It often feels like there is never enough time. Emails, meetings, paperwork, planning, marking, conversations with parents and supporting students can quickly fill every minute of the day. The Pareto Principle, often called the 80/20 Rule, offers a simple way to think about your workload.
Every staff member in a school has unique strengths. Yet many of us spend far more time worrying about what we can’t do than recognising what we do well. Our brains have a natural negativity bias. We notice mistakes, weaknesses and
We all have the same amount of time each day. The real issue isn’t time — it’s energy. When your energy is high, you’re effective, patient and positive. When it’s low, everything feels harder. The key is learning to manage your energy, not just your schedule
A study by Microsoft found that a third of our day is unproductive. That’s more than two and a half hours each day. That’s too much! If you feel like a lot of your day gets wasted, keep reading. It can be beneficial to look a lot deeper at what you are doing. We need to pay attention to what’ s going on around us and how we show up and impact on our own productivity. Self-leadership starts with self-awareness.
Report writing time can be stressful — late nights, pressure and additional workload at a busy time. Instead of dreading the approach of report writing time and using weak coping strategies like counting down the days till the holidays, try planning early (super-early – like, now!) to make reporting time much calmer. Planning early can make the whole process calmer and smoother.
Our school’s reputation and holding in the community is dependent on Moments of Truth. A Moment of Truth is any time a parent or student interacts with our school and forms an opinion about us. The concept started in the airline industry.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are ‘Moments of Truth’ for parents. They are important times where parents come into direct contact with us and form an impression of our school. Be Prepared Ensure that you have notes about the key areas you want to discuss and the key messages that you want the parent to understand.
Working in schools can easily become overwhelming. There is always more you could do — one more email, one more task, one more idea to prepare for tomorrow. The challenge is knowing when to stop. Without boundaries, school work can slowly take over your evenings, weekends and even your holidays.
Some parents can be time consuming and add to our stress. In most schools, five percent of parents consume 95 percent of your time. However, reaching out to have them onboard can make our lives easier. Try these proactive approaches.
Building a solid connection with parents at the beginning of the year is particularly beneficial. If parents see you as having credibility and trust you, they are less likely to challenge or cause you grief. An excellent way to build a positive and nurturing culture is to provide quality information sessions for parents to attend, in the first few weeks of the school year.