I’ve always found it interesting that we often long for Fridays. The end of the work week. A time to finally relax and have time to do get things done in our personal life. But often times we are wishing away time. It is no surprise then that time seems to go by so quickly. It’s hard to not fall into the culture of “Is it Friday yet?” I love my job. I really do. But it is draining sometimes.

During Covid, my school had a work day on Monday for teachers to prepare for the week and then classes the other 4 days. I miss having that one day for uninterrupted time to get the paperwork part of the job done. I implemented in my old school a half day, once a week for this. As counselors, we are technically on a teacher contract which means that we should get a 30 minute duty free lunch and 2 plan periods. Thankfully, our team tries to eat lunch together every day but 2 45 minutes periods in the day to plan rarely happens, especially as we near the end of the semester and parents start to pay attention to their student’s grades.

The education system is broken in so many ways, but bringing back a 4 day school week with a day for the logistical stuff would, in my mind, lessen the burn out rate. Some schools are moving that way due to staffing issues. I’m sure it would be beneficial for other professions as well. Maybe someday someone in a position of power will recognize that clocked hours does not always mean more productivity.