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Whenever I mention a 40-hour workweek for teachers, people tend to have one of two objections.

I believe that a 40-hour work week IS possible for many teachers, and that you can trim 10+ hours off an extreme work and still do an excellent job as an educator.

I believe that, because I lived it during my 11 years in the classroom. Even as a new teacher, I worked a 40-hour week about 80-90% of the time.

My friends and colleagues and anyone who was paying attention can attest that I left the building within an hour of when the kids did every afternoon, and took very little work home. But I never really talked about it until I left the classroom and became an instructional coach, because telling people about how few hours you work is not a really smart idea.

This is a pervasive myth that I’m going to debunk below. Hours worked does not equate with results.

I want you to think about the teachers in your building and colleagues.

1) Ineffective and average teachers who work reasonable hours

These are the teachers who are not really invested in the job. Some of them just want a paycheck, and that’s certainly the stereotype.

These teachers put in the least amount of hours at work as possible, and while I am empathetic, they are the ones who inadvertently perpetuate the myth that teachers need to work 70 hour weeks to be effective.

But let’s dig deeper.

2) Ineffective and average teachers who work long hours

We all know this type of teacher, too. They work long hours because they want to do a good job, but they don’t manage their time well. They work incessantly, but not on the right things, and not on things that produce results in the classroom.

They’re putting in tremendous effort but aren’t seeing tremendous learning gains in their classrooms. In fact, their students really aren’t learning much more than the teachers who leave right at 3 p.m. each day.

So we have ineffective and average teachers who work short hours, and those who work long hours. As you can see, the difference in their workload does not equate to results. None of them are really excelling or doing great things for kids. They’re treading water. They’re keeping up with what’s expected, but just barely. This is not a life we want to aspire to.

So now let’s look at the outstanding teachers–the ones we all want to be like–and examine their workloads.

3) Outstanding teachers who work long hours

Every school has at least a few of these superstars.

Despite the fact that this amount of dedication to work is generally not sustainable, these are the teachers that we compare ourselves to, and make ourselves feel guilty for not being like them. You have to be really honest with yourself about how they live, though–not just become enamored with how well they teach, but examine their quality of life overall.

Teaching does NOT have to consume your entire life–don’t settle for stress!

These are just a few examples. There are a lot of different ways to approach teaching and assessment, and if what you’re doing is not working well for you from a time management perceptive, don’t assume that this is just the way things have to be and there’s no alternative.

There are other teachers who spend very little time grading—why shouldn’t you be one of them? Why should you lug a stack of essays home every single night?

That does NOT have to be your reality, but if something’s going to change, it has to be intentionally. That workload is not going to disappear magically overnight

Pursue work-life balance with intention, even if you never get to a 40-hour week

A 40 hour workweek might not be possible with your teaching context, personality, or work speed and habits. But you CAN shave multiple hours of your work week. I believe that is possible for every teacher.

We are ALL wasting time without realizing it, and completing certain routine tasks in really ineffective, inefficient ways.