Week 5: Own your Time!
On Monday, Assistant Principal Sharon arrives at school with a packed agenda.
She has key priorities: preparing for a staff development session, reviewing classroom observation reports, and catching up on important emails. Her day is neatly blocked out in Google Calendar to ensure she tackles each task. But before she can dive into her to-do list, an emergency meeting with the principal about a student conflict demands immediate attention. The meeting drags on, leaving her with less than an hour to prep for the staff meeting. Sharon begins to feel the weight of her growing to-do list. As the day progresses, a series of unplanned events unfold: a teacher needs urgent help with a classroom issue, and a last-minute email from the district office lands in her inbox, adding even more pressure. Multiple meetings still need to be scheduled, emails need drafting, and classroom observations are slipping further behind. Sound familiar?
Streamlining Workflow by Leveraging Strengths
In Week 5, I focused on using my strength of streamlining workflows. With the Achiever theme from my Strengths Finder assessment and a passion for technology, I’ve reimagined how to boost productivity—both in my former role as a classroom teacher and now as a school leader.
This week reinforced a critical lesson: understanding both strengths and areas for growth is essential for navigating the fast-paced demands of school leadership. My Achiever strength helps me stay organized and driven, but like many others, I rely heavily on jotting things down. In this leadership role, where there are endless tasks for various initiatives—and countless unexpected interruptions—staying on top of everything is no easy feat. That's where digital tools come in.
Making Technology Work for You
Morgan Housel, in The Psychology of Money, perfectly captures how I felt when — like AP Sharon — I struggled to manage my time within my official work hours. He says, “Doing something you love on a schedule you can’t control can feel the same as doing something you hate.”
The chaos of teenage conflicts, impromptu meetings, last-minute deadlines, and unplanned tasks left me feeling overwhelmed and ill-prepared to be effective in my new role. To avoid burnout and frustration, I "Sounded the Alarm" and turned to technology to create systems that help me manage my workflow efficiently.
Here’s how I use tech to stay on top of it all:
Scheduling Multiple Meetings: I input important meeting details into Google Sheets and quickly import them into my Google Calendar. In under 60 seconds, I have a full schedule.
Managing Similar Emails: When I need to send emails to multiple recipients with similar content, I draft a template with “tags” and use Google Sheets for a mail merge. This allows for personalized emails without wasting time.
Tracking Classroom Observations: I created a Google Form for classroom observations that, once completed, automatically sends teachers an email with personalized feedback on their "glows," "grows," and actionable next steps.
I could go on, but let’s keep this lesson short and sweet.
Lesson #5
Own your time! Your time is precious and limited. #BeInspired to plan a solid schedule that covers your core tasks, and use digital tools to enhance your workflow. The payoff? You’ll feel the joy and satisfaction of being in control of your time—and still manage to successfully complete your tasks, even when the unexpected happens.
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Do you have any questions or would like to join the conversation? Reach out anytime! And while you're here, don’t miss out on Antiguan in America: A Racial Autobiography. Dive deeper into the journey of building your racial awareness and disrupting systemic inequities—Purchase your copy now. See you in the next post!
