Teachers spend an average of 7–10 hours per week on lesson planning. That’s time away from family, rest, and the things that matter. Here are five practical ways to cut that down significantly.
Instead of building every lesson from scratch, use a platform that already has resources ready to go. YesTeachers is built specifically for this — teachers can access ready-made lesson plans, worksheets, and classroom materials in minutes instead of hours.
Batching your planning into one focused session is far more efficient than planning day by day. Set aside 45 minutes on Sunday, plan the full week, and you’re done. Use a template so you’re not starting from a blank page every time.
A lesson that worked last year can work this year with small adjustments. Keep a personal library of your best lessons and adapt them rather than creating new ones from scratch every time.
AI tools can generate a first draft of a lesson plan in seconds. You then edit and personalise it rather than writing everything yourself. This alone can cut prep time in half.
Every time you see a teaching idea online, save it in one place — a folder, a note, a doc. Over time this becomes your personal resource library that you can pull from instantly instead of searching from zero.
Ready to save hours every week? Try YesTeachers for free — effortless prep, endless impact.