Motivation Tip #2 – Take Breaks
It can be hard to take breaks during a long school year, but it's so important for your well-being that you find time for yourself. Whether it's a few minutes during your lunch break to sit outside and get some fresh air, or taking a longer weekend away from work, breaks are critical for your physical and mental health. Even if it's just a few minutes of "me" time each day, you'll find that you're able to stay motivated much more easily. 

Motivation Tip #3 – Talk It Out
Sometimes the best way to stay motivated is to simply talk it out with a friend or mentor. Having someone to talk to can be a great way to vent any frustrations and clear your head. It's also helpful to hear different perspectives on how to stay focused throughout the year. Not only will you be able to get yourself back on track, but chances are you'll also come up with some great long-term strategies for staying motivated. 

Motivation Tip #4 – Celebrate Small Victories
It's easy to lose sight of progress when faced with the long school year. Make sure to take time to celebrate all the small victories along the way. A short break, a successful teaching session, or even just a good day – all of these little successes add up and make a huge difference in keeping you motivated. 


I hope these tips have been helpful in giving you a better understanding of how to motivate yourself through the school year! Remember: break it down into smaller chunks, take breaks, talk it out with someone close to you, and celebrate your small victories. Stay focused and don't forget – taking care of yourself is always the most important thing! Thanks for watching – see you next time!

It's Time to get Focused on Staying on Task

 
As a teacher or education professional, all of us have had times when we have struggled to stay focused and on track completing our work. It's hard when we don't feel motivated or have a million things running through our minds clouding our focus. 

Let's start by exploring the reasons why we might find ourselves running around in circles trying to stay on task. It could be A, Not having a plan, B, Easy access to distractions or C emotional exhaustion from work and home life. 

Let’s look at each of these in more detail. 

A. Not Having a Plan. When we don't have a plan or timeline and we just start working on something without any concrete ideas, it can be hard for us to stay on track. We need to think about what’s our goal for the day and break it down into smaller tasks. Once you identify your task list it's much easier to focus and stay on track. 

B. Easy Access to Distractions. It can be hard to focus and stay on task when we have easy access to distractions in our environment. We can easily get sucked into our phones, emails, social media and whatever else is happening around us. So, it’s important to take a step back and create an environment for yourself with limited distractions. This means turning off notifications, closing unnecessary tabs on your browser, and either turning off or muting your phone. 

C. Emotional Exhaustion from Work & Home Life. It can be hard for us to concentrate when we are feeling emotionally exhausted from our work-life and home-life balance. This could be caused by personal stressors in our life, feeling overwhelmed at work or being too burnt out from all aspects of our life. A great way to get back your focus is to take breaks and have some down time for yourself. 

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Now that we know the reasons why we are having difficulty staying focused, let's talk about how to become more productive. 

First, create a schedule or timeline for yourself that maps out each task that needs to be completed on a daily basis. This will make it easier for you to stay on track. 

Second, create an environment for yourself that has as few distractions as possible. That means limiting your access to your phone, social media, emails or whatever else is a distraction for you. 

Third, practice mindfulness or meditation techniques that help you calm the mind and be in the present moment as much as possible. This will help you focus on the task at hand instead of worrying about the past or over analyzing the future. 

Finally, make sure you take breaks often and reward yourself for completing tasks. This will give you something to look forward to and will motivate you to stay focused and complete the task at hand. 

Staying focused and on task doesn't have to be a challenge. By following these steps, we can become more productive and motivated throughout our day and reach our goals much more quickly. ​