One "How to Course Design", hold the Burnout, please

(Both While Planning and Teaching)

Let’s face it: planning language courses can feel like you’re preparing for an Olympic event—one where the rules change halfway through, the audience has unpredictable needs, and you’re expected to do it all while maintaining a smile. But it really doesn’t have to be this way. With the right mindset and a few guiding principles, you can plan your courses effectively while keeping your energy intact—during planning and teaching.

If you’re a language teacher, you already know how unique each class can be. And yes, the pressure to cater to your students' needs can be intense. But guess what? You don’t need to spend hours creating the perfect plan only for it to unravel later. In fact, planning simply and flexibly is your best bet to avoid burnout and maintain your sanity (and you know, enjoy your job!).

Let’s dive into some tried-and-true tips, backed by five ELT heavyweights—Jeremy Harmer, Jim Scrivener, Penny Ur, David Nunan, and Scott Thornbury—who all agree that keeping it simple is not just a luxury; it’s essential for both your well-being and your students’ success.

1. Start with Your Learners—But Don’t Try to Predict the Future (Jeremy Harmer)

Jeremy Harmer is all about putting your learners at the center of your course planning. And that’s great! But here’s where it gets tricky: students are unpredictable. They will have needs that evolve, change, and occasionally surprise you. So, while Harmer encourages doing a needs analysis at the beginning of the course to understand your students, he also advocates for flexibility in planning.

Instead of spending hours building a course outline that feels set in stone, Harmer would suggest you leave room to adjust. Think of your plan like a tree—solid roots (clear goals and outcomes) but branches that can bend and sway depending on where the wind (your students) takes them. This adaptability will keep you from burning out because you won’t feel like you’re constantly “failing” when the class doesn’t go exactly as planned.

Actionable Tip: Spend a couple of hours at the start of the course doing a needs analysis, but only sketch out your lessons in broad strokes. Leave space in your plan for student interests, emerging needs, or even those "oh no, they didn’t get it" moments. Create a simple table (for example in Libre Office, Microsoft Suit or Google drive) with the main aim of the course, each lesson as a date and the broadest of aims for each one.

2. Don’t Overcomplicate It—You Can (and Should) Keep It Simple (Jim Scrivener)

Jim Scrivener is practically the poster child for keeping things straightforward. His advice? Don’t drown in endless details. When planning, focus on what’s essential. According to Scrivener, teachers often feel the pressure to create intricate, polished lessons, filled with perfectly curated activities (hello, CELTA graduates 🙂). But here’s the truth: those bells and whistles aren’t what make lessons effective, and they certainly won’t save you from feeling overwhelmed.

Scrivener’s approach involves thinking more about the big picture. What do you want students to learn? How can you get them there without overcomplicating things? For him, planning is about simplicity and leaving space for improvisation—because no one can predict exactly how a class will go.

Actionable Tip: The next time you’re planning a lesson, ask yourself: “Am I adding this activity because it’s necessary or because it looks good?” If it’s the latter, drop it. Keep the skeleton of the lesson, and let the classroom interaction provide the meat. In the document you created above, add an activity or text that you think would fit. Leave the rest alone for now.

3. Plan for Interaction, Not Perfection (Penny Ur)

Penny Ur brings us down to earth by reminding us that perfection is not the goal—communication is. If your lesson plan is taking forever to prepare because you’re trying to predict every outcome or plan for every possible scenario, you’re setting yourself up for burnout. Ur emphasizes interaction as the core of language learning.

Instead of planning out every minute of a lesson in painstaking detail, think about how you can structure lessons so that students are interacting with each other and the language. When students are busy working through problems together, discussing, and engaging with the material, the pressure is off you to “perform” perfectly.

Actionable Tip: Plan lessons that are interaction-heavy. Set up activities that encourage pair work or group discussions. This way, you create a dynamic learning environment without overloading yourself with intricate preparation. Plus, students often learn better from each other, so you’re hitting two birds with one stone. Add an activity in your Course outline document for each lesson that is discussion heavy - and then allocated more time than you think the students need for it. You can do a bit of error correction (focus on the language that the students need for the discussion) and then ask them to do the same discussion task again with a new partner, for example.

4. Plan Tasks, Not Just Content (David Nunan)

David Nunan is a huge advocate of task-based learning. For Nunan, course planning shouldn’t just be about filling lessons with content (like grammar points or vocabulary lists); it should be about creating meaningful tasks that allow students to use language in real-world contexts. The beauty of task-based learning is that it takes the pressure off you to control everything.

Tasks provide a framework that gives students a clear goal, but the language they use to achieve that goal will emerge naturally. This reduces your need to plan every detail in advance, making your lessons more fluid and adaptable to student needs as they arise. This also helps you avoid burnout by not forcing you to micromanage every aspect of the lesson.

Actionable Tip: Instead of spending hours crafting a step-by-step lesson plan, think about what tasks you can set for your students. For example, can they plan a trip together using new vocabulary? Can they negotiate an imaginary business deal? By focusing on tasks, you allow the learning to emerge naturally, saving yourself planning time and mental energy. If you’re not terribly familiar with task-based learning in ELT, consider making this your CPD focus for this year.

5. Let Go of Control and Trust Emergent Language (Scott Thornbury)

If you’re feeling burnt out by the amount of planning you do, Scott Thornbury’s Dogme approach might be just what you need. Thornbury’s philosophy is all about letting go of control and allowing emergent language—the language that comes up naturally in conversation—to guide the lesson. Rather than sticking rigidly to a pre-planned syllabus, he encourages teachers to work with what students bring to the table.

This might sound terrifying at first, but it’s actually a huge relief. By planning less and allowing students to steer the lesson, you free yourself from the pressure of trying to anticipate every need or teach every grammar point in perfect sequence. Thornbury believes that real communication in the classroom is more valuable than sticking to a detailed script.

Actionable Tip: Try running a “Dogme” lesson every now and then. Instead of walking in with a formal plan, start with a simple conversation prompt. Let your students talk, listen to what language emerges, and build your teaching around that. It’s a great way to cut down on planning time while encouraging real, meaningful use of language. This works great with TBL mentioned above.

6. Assess and Adapt—Don’t Stick to the Plan Out of Fear (Penny Ur & Jack C. Richards)

Both Penny Ur and Jack C. Richards agree that adaptability is key to avoiding burnout. It’s tempting to stick to your plan because you’ve put so much effort into it—but if it’s not working, it’s okay to change direction. Holding onto a plan that isn’t serving your students (or you) only leads to frustration.

Assess how things are going throughout the course and make adjustments as necessary. Your plan should be a living document, not a contract written in stone.

Actionable Tip: After every lesson, take five minutes to reflect. What worked? What didn’t? And, most importantly, how can you adapt your future lessons based on what you’ve learned? Being willing to pivot will save you from feeling tied to a plan that isn’t working. Add the comments to the Course Plan document you created earlier.

Final Thought: Simplicity Is Not Laziness—It’s Smart Teaching

Here’s the bottom line: simple planning doesn’t mean lazy teaching. It means strategic teaching. By planning less, adapting more, and focusing on interaction and tasks rather than controlling every element of your lessons, you’ll avoid the trap of burnout. And, let’s be honest—your students will thank you for it, too. After all, they don’t need a perfect teacher—they need an engaged, present, and adaptable one.

So next time you’re planning your course, ask yourself: "Am I planning to impress or to empower?" If it’s the former, take a step back. Simplify, breathe, and trust that less is more when it comes to planning for success—and sanity.

Your future self (and your students) will thank you.

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Categories: : Wellbeing, Course design, ELT methodology