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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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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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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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

Last week on the podcast was all about building a solid foundation for your team, one which allows you to build a team that can withstand conflict and can work together towards a common goal. This week is taking that foundation and turning it into something truly effective.

Once we’ve built a team and put them to work, it’s only a matter of time before there are differences in opinion and a clashing of attitudes. This is inevitable in any environment, but when you throw the personality mix that you get within the teaching profession in, it can be really hard work maintaining your team unity, unless you are on top of it from the outset.

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