The Sunday Night Test: A Simple Way to Know What Actually Matters in Your Classroom
By Aimee Urdiales
It's Sunday night. You're looking at your to-do list for the week, and there are approximately 47 things on it.
You could spend the next three hours color-coding your lesson plans. Or you could watch a movie with your family.
You could create custom manipulatives for math centers. Or you could actually get a full night's sleep.
You could redesign your bulletin board to match your new unit theme. Or you could just... not.
How do you decide what's actually worth your time?
Here's the framework that changed everything for me: The Sunday Night Test.
The Sunday Night Test
Before you spend time on any teaching task, ask yourself this:
"Will I remember doing this next Sunday night?"
Not "Will this be nice?" Not "Should I do this?" But specifically: Will this task matter enough that you'll even remember it a week from now?
Let me give you some examples of how this plays out:
Tasks That Pass the Sunday Night Test:
Calling a struggling student's parent - You'll remember this. It might lead to a breakthrough. It builds relationships. It's worth 15 minutes.
Planning a hands-on activity that teaches a difficult concept - You'll remember whether your students understood or were confused. This matters.
Preparing for a difficult conversation with a colleague or administrator - You'll definitely remember this. The prep time is worth it.
Creating a seating chart that separates problem combinations - You'll remember (and be grateful for) this every single day this week.
Tasks That Fail the Sunday Night Test:
Making matching labels for your supply bins - Next Sunday, you won't remember whether you did this or not. Neither will anyone else.
Rewriting that worksheet to match your classroom font - The content is the same. You won't remember this. The kids definitely won't.
Organizing your files into color-coded folders - Sure, it's satisfying. But next Sunday, will it have mattered? Probably not.
Creating elaborate headers for your bulletin board - Student work with a simple border does the exact same job.
The Sunday Night Test helps you figure out where perfectionism is stealing your time—and where your time actually creates value.
The Three Categories of Teacher Tasks
Once you start applying the Sunday Night Test, you'll notice that most teaching tasks fall into three categories:
Category 1: High Impact, Worth Your Time
These are the tasks that directly affect student learning or your effectiveness in the classroom:
Lesson planning (the actual activity, not the formatting)
Building relationships with students
Meaningful feedback on student work
Differentiation for specific learners
Classroom management strategies
Do these. These matter. These pass the Sunday Night Test every time.
Category 2: Necessary But Don't Need to Be Perfect
These tasks need to happen, but they don't need three hours of your time:
Grading routine assignments
Creating basic materials and handouts
Responding to parent emails
Writing lesson plans (documentation, not novels)
Organizing your classroom space
Do these efficiently. Good enough is truly good enough here. And this is where AI can be a game-changer.
Category 3: Nice But Not Necessary
These are the tasks that feel productive but don't actually move the needle:
Elaborate bulletin boards
Color-coordinated everything
Pinterest-perfect anything
Remaking materials that already exist
Redoing things that already work fine
Skip these. Or do them only if they genuinely bring you joy and you have extra time. Otherwise, your time is better spent on Category 1 or 2 tasks—or better yet, on living your actual life.
How AI Helps You Focus on What Matters
Here's where it gets interesting. The reason we spend so much time on Category 2 and 3 tasks is because we think we have to do everything from scratch to be "real teachers."
But what if you could handle Category 2 tasks in a fraction of the time? That's where AI comes in—not to replace your teaching, but to handle the time-consuming parts so you can focus on the high-impact work.
Real Examples of AI Saving Time on Category 2 Tasks:
Grading and Feedback Instead of spending 2 hours writing feedback on 30 essays, you can use AI to help you:
Identify common errors across all papers
Generate targeted feedback based on specific rubric criteria
Draft initial comments that you personalize in 30 seconds per student
Time saved: 1+ hours
Creating Differentiated Materials Instead of spending an hour rewriting a text at three different reading levels, AI can:
Adapt the same passage to multiple reading levels in minutes
Generate scaffolded questions for different learners
Create vocabulary support for struggling readers
Time saved: 45+ minutes per assignment
Writing Parent Communications Instead of agonizing over the perfect wording for that tricky parent email, AI can:
Draft a professional, empathetic first version
Help you strike the right tone
Give you three different approaches to choose from
Time saved: 20+ minutes per email
Lesson Planning Instead of searching for activities or creating materials from scratch, AI can:
Generate activity ideas aligned to your standards
Create discussion questions at various depths
Draft exit tickets or formative assessments
Time saved: 30+ minutes per lesson
The key: You're not having AI do your teaching. You're having AI handle the time-consuming logistics so you can spend your time on what actually matters—being present with your students, building relationships, and making in-the-moment instructional decisions that no AI can make.
Your Action Plan for This Week
Ready to try this out? Here's your challenge:
Step 1: List Your Top 5 Time-Consuming Tasks This Week
Write down the five things you're planning to spend the most time on this week.
Step 2: Apply the Sunday Night Test
For each task, ask: "Will I remember doing this next Sunday night?" Be honest.
Step 3: Decide How Much Time It Deserves
If it passes the test: Give it the time it needs
If it's necessary but doesn't pass: Find the most efficient way to do it (this is where AI can help)
If it fails and isn't necessary: Consider skipping it entirely
Step 4: Try One AI Tool This Week
Pick ONE Category 2 task and use AI to cut the time in half:
ChatGPT for drafting emails or creating differentiated materials
Claude (hi, that's me!) for generating discussion questions or feedback
Magic School AI specifically designed for teachers
Any other AI tool you've been curious about
Start with just one task. See how much time you save. Notice if the quality is any different (spoiler: it probably won't be).
The Permission You're Waiting For
Here's what I wish someone had told me 10 years ago:
Being a great teacher isn't about doing everything. It's about doing the right things.
You don't get extra points for staying until 7 PM. You don't get a trophy for making everything from scratch. Nobody is keeping score except you.
Your students need you present, energized, and engaged—not exhausted, resentful, and running on fumes.
The Sunday Night Test gives you permission to let go of the stuff that doesn't matter. AI gives you the tools to do the necessary stuff more efficiently. And that combination? That's what gives you back your time and your sanity.
Want to Go Deeper?
I talk about this framework (and a lot more) in this week's episode of the Teaching Smart, Not Hard podcast: "The Good Enough Revolution: Perfectionism is Stealing Your Life." If the Sunday Night Test resonates with you, the episode goes deeper into handling judgment from other teachers, what to do when you feel guilty, and how to know when "good enough" is actually better than perfect.
And if you want hands-on help learning to use AI tools to save time, I'm running a workshop on November 29th where we'll walk through exactly how to use these tools for the tasks that eat up your time. It's practical, teacher-friendly, and designed for people who aren't "tech people." You can find details on my website.
But honestly? You don't need the podcast or the workshop to start. You can start right now.
Pick one thing you were planning to spend hours on this week. Apply the Sunday Night Test. Ask yourself if it really matters. And if it doesn't? Let it go.
Your future self—one week from tonight—will thank you.
Aimee Urdiales is the founder of U-Ed Collaborative and host of the "Teaching Smart, Not Hard" podcast. After 28 years in education, she's passionate about helping teachers work more efficiently so they can actually have lives outside the classroom.
P.S. If you try the Sunday Night Test this week, I'd love to hear about it. What did you decide to skip? What did you use AI to help with? Drop me a message—I read every single one.
Aimee Urdiales is the founder of U-Ed Collaborative and host of the "Teaching Smart, Not Hard" podcast. With 29 years in education, she helps teachers work smarter, stress less, and reclaim their lives through practical strategies and AI tools.
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