Do Over: 5 Things I'll Do Differently

cc flickr photo by azjd14

I am writing this blog post on the eve of our first day of the 2013-14 school year.  Students return tomorrow.  It is the first post I have written since March 19, 2013 (see When Teaching Gets Tough -- a title that might indicate the reason for the unplanned writing hiatus).  Last year was a challenