By a Teacher Who Finally Learned the Hard Way

For the first ten years of my teaching career, I brought work home almost every night. Planning, marking, chasing resources online—I even had a ‘teacher tray’ in my hallway to keep the stacks of books tidy. My partner would joke, “Do your pupils know how much of our dining table they’ve taken over?”

It wasn’t until a conversation with my then five-year-old daughter that it hit me. She said, “You’re always doing school work. Even when you’re home, you’re not really here.” Ouch.

That was my wake-up call. I’d always thought bringing work home was just “part of the job,” but over time I realised it was a recipe for burnout—and frankly, it wasn’t making me a better teacher.

Here’s why I believe, now more than ever, that lesson planning should stay at school—and how you can make that shift without letting standards slip.

When you plan at home, your home becomes your classroom. The boundary blurs. I used to sit on the sofa, laptop balanced on my knees, trying to map out a sequence on fractions while half-watching Gardener’s World. It wasn’t relaxing and it wasn’t productive.

Once I set the rule that all planning stays at school, something changed. I focused better during school hours. I was more intentional with my PPA. And when I walked through my front door, I was off duty. That boundary saved my sanity.

One of my biggest planning breakthroughs happened during a casual chat with a colleague in the staffroom. I was stuck on a lesson about light and shadows. She mentioned an activity using torches and puppet cut-outs. Ten minutes later, I had a brilliant, practical lesson planned—something that would’ve taken me an hour to piece together at home.

Collaboration doesn’t happen over your kitchen table. It happens in corridors, classrooms, and shared planning spaces. When you stay on site to plan, you invite those spontaneous “have you tried this?” moments that make your lessons richer.

This one’s personal. There was a time when I couldn’t watch a film without thinking, “Ooh, that scene would be a good writing stimulus.” I’d be at a museum with my own kids, and I’d take photos “just in case” I could use it for school.

Teaching becomes all-consuming if you let it. But you’re not just a teacher. You’re a friend, a parent, a partner, a runner, a reader—whoever you are outside the classroom deserves your attention too. Planning at school and leaving it there gave me permission to enjoy being off-duty.

At school, you’re surrounded by your classroom, your displays, your resources. You’re in the environment the lessons will be taught in. That context makes a huge difference. I once spent hours crafting a lesson on habitats at home, only to realise the display I’d planned to use had been taken down for repainting.

Now, I plan where the learning happens. I can quickly check what books I’ve got in my cupboard, grab a resource from the science box, or pop next door and ask if anyone has an inflatable globe. That flexibility makes planning more effective and more efficient.

Here’s the game-changer: digital planning tools. I used to carry home notebooks, folders, and flash drives. Now, I use a cloud-based planner (my current go-to is the Teachers Planning Tool), and everything I need is right there during my planning time at school. Lesson templates, curriculum links, even suggested learning objectives—it’s all built in.

It means I can do 90% of my planning from my desk at school, log off, and walk away. No more lugging books home. No more late-night Google searches.

When a trainee joined my class for her placement, she said, “You seem really calm compared to the other teachers I’ve seen.” I laughed—I didn’t feel calm—but I realised she wasn’t just talking about behaviour management or lesson structure. She meant the way I handled workload.

She later told me she’d assumed teachers had to work every evening. Seeing someone get their work done during contracted hours challenged that narrative. We owe it to ourselves—and the next generation of teachers—to model sustainable working habits.

At home, planning usually happens under time pressure. You’re tired, the kids need attention, your partner’s asking if you’re nearly done. You rush through it just to tick it off. At school, you have your resources, your colleagues, and most importantly—your focus.

My lessons became more purposeful when I stopped panic-planning on a Sunday night and started using school time more intentionally. I wasn’t just filling out boxes—I was thinking about impact.

I’m not saying planning at home is always avoidable. We all have weeks when something slips or the unexpected crops up. But making a habit of planning at home? That’s what we need to challenge.

The truth is: keeping planning in school is better for your mental health, your relationships, and your teaching. And with tools like Teachers Planning Tool to streamline the process, it’s more achievable than ever.

So the next time you reach for your laptop on a Sunday night, ask yourself—could this wait until Monday morning?

Because your time is valuable. Your peace matters. And great teaching doesn’t have to come at the expense of your evenings.