Let me be real with you—I know what it’s like to spend your planning period tweaking, polishing, and chasing classroom perfection that never actually lightens your workload.

In this episode of The Secondary Teacher Podcast, I break down the sneaky ways perfectionism eats up your prep time, especially when you’re juggling multiple preps, grading, and classroom management.

I’ll share my go-to strategies like time caps, stop rules, and the “minimum viable product” mindset to help you swap perfect for finished, so you can actually leave school lighter (and maybe stop hauling that grading crate back and forth!).

If you’re a middle or high school teacher drowning in lesson planning, desperate for time-saving tips and ways to reduce overwhelm, this one’s for you—listen in and start protecting your precious planning time today.

Too many preps and not enough time? Let’s make your planning period actually work for you.

Need a fast mid-year teaching reset? Try my 10-Minute Teacher Reset Tool — a free AI-powered assistant that helps you simplify one system in 10 minutes or less: https://khristenmassic.com/10minute

Get the Planning Period Reset Toolkit—a free set of quick-start tools to help you protect your time, focus faster, and finally finish something… even during chaotic school days. https://khristenmassic.com/reset

Grab the Warm-Up Wizard--A free Ai Teaching Assistant that will create all your class warm-ups for the week in less than 5 minutes: https://khristenmassic.com/wizard

Shop my Teachers Pay Teachers store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Khristen-Massic-Cte-Teacher-Coach

Some days, my planning period feels more like wishful thinking than real time to get anything done—especially when you teach lab-based classes or juggle multiple preps.

In this episode, I break down my go-to 15-, 30-, and 60-minute prep routines designed for those inevitable chaotic days when setup, tech problems, or urgent tasks steal your prep time.

If you’re a secondary teacher looking for real-world strategies to cut overwhelm, finish something meaningful, and finally stop lugging that grading crate home every night, you’ll want these practical routines you can actually stick to, even when everything goes sideways. Let’s tame prep time together—mess and all!

Too many preps and not enough time? Let’s make your planning period actually work for you.

Need a fast mid-year teaching reset? Try my 10-Minute Teacher Reset Tool — a free AI-powered assistant that helps you simplify one system in 10 minutes or less: https://khristenmassic.com/10minute

Get the Planning Period Reset Toolkit—a free set of quick-start tools to help you protect your time, focus faster, and finally finish something… even during chaotic school days. https://khristenmassic.com/reset

Grab the Warm-Up Wizard--A free Ai Teaching Assistant that will create all your class warm-ups for the week in less than 5 minutes: https://khristenmassic.com/wizard

Shop my Teachers Pay Teachers store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Khristen-Massic-Cte-Teacher-Coach

Ever sit down during your planning period, determined to tackle your lesson plans, only to end up organizing folders or chatting in the office instead? Been there!

In this episode, I share how I broke my old prep-wasting habits and discovered a simple, practical system for picking one anchor task—so that planning time stops slipping away under a pile of grading and endless decisions.

If you're a secondary teacher juggling multiple preps, on a block schedule, or just drowning in overwhelm, let me show you how to reduce decision fatigue and finally walk out of prep with something real and DONE. Hit play to get actionable strategies for making your planning period actually work for you (and yes, you can lose the crate of work you keep hauling home!).

Too many preps and not enough time? Let’s make your planning period actually work for you.

Need a fast mid-year teaching reset? Try my 10-Minute Teacher Reset Tool — a free AI-powered assistant that helps you simplify one system in 10 minutes or less: https://khristenmassic.com/10minute

Get the Planning Period Reset Toolkit—a free set of quick-start tools to help you protect your time, focus faster, and finally finish something… even during chaotic school days. https://khristenmassic.com/reset

Grab the Warm-Up Wizard--A free Ai Teaching Assistant that will create all your class warm-ups for the week in less than 5 minutes: https://khristenmassic.com/wizard

Shop my Teachers Pay Teachers store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Khristen-Massic-Cte-Teacher-Coach