πΏ Your Tuesday Email: Release Over-Planning
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Hello Reader! Summer is not just a runway for September. It belongs to you! Enjoy it! Sometime in the first week of July, it happens. You're sitting somewhere that isn't school. Maybe a porch, a park, a coffee shop that doesn't smell like a cafeteria. And a small, persistent voice starts up: I should really get ahead on unit plans. I should revamp that system that didn't work this year. If I just spent one hour a day, I could have everything ready before August. Do you know this voice? We sure do! Most educators recognize it! The Over-Planning TrapPlanning over the summer isn't inherently a problem. A little intentional preparation can make September feel grounded instead of reactive. But there's a meaningful difference between thoughtful preparation and using productivity as a substitute for rest. Let that sink in. Over-planning in summer usually isn't really about September. It's about those feelings of anxiety already creeping in. About the feeling that if you rest too long, something will fall apart. About an identity built so tightly around doing that not-doing feels dangerous. No amount of summer planning will eliminate the uncertainty of a new school year. There are so many unknowns and so much unpredictability before the start of a year, it is not worth your time to plan too far ahead. This may be a hard pill to swallow, but sometimes the educator who rested genuinely over the summer is often better equipped to adapt than the one who planned endlessly. What We Think Summer Planning Should Actually Look LikeThere is a version of summer planning that serves you. It's light and directional, but it doesn't start before you've genuinely rested. It looks like:
That's it! Stop there! Everything else can wait until August. The rest of summer belongs to you! Releasing the Productivity ReflexFor many educators, especially high-achieving, deeply committed ones, rest without productivity feels uncomfortably close to laziness. It isn't. Rest is how your nervous system repairs. It's how your creativity refills. It's how you return to students in September as a whole person rather than an already-depleted one. Give yourself permission to not plan this summer. The planning will be there when you're ready for it. The summer won't. Podcast:
Listen to the pod on all the platforms like Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio and YouTube. Now you can follow us on Instagram. Resources:
ReflectionWhat would you do with your summer if you genuinely believed that resting was as important as preparing? Yours, P.S. Forward this email to colleagues who you think would enjoy the connection and resources.
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