Here in South East Queensland due to a severe weather system some may say that we are lucky to be beginning our holidays two days early.

Starting holidays two days early has significantly disrupted my plans to ensure that all my marking and reporting was completed by the end of Friday before we went on holidays.

With littlies at home due to school closures marking is a bit of a pipe dream and therefore will now have to be completed in the holidays instead. After a long term I am mindful though that I need a break.

If your like me and have a list as long as you are tall then just like me you probably need a plan of attack. If I don’t take some time to plan when I will get my work done either it won’t happen or I will be thinking about it all holidays and therefore never really taking a break from work.

The holidays is a time for us to refresh and refocus by taking time away from school and for ourselves. If we don’t use this time to fill our buckets we will burn ourselves out through the next term.

This holidays I will be making time for self care, doing the things I don’t have time for during the school term like hair cuts, pedicures and eyebrow waxes.

After 10 weeks of teaching we all need that break from school. So here are 8 tips to ensure that you have a break this holidays.

Take a Break

1. Determine the work that must be completed before you return to school. Make a list. 

2. Determine the things that you would like to do for yourself.

3. Accept that you can’t accomplish everything that you would like.

4. Make a plan for the holiday. Decide if you will mix work and break activities or focus on each on separate days. 

5. Give yourself deadlines to finalise work that must be competed. Don’t make it the day before you go back to work. 

6. Make sure the last two days of the holidays are a break. 

7. Schedule your top 3 tasks from the list above to ensure that you succeed in both completing work and having a break. 

8. Make time for family and friends. Have a coffee, a playdate, a family bbq. Our support networks are what keeps us going in the school term ensure you feed it. 

This holiday I am planning to spend at least 5 days doing jobs for work with my priority being marking and reporting followed by video creation for my flipped classroom next term. Whatever else I get accomplished is great but otherwise it can wait.

For my break I am planning on going to a bookfair (I love books), finishing the series of books I have begun reading, visiting the waterfalls, going to the movies, completing my self care list and spending some quality time with my kids.

What are your tips to ensuring you get a break? Do you have a break in the school holidays? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our facebook page.