Ep #99: Time Fails

We’re continuing the subject of time scarcity this week with some of the easiest to digest work on the subject. However, it is also some of the trickiest work to implement in your professional and personal life. All of these time fails are going to make sense to you, but you will definitely experience some pushback from your brain, so it’s time to get to work.

The process of thought work around time scarcity is never finished. I find myself having similar conversations with my coach week after week. The work is hard, but it’s also incredibly worthwhile and you will be astounded at what you can achieve when you implement what I’m sharing today.

 

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Ep #98: How to Get It Done!

Over the last couple of episodes, we’ve been talking about time management, specifically about getting your mindset in the right place about what you have to do and how long you have available to do it. This week, we’re bringing that work together with some real actionable tips for making the most out of the time you do have.

Our to-do lists can be pretty intimidating, and especially if it’s all up in your head, it becomes an all-consuming monster that you can’t stop thinking about. Well, it doesn’t have to be this way and I can’t wait to share with you how you can put your to-do list into perspective and give yourself the best chance of getting everything completed.

 

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Ep #97: Checking Your Time Scarcity Mindset

The thought that there is just not enough time in the day to get all of our things done is present in the minds of, I would say, all educators in America. It doesn’t matter if you love your job and you wish the days were longer so you get to spend more time doing it, or that you think your day is so busy already that there is no way you could fit anything else in, time scarcity is incredibly prevalent.

The thing about our perception of time is it’s just that: our perception. Our beliefs around how much time we have really do affect the way we work, and without us even knowing, have us making poor decisions that could actually make us less efficient.

 

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Ep #96: Celebrate Your Wins

Something I see in a lot of my clients is a reluctance to associate work with pleasure. They see work as work and fun as something that should be enjoyed out of office hours. This makes a lot of sense on some level, but what it’s actually doing is making your work environment so much harder to enjoy.

It is not your job’s job to make sure you have a fun time at work. The only person responsible for making work a pleasurable experience is you. We’ve talked about every other aspect of scheduling this month, but now, it’s time for the good stuff.

 

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Ep #95: Why Learning New Things Is Hard, But Worth It

We’ve been focusing on workload this month and I hope it’s helped you through the lull in motivation a lot of school leaders feel around this time of year.  Today, we’re going to take a good look at how you can reframe your thoughts about your workload, especially when it comes to taking on new responsibilities.

Learning new things is hard. We know this. But why is it such a challenge, even though we’ve gone through our whole life acquiring new skills every step of the way?  Well, that’s kind of the reason. It occurred to me just the other day, there is a type of mental fatigue that goes with every part of the process of learning something new.

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Ep #94: Prioritizing Your Workload as a Leader

I recently looked at the job posting for a job as a principal, just out of curiosity, and I was slightly shocked to find no less than 40 bullet points for different tasks that were expected of the applicant. That is a huge number. It’s little wonder that our school leaders are feeling increasingly more pressure in their jobs.

There is nothing more disempowering than being given way more to do than there is time for in your workday. So, what can we do to take some of that empowerment back and still do an amazing job?

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Ep #93: Principal Burnout

Even though the school year has just begun, I know for a fact that many of you principals will be experiencing some degree of burnout. Things are hectic right now, and the long summer break seems like it’s a million miles away, which doesn’t make things any easier.

You may even have thought of throwing in the towel. Well, I’ve got news for you: the burnout you’re feeling is not going to go away just because you change your circumstances. Take it from me, even though I’m now self-employed, there are still days when I wake up and I just don’t want to do the work I’ve set out for the day.

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Ep #92: Mental Health

Devastatingly, in the week leading up to me recording this episode, there were three mass shootings in our country – one of those was a town very close to where I live. This got me thinking, while it seemed like everyone was looking for someone or something to blame, what can we do as school leaders to remove the stigma around mental health?

I believe that mental health should get as much focus as physical health. We have physical education programs in schools and there is never any shame around hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym. So how can we integrate awareness around mental health in the one place where kids go for no other reason than to learn?

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Ep #91: Building a Team with Your Boss

I was giving a talk recently at a conference. I asked somebody to come up and be coached, and the problem she wanted coaching with is that she feels like her superintendent has control over everything she does. Now, I’m sure she’s not the only person that feels this way, so I thought I’d address it on the podcast today.

Throughout September, we’ve discovered every facet of team-building and team-management. On this episode however, I want to talk about one of the most important teams you are a part of – and that is the two-person team consisting of just you and your boss. Read more

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Ep #90: When You Think the Team Isn’t Working

We are taught from a very young age, and we still teach kids today, that if we are upset, it’s because somebody else has done something to make us feel that way. Now, if you’re a regular listener, you will be familiar with the STEAR Cycle, essentially the concept that how we feel has nothing to do with anybody else but everything to do with our thoughts.

When something happens in our lives, that is a circumstance, and every circumstance is completely neutral. However, when we are in the heat and stress that school leadership can bring, it’s easy to lose sight of what is a circumstance (a fact) and what is our opinion about a circumstance (a thought). When these wires get crossed, we are not acting with the integrity required from a school leader.

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