from the latest conference? Five clicks in five seconds? Or five minutes because you forgot where you saved it (and the file name)? As great as digital storage is for all that you do, it can also be overwhelming and frustrating.  Instead of stressing out and wasting time, listen to today’s episode for three practices you can implement right away that will get your ELT digital space working for you and not against you.   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

Have you ever been taking care of all the things that need to get done at the beginning or end of a term and realized that you haven’t left the building all week except to go home? Have you ever had so many PD events lined up that you’ve forgotten one or two (or three)?  Have you ever gotten into a routine that doesn’t include time for YOU? When we’re in work mode, it can be really easy to tell ourselves that we should only focus on the work every day at every moment and forgo setting aside any time for ourselves.  Yet we know that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we can become overwhelmed, forgetful, lose focus, and sometimes even feel guilty or resentful.  Your “you” time is worth attending to. In today’s episode, I take a look at two areas to consider when thinking about your “you” time and how implementing organizational systems can help this part of your ELT life get the attention it deserves. P.S. I’m currently conducting some market research and would love your thoughts on how things are going for you in your ELT life! If you teach academic English, would you mind taking a few minutes to respond to this survey? Your answers will help me determine my next steps for how I serve you. If you don’t teach academic English but know someone who does, then please share the link or this episode with them. I will be very grateful. For today's full show notes, go to https://www.eltresourceroom.com/podcast/27-making-the-most-of-your-you-time-how-organization-can-help   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn

Going through all of your email messages not your favorite thing to do?  Overwhelmed with thinking about all the things that need to get done … tomorrow?  Wish you had gathered progress updates on your students for today’s meeting a bit earlier?  It can be easy to let administrative tasks like these slide when there are so many other more important things that need to get done – like lesson planning, conferencing with your students, or working toward that next professional development goal. Yet they’re a part of our ELT lives that we can’t avoid … even if we’d like to! In today’s episode, I talk about four administrative tasks (and, yes, email is one of them!) that, if set up in an organized way, can provide support and focus for all of that other more important work. Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn Facebook Page

Do you ever wish that the lesson materials sitting on your desk would find their own way back to the shelf? Or have you ever been ready to file away those important student documents from weeks ago but can’t find them now? Our brains like it when our work spaces have order to them. We can put all of our attention on the important task at hand, and time is spent more productively with fewer distractions and less stress. In today’s episode, I discuss three areas of your physical work space to get organized, what organization looks like in each of these spaces, and what you can do to maintain the organization that you create.    Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn Facebook Page

When you think of English language teaching, this is probably the part that comes to mind first – instruction. It’s what we do, right? Yet instruction involves so much more than the time we spend with our learners in a single lesson. To even get to that point, we have to plan. But what happens when your plans aren’t organized? I know what happens to me – I forget things, lose focus, and feel overwhelmed. These do not make an instructor feel assured! So, what can you do to keep your focus, save time, and be confident in what you’re doing? The answer is to organize.  In today’s episode, I talk about why organizing your instruction is important and which questions to ask yourself so that you can assess your current level of organization. I also provide some practical examples on how to increase your preparedness and assuredness for the next time you meet with your learners.    Support your instructional organization by having the right materials to use. Download your free copy of 12 Meaningful ESL/EFL Resources for Adult Instruction here >>> https://12resources.eltresourceroom.com   Connect with Heather: Website LinkedIn Facebook Page