Time Management: How to Pace Your YTT Effectively

Summary: Effective time management in yoga teacher training (YTT) is essential in order to cover your material without rushing. Plan your schedule around students’ needs, energy levels, and practical activities. Use extra time for reflection, discussions, and practice teaching. When time is limited, prioritize essential topics, avoid rushing, and reschedule less important activities.

 

Have you ever planned a full day of yoga teacher training, and then you find that one session finishes 30 minutes early and another takes extra time? It happens! Managing time in a yoga teacher training (YTT) is not always easy.

No matter how well we plan our schedule, there will always be some organic flux in our timing as we respond to our students. The key to time management is knowing when and how to shift. Here are some practical ways that you can stay on track.

Plan Your Days Effectively

First let’s have a brief chat about your training schedule. If you set your schedule effectively from the beginning, it will be much easier to “weather” any timing bumps. I’m going to assume that you have already created your lesson topics and outlined your lesson plan activities and structure. (Check out my article, “How to create a yoga teacher training schedule that supports learning.”)

If I am running long training days (more than 6 hours), I like to begin and end the day with 15-30 minutes of relatively open time. This time could be devoted to Q&A, meditation, pranayama, practice teaching, homework review, assessment discussion…but this buffer both helps students transition in and out of the space – and also gives you time to respond organically to what the group needs.

Estimate the Times for Your Lesson Plans

When you create your lesson plans, you should add estimated timings for all your learning activities, then chunk them into larger learning categories so you can easily track your progress as you go. As you teach, you’ll be able to assess as you go when you are dragging or rushing and adapt on the fly (rather than getting to the end and realizing that you completely missed one section).

For example, you will have an anatomy lesson in the next class. You have a well-structured anatomy lesson plan. Now, estimate the time for each activity: lecture, partner work, group discussion, etc. You may be surprised to find out how much time you actually need!

Some general guidelines: lecture/presentations can move quickly. Partner work and discussions are fairly quick and can be easily shortened or lengthened. Small group and group work for application of ideas will take longer than you expect, because discussing the feedback will be an essential component of that activity.

Proper learning does not happen through lecture/presentation alone. A lecture or presentation is useful for giving students new information that they don’t already have. However: this is not learning. If information is to be used and applied, you must include appropriate activities that help students put that information into practice and make it relevant to yoga practice and teaching. As a side note: lecture/presentations also make great material for “flipping the classroom,” where you have students watch the “content” then come into class in person for the application.

When planning a schedule, you should also consider your students’ energy levels. A long theoretical session followed by another can be tiring. Mix movement, discussion, and practice.

What to Do When You Have Too Much Time

As you first develop lesson plans, your timing may be a little off! So what to you do if you have too much time?

First of all, extra time is a gift. Use those extra minutes to support learning. My favorite thing to do is have students apply learning to practical skill building.

• Organize Group Discussions and Activities

Have a few extra minutes after a yoga philosophy lesson? Invite your students to discuss a concept in small groups and apply philosophical concepts to yoga practice and teaching. You could also have partner activities, question-and-answer sessions, and group problem-solving exercises. The result? Students get a chance to learn from one another and deepen their understanding of the content.

• Encourage Student Reflection and Questions

Use the extra time to give your students a chance to reflect. Learning does not happen only when we are talking or demonstrating. Sometimes, students need time to process new information. Invite trainees to spend 5 minutes journaling about what they learned. You could ask questions such as:

• What is the most interesting thing you have learned today?
• Which concept do you find challenging/what’s the muddiest piece?
• How might you use this knowledge in your own teaching?

This approach helps your trainees connect with new ideas easily. You can also use, “which concept do you find challenging” to spark a Q&A discussion.

• Include More Practical Exercises

Extra practice teaching is always helpful. If you have time after an anatomy lesson finishes, have students apply their anatomical learning to specific postures as they practice teach each other. More time in a sequencing lesson? Put your trainees into pairs to create a small sequence based on what they learned. Keep the activity connected to the learning objectives.

Do not use extra time to give more content; use that time to have students apply what they have learned.

After the lesson, you can self-assess: did you move too quickly through the content as a trainer? Were any of the activities you created useful to keep? Revise your lessons accordingly (as trainers, we are always learning, too!)

What to Do When You Don’t Have Enough Time

Now, let’s look at the other side. You have planned a session carefully. Then, the discussion runs long and you still have three more topics to cover. Sound familiar? This is where you need to become a flexible trainer.

Here is what to do:

• Prioritize Important Topics

When time is short, return to your learning objectives. Ask yourself: What do my students really need to be able to do now? Some topics are essential to the training, while others may be “nice to have.” For example, if you are teaching anatomy, it is more essential to understand basic joint actions than to name every muscle. Focus on the main concepts first. In your learning objectives, you should identify the must-cover content in your lesson plan before the session begins.

• Avoid Rushing Through Lessons

It can be tempting to speed up when you realize you are already going slow. But rushing while teaching a complex subject cannot be helpful. Imagine: you are teaching alignment principles in asana. Students need time to observe, practice, and ask questions. If you explain everything quickly, it will not help your trainees become better teachers. The same applies to subjects such as yoga philosophy, anatomy, and teaching methodology. These topics need time for discussion and application. Sometimes, you need to give yourself the grace to run long in a lesson in order to teach it effectively. Then – after the lesson – assess and revise your lesson plan and estimated times.

Managing Time

Here are some of the key “time thiefs” to be on the lookout for.

Challenge: Students asking lots of questions

Questions are great! They mean your students are keen. However, sometimes questions can derail a lesson plan.

• Know when to say, “we’ll be covering that on Day 18.” You don’t have to answer every question when it’s asked if it will be covered another time. Students can be patient!
• Some students will have specialized knowledge and ask specific questions that don’t serve the group. You can acknowledge that and say, “that’s beyond the scope of this lesson plan right now” to keep things on track. You can offer that student additional resources outside of the lesson plan time.
• Students may ask about issues that only relate to them, such as, “my knee does this…” While some of that personal curiosity is useful and helpful to the group, keep in mind that group time should serve the group. If a conversation is getting derailed about a personal issue, it’s okay to put a pin in it and move everything along.

Challenge: No student questions or interaction

If students aren’t asking questions or interacting, you can try this: put them in partners and give them specific questions to report back to about the material. Then cruise around and listen to their conversations. You will find out if your teaching is landing (can they answer the questions? do they know what you’re asking), and also give them a chance to talk to a partner, which may be less intimidating than speaking to the whole group.

Final Thoughts!

As trainers, we are always learning. Some organic flux in our timing will be a given (such is life!). However, if your timing is really off, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and re-assess the lesson plan. Our work with your students is the perfect feedback that we need to improve our own work as trainers. Happy training!