Where does the time go?

School officially started last Wednesday. August 25th to be exact. But teachers arrive at school about a week before the students do for teacher workdays. During that time, teachers sit through a number of different meetings - grade level, HR, etc. Teachers also use those workdays to get their classrooms organized and ready for students. Desk have to be arranged. Name tags have to be in place. Cubbies have to be assigned. Books have to be distributed. And so on. There is a laundry list of "duties" that have to be fulfilled before the students arrive. Honestly, those days seemed to crawl for me. The meetings were long and sometimes the content was over my head, simply because I don't have a personal connection to the school yet (because I don't have a "real" job). That's where time comes in. On the workdays, time seemed to crawl by. That's probably because I was so nervous and anxious about everything that we were doing. Needless to say, I had more time than I knew what to do with on workdays. But now it seems like the time flies by. Every day. I get to school around 7:45 or 8. And the students begin arriving at 8:45. Once they're at school, time disappears. Managing time has taken on a whole new meaning. I'm trying to figure out how to get transitions down to single digit minutes, so time isn't wasted in between subjects. And walking in the hallway. But that's so difficult. I know it's only the fifth day of school, but I'm anxious to work this out!
I have a much greater respect for teachers than I did before I entered this profession. I underestimated the amount of work that teachers actually do. And in the amount of time that they have to get it done. And instruction is so regimented with pacing guides and objectives, that it has to be time oriented. Becoming a master of time is a critical component of teaching. Transitions have to be short. Activities have to align with the standards and objectives outlined in the standard course of study. And they have to be precise, meaningful, and authentic. There's so much to think about. And so little time...

Please note that I am NOT complaining. I'm simply trying to figure all of this out. Time is important for every teacher. I think every teacher has struggled with the issue of time at some point in his/her career. And if not, I want to him/her. It's amazing to me how naive I was about teaching before now. Things sound so nice in books and on paper. But it is an entirely different experience when you're in the classroom all day, every day. And I've only been there for two weeks - 5 days with the students. I'm so excited about everything I've learned thus far and really looking forward to the ride student teaching is about to become. I start teaching my first subject on September 13th. Let the fun (and planning) begin!