Please help me leave work on time...

[ContractedHours]

Work in a school (admin/pastoral) full time. In so many ways I love my job. The students, the team I work with, the teachers (OK there is the odd exception) and (most) of the parents.

But in the three years I have been there I think I have left on time a handful of times. Always work through lunch.

There is so much to do deadline wise (admissions, new starters, parents evenings, open evenings, census) yet this has to be juggled with daily enquiries, requests, safeguarding issues, etc. Limited people to share the workload with. One similar role in my team - she is the same with no lunchbreaks/working late, so cannot ask her to do more.

I am shit at doing a half-arsed job...I want to do my best for the students/my colleagues etc so I end up finishing a minimum of 30-45 minutes late every day. Often later.

My boss, as she leaves every evening, is telling me to pack up and go home....and not to log on at home all well and good but the stuff needs doing and I cannot do it all 8.30-4.30 and no-one else can do it or has time to do

So this year I am determined to do that --to leave at the end of my contracted hours and not login again until the next day. Ha....it has worked 1 day out of 6 so far!😐

So, I have:
Set a vibrating alarm on my watch to go at 4pm (finish at 4.30pm) to tell me to start packing up
Set a audible alarm on my phone at 4.35pm to tell me to call my son to remind him to get on with his revision (GSCE year)

I am hoping these "nags" will push me out of the door. But am not sure how these alone will help...I need to shift my mindset as well as my end of day time keeping....I need to switch off the "I'll just quickly do this before I leave" mentality.

I earn a measly £21.5k....I am not paid enough to be working like this..

Has anyone else managed to change from always working late to leaving on time? If so, what helped you do that?

TL/DR :
What else can I do to get my arse out of school and not do hours of unpaid overtime

Well done OP - keep us posted on your progress and any tips.
I feel ruthlessly unproductive- I'm always first in last out. Am very interested in manson's law @ehb102 - I'd love to know more.

@NightNightJohnBoy It was quoted in the Guardian this week. Mark Manson is a consultant of some kind https://markmanson.net/breakthrough/023-the-law-of-avoidance

Thanks @ehb102 - that's a useful nugget to mull over.

So I left at 4.45 yesterday...so 15 minutes over.

Had spent the day feeling hyper anxious though. Which was grim. At the workload ahead without the prospect of the added time at the end of the day to "catch up".

Feels weirdly a bit like I am also feeling grief as well. (Sorry, aware that sounds like self-indulgent crap). Same workload, less hours, just "things don't get done" or "you just wont be able to do it as well". Feels like what I viewed as a fabulous job is actually...well a bit shitty. "Here, let's remove a big chunk of job satisfaction by making it impossible to do a good job". But that is just me, I think. I have to change my mindset. My discipline. My people pleaser tendencies.

Onwards and upwards....but finishing on time.

Following because I work in a school & have a need to do everything perfectly. This week has been manic as I am responsible for ensuring 80 new children are on the system correctly and to cover medical room & parent's queries. We have lost 3 staff members in our office (now just 3 of us). I love my job & my colleagues but yesterday I had a meltdown & arrived home an hour & half late (no lunchtime) in tears. Next week there are only 2 of us. I'm never off sick but I'm sorely tempted. Lots of new TAs in classes but no plans for more of us.

I do the census so that is a bit stressful but tbh it's rarely a problem, just a scramble to ensure any newbies are enrolled in time.

Oh, OP, I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. Exactly. I'm primary school admin and people think it's a "nice little job". I wish!! There's just me and our school business manager in our very busy office. Our phone is going all day, visitors are coming and going all day. Every phone call needs an action or follow up. "Reception duties" - that's a full time job in itself, never mind trying to get any other admin done.

And this year is clearly going to be the worst year ever, I am stressed to the hilt. We (infants site) amalgamated with the juniors site a couple of weeks ago. Everyone was against it, we all knew it wasn't in the children's best interests and would just pile needless extra pressure onto staff, and that the educational experience will actually be worse for the children in a lot of ways. But you know, the local authority have their ways of pushing things through. I kept an open mind as much as I could through the hell of the last 6 months of trying to plan for this eventuality, but the reality is far worse than I thought it would be.

Nothing is working properly. Our phone system, our SIMS, our parent messaging system, our payment systems. Where everything was very busy and stressful before, we got through it because at least the systems in place worked and were relatively efficient, and we were a good team at our site, making our own decisions which we knew would work for us. Now we are not even on the same site physically so staff are always disappearing off for meetings at the other site (god knows why when they could easily just use Google Meet etc). We are running 2 different email systems concurrently, 2 different SIMS, while we try to transition to a "single school".

I'm also consicentious like you. I hate doing a bad job. Last year it was difficult doing a good job. This year it has become impossible. So I've told myself that as it IS impossible, I may as well stick to my hours from now on, as nothing I do extra will ever now be good enough. I don't earn much at all, yet work through my unpaid hour's lunch break every day, and do nearly an hour extra each night. That's 10 hours unpaid a week on top of my contracted 35. Ridiculous when I think about it for such a low paid job.

My desk is in chaos, papers everywhere because as I start to try and organise it, ie. create a new ring binder for something, so I can file papers where they should go, as I'm looking for one in the stationery room the phone rings or someone appears at the office window. Then I forget where I was up to and start on something else. I just flit from one thing to the next trying to survive.

I can't start on anything which needs serious brainpower and deep thought as there are so many interruptions eg learning new IT stuff, and playing around with it.

Menopause is NOT helpingme cope with all this!

I am going to start the 4.10pm tidying up/organising thing. I'll have to look into the bullet journal/to do list thing again. I did use Task Manager but found that there were some tasks that I simply didn't ever get to and it was depressing so I just stopped as it just seemed like a list of failures staring me at the face every morning!

Hmmm....it is REALLY hard, isn't it? I seriously love my colleagues (at our site, and our office counterparts at the other site are in the same boat as us so we empathise with each other), and the kids and the parents, but the workload now is something else, and there is a real feeling of loss of control now about not being able to do a good job which is quite depressing. I sometimes fantasize about working for myself because then my hands aren't tied by someone making stupid decisions higher up somewhere in the LA or government which has a detrimental impact on the service I can provide. Any failures would be purely down to me, which is fair enough.

PM me if you like. I'm 2 and a hour years in and seriously wondering if I can carry on at this rate.

I meant to add, I actually am going to ask if 2 weeks can be added to my TTO contract. I need some prep time when there are no children, parents or visitors are in. I just end up coming in in my own time to eg do archiving or set up things for the new school year. That's not on really is it? I'm happy to do a couple of extra weeks out of term time but I want paying for it.

Same with my lunch break. What's the point in an hour's unpaid lunch break if I can't actually take it and end up working through. The TAs get a half hour unpaid lunch break and sometimes moan about having to work through it sometimes. But at least they are getting paid for the other half an hour.

I like my line manager. She is passionate about education and what we offer the children. But she works too hard herself and is also stressing herself out. She tells people on lower grades to go home on time but it's as you say, how will the job get done if there is no time to finish it during the day?

I would make a record of the hours that you are keeping and use that to justify, more paid time or a reduction of responsibilities, or an additional post.

Can any of your tastes me automated, or can you make templates for common emails etc to avoid inventing the wheel everytime.

When I worked in education I had to learn that good enough was just that.

Are their other pastoral staff doing similar a similar role that you can share the load with? Make a shared one note so that you can both add tasks, templates and other resources to it.

I work in a different industry now, where when my hours are up I am expected to put my laptop away and leave it. I had to email a colleague to ask for some support on a project and she fired back such a brilliant email to our shared grandparent line-manager (with me Ccd) that I couldnt help but feel proud of her despite never meeting her and hope that I am able to assert my boundaries as brilliantly in future. The email went something along the lines of "Good morning X, Y has contacted me about ABC, as you know I am at capacity with my current workload. We need to have a discussion about where ABC fits in with my other work and its level of priority and which work may need to be sidelined" it was much better than that but you get the gist, in education everyone just seems to take on more and more work until they break.

I work in a school as support staff but not admin/ pastoral. It’s a new school, promised an additional me this September they never advertised and my workload has tripled since I started. I have had to have really difficult conversations with the team of teachers I support and essentially we’ve gone to 4 days me doing the basics and day 5 off timetable and sorting resources. I have to choose to fail as if I cope (which I’m not!!!) they will leave me to crack on.

have things planned for your evenings! I pick up my primary school children so I have to leave on time. I work 1/2 day Fridays if I don’t have an appointment I’m terrible for not actually doing a half day.

Have plans for your evenings that are for you or your kids and not movable!

Also I try to run a rule of I will go in early but not stay late as I don’t “use” my mornings in the same way I use afternoons evening and thus less precious.

Just reading that other people have the same struggles helps me feel less alone (not that I wish all this stress on others but I hope ykwim).

It doesn't help that some parents are constantly needing to come in to the office to ask questions & think I can just stand about & chat. It's a constant struggle to smile & nod knowing that there is a pile of work a mile high on my desk. Gentle hints about "well I must get on" & looking at my watch are useless. Trouble is I can't walk away as they're in my workspace. We now make internal calls to each other to create a break. It's exhausting!

You need to change your mind set. I was like this prior to this year. I decided that I was giving too much of my life to my job. I literally speed walked around. I was constantly working at home and was literally exhausted and burnt out. This year, I leave much earlier. I don't respond to emails out of hours. I have made a conscious decision to have boundaries. I feel slightly odd about it and have not publicised it. However, I do feel in more control. I also work in education. If you allow it, the job will consume you. It is the kind of job where you could always do more and which is constant.

You might find you need to dig deeper to find out why you are doing this.

