Surprising Ways to Find Time to Create Digital Resources

Hi, friends! I’ve noticed lately that many Savvy Apple Community members have struggled with how to find time to create digital resources and/or search for ones that they need. As teachers, we seem to have so much to do to prepare for our lessons and our students’ needs. Then, we try to fit in our personal lives which often include a family, and let’s not forget our friends. This all leads to us feeling overwhelmed at times and not sure how to do it all.

Digital resources became a must for a lot of us during the past year, but some of us had used them for a few years prior to last year’s virtual learning marathon. Some of you may have been designing digital resources long before that. I’ve written before (see this post) about how digital activities really are here to stay and can be used in our classroom centers and as an extension of learning as homework. But, how do you find time to create, or search for, them?

This week, I’m chatting about ways that can help you carve out some time in your busy life to create your digital resources. Not yet creating them? I’ve got a great, fast way to make your own templates and start knocking them out so you will have them ready for the new school year. 😉 Download this guide for the first step in the process. If you have any questions about creating digital resources, or aren’t sure if you should even try, comment below or email me, and I will get back to you and we can chat. I’d love to help. I promise, it’s not that hard to create your own. 😊 Now, let’s talk about finding ways to balance your day.

Best Ways to Find Balance in Your Busy Day

Like I said, we all know how busy we can get, and it may feel impossible to even think about designing and creating a digital resource. But, it is possible to find time when you start with a little planning and scheduling. Here’s a quick list of tips that can help you find some balance in your day.

🍏 If you’re a morning person, set an alarm for about 45 min/1 hour earlier than when the rest of the household gets up. This can give you a block of time to work on a resource before the day begins and gets busy.

🍏 If you’re more of a night person, at the end of the day (when the kids have gone to bed), spend an hour working on a resource. Though, don’t overdo it. You still want to spend some time winding down after your day. Trust me, I’ve made the mistake of over-working and ended up a burnt-out mess! 😩 Now, I know my limits. If I just squeeze in even 30 minutes to complete a step towards finishing the resource or adding some clipart, I then call it a night. This still gives me time to unwind and relax.

🍏 During really busy times, think weekends when kids are home, you can ask your partner or other family member to takeover while you work on resource for an hour or two. You can really get a lot done with this amount of time, especially once you create your foundational resources. With even a little bit of uninterrupted time, you will be able to focus and be more productive.

Yes, Lists Can Be Effective in Creating More Time

Lists, you either love them or hate them. 😉 If you fall into the latter, just stay with me for a bit. Its not always the “list” that doesn’t make something successful, sometimes we make it too long or complicated.

Lists should really be short and sweet. If they are too long or over complicated, we can become overwhelmed and, well, just give up. 🤷‍♀️ I like to keep a notebook hanging around that’s easily accessible to me throughout the day. You can always make a list on your smartphone if you like them digital. Keep a running list of resource ideas that come to mind. Then, when you have time to create, don’t forget the tips above, it will be easy to pick one from your list.

I also like to keep another list going of concepts and skills that I notice that my students need extra help with during the year. Usually, I will always have a student or two each year that struggle with the same things. If one comes to mind right now, jot it down. Yes, right now. 😀 But, do come back and finish reading the post. If you get into a habit of doing this, planning, you will already have ideas ready so you can just sit down and create! No more sitting for an hour figuring out what would be the best digital product to create!

Also, think about the resources that you haven’t been able to find online if you purchase more than you create or if you haven’t created your first. (Click here to read about how to take the first step towards designing and creating your own) Start simple, and build from there as you become more comfortable with the program and process. If you are one that stays after school to finish work or prepare your classroom for the next day, squeeze in 20-30 minutes of resource creation time while you’re in an uninterrupted space. This is when your list comes in handy.

Top Shortcuts That Maximize Efficiency

Templates are GOLD when it comes to efficiently creating teaching resources. If you haven’t gotten on the waitlist for my easy creation course yet, click here to do so. It will include template bonuses to get you started. How easy is that? You’ll already have your list ready on what you want/need to create 😉, so then you will just use the templates to get started!

Templates allow you to create multiple resources quickly and easily, without having to start from scratch each time. Whether you purchase pre-made templates, create your own, or get my course’s bonus templates 😉, you’ll be thankful for all the time you’ll be saving! I can’t stress enough how templates really are the best shortcuts in creating time for making digital resources.

Think big picture…

If you know you’ll be teaching basic operations in math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), think about how you can design a resource so that you can use it as a template for several other resources. If you plan to teach addition first, create a resource that can be easily copied and tweaked when you are ready to teach subtraction. You can even create them in advance. I include a basic operations template like this in my upcoming course, which makes resource creation quite effortless for you.

If you come up with a fun math game, design it so that you can tweak it quickly to make it a holiday theme when the time comes around. (You should definitely find time to make at least one game, students love them!) Often we can swap out clipart and change the colors to create a brand new resource quickly and easily. I do this with my own resources. Sometimes, I come across adorable clipart for Christmas, let’s say, and I take one of my existing resources and use it as a template or foundation for a new one. Let’s take my space-themed resources for example, I swapped out the space clipart with Christmas clipart and was able to throw together a new activity in about half an hour.

More tips…

Another way to create resources effortlessly and efficiently is to keep your computer files/folders organized. I know, scary subject. 😱 I have a separate folder for clipart, and within that folder I have another folder for each clipartist I use. This way, I can easily find the images I need when I’m creating. I also like to organize the folders by topic/subject. For example, folders for addition, subtraction, fractions, etc.

I also like to plan parts of my resources by hand. I find this helps me get my ideas out, and I can visualize what I plan to create. Plus, I can briefly plan the content for my slides. A good set of colored pens helps with this process. I find time to do this when my kids are coloring. 🖍

Keyboard shortcuts are also super helpful when it comes to creating resources quickly. You can generally complete more steps in the same amount of time it takes to navigate your mouse every time. Speaking of navigating your mouse, I highly recommend purchasing an affordable, wireless mouse and keyboard if you’re working on a laptop. This saves you tons of time and helps prevents strain on your neck, arms, shoulders, and back. Using these accessories, in combination with handy keyboard shortcuts, ends up saving you so much time when creating products. With all of these tips, you should definitely find time for digital resource creation.

Ask for Help

I’ve always been told to ask for help when you need it. It’s such hard thing for some, including me. But, asking for help to find time for household chores, babysitting, a friend to talk with, or anything else, really is a good thing. And, people love to help! Like I mentioned earlier, ask for an hour or two of alone time if you can so you can create your necessary products (or your very first one). You can also reach out to me for help. I’d love to help! 🙋🏻‍♀️

I hope you have found some tips that you can use to help you create a little more time in your day to create digital resources. If you want to try your hand at creating one, summer is a great time to try, click here to get your guide or go ahead and sign up for the waitlist for my course coming this summer. Let me know if you have any questions.

Have a great week!

Jess