An essential part of the Time Diet philosophy is that everyone is in control of his or her own schedule. Boy have I been reminded of that lately! School is starting back up on Wednesday and this year I am teaching at three schools instead of one. That means three rooms to set up, three sets of welcome packets to get ready, three desks to organize, three sets of music to buy…it’s a little crazy! I am constantly reminding myself that nobody is making me do all of this. I requested to be at three schools this year because it meant I could focus more on teaching band- my true passion. I love teaching band and if I truly felt that the stress of getting the school year going out weighed the benefit of doing something I love, I would be looking for a different job!

I have three full days left before the students arrive and I have left nothing to chance. I have each day carefully planned out so that I know everything will get done on time. Part of that planning process includes going out to dinner with friends tonight. The best part about that is that I don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying an evening out because I will have gotten a lot of my work done before hand, and I have made time later for the rest of it. I know if I just worked non-stop this weekend, I would get burned out quickly. What good is a schedule if it doesn’t include a little fun?