Workaholism is an addictive behaviour the same as any other, and addictive behaviours are usually a way of managing pain that of some sort, or something that is missing in life.

The alarm thing is working. It is on my watch - so I pause it for 10 mins, goes off again, and I do not dismiss it until I have packed up.

The bullet journalling is helping I think. But utterly soul destroying when you only cross one thing off but add 7....but have absolutely 100% been flat out all day and your inbox is groaning.

This week has been 3 x 4.30 leaves and a 4.45 leave - which I am stunned at,,,and then a 5.15. Worked through 2 lunches (only 30 mins). The other 3 I have signed up to do duties...so although I am "working" it is time away from my desk and actually doing me good. Extra ££ (nearly £1500)...but mostly a break. And the students are great. Largely.

So only 2 hours extra this week.

And Yes @Singleandproud I am going to make a note. If nothing else it will be a wake up call to me if I start slipping back into my old ways.

Do it. My contract was TT plus 1 week - work in Sixth Form so need to be in for 2 days for A level results day plus 3 days for GSCE results day.
But I pointed out to my boss and the SBM that after GSCE results day it took more than 1 days work to be ready for 150 brand new Y12s to start! Plus getting ready for the Y13s.....adjusting timetables, arranging tutor meetings, adding parents contact details etc etc etc. So now my contract is TT+2 weeks. So this September has been easier in some ways as I did that extra week at the end of August, rather than trying to do it in the first week of term

If I hadn't I would 100% still be working late these first 2 weeks of term.

The email went something along the lines of "Good morning X, Y has contacted me about ABC, as you know I am at capacity with my current workload. We need to have a discussion about where ABC fits in with my other work and its level of priority and which work may need to be sidelined"

Thank you @Singleandproud I have emailed this to my work email....just as a tool to use if demands start going up. (Often easier to write something by editing something already existing). I can feel my boss not asking as much of me since our discussion - she normally pops by several times a day asking for x,y,z but she hasn't been. I feel bad for this as it means she has to do some stuff herself/it isn't getting done. But at the same time....I am still flat out.

If your office set up will allow it, a good tactic is to stand up and start walking towards the door....this will automatically get them "moving" and makes you less of a sitting duck!

Can any of your tastes me automated, or can you make templates for common emails etc to avoid inventing the wheel everytime. Have done a lot of this already. Automation is my love - anything that is done more than once then absolutely I will do something to make it quicker/more accurate/more efficient where I can.

Oh I could tell you. Or the stately homes thread

Getting things done (and ideally before they become urgent = parent would not shout/tantrum/beat the shit out of my sister....

And so, despite the therapy, there is still a deeply inbuilt fear of not "getting things done"

I know it's not my thread but I think me and OP would think similar and disagree with you. This isn't about being a workaholic. It's about not wanting to let our kids and their families down. And more and more the pressures of not making a safeguarding fuckup comes it. This isn't working for the sake of it because we don't want to go home for some reason or only feel fulfilled at work or whatever. There are nurses and doctors and social workers who go home way beyond the end of their shift because otherwise important stuff doesn't get done. Now, I'm not putting school admin in that kind of life or death bracket, but the knowledge that the reputation of the school could be affected by your fuck ups, or the success of an Ofsted inspection depends on you having kept proper records etc or the safety of a child could be in jeopardy because you didn't follow up the reason for a child's absence or transfer to another school, or report a concern about a parent's behaviour or conversation with you on the phone, then, yeah, there are real pressures there. Some tasks just CAN'T be left till next day.

just seen Op's update. Perhaps I need to have a closer look at it actually.

But you are also correct.
It is about the reputation of the school making students/parents feel confident in the ability of the school to teach them, care for them, keep them safe, log their trip payments, remind them to pay for the revision books, etc etc.

We have safeguarding training....so (sorry) some is just pen-pushing admin....mostly it is really fucking important....that if the teen that has previously mentioned suicide is missing from a lesson, we need to report it and yes, go to the various "known" and unknown hangouts they have to see if we can find them. And report if we do/don't. Big site. This takes 20 odd minutes. More.

And the fact I have 55 students details to enter and a coach to book....that becomes irrelevant for that hour of the day.

But once the student found, parent called, situation resolved...I still need to enter the details (safeguarding/comms/census) and book the coach (or there won't be one left)....

I do love the job. It does offer so much. But just like the rest of the public sector, we just need better funding so there are more of us doing it.

and I could do without the baggage which means I would find it easier to not do everything

Following for tips. It is something I struggle with too - and often take a bag of stuff home as well to do. One thing I did a few years ago was to observe myself working and make a list of 'timewasters'. Then tried to think of solutions to each one. Discovered for example that people often just borrowed my pen for a moment and didn't return it, so bought one of those pens that sticks to the desk and can't be taken! Have drawn up a lot of proformas so certain tasks can be completed more easily. I'm really trying to slow down this year and not stress if things have to wait another day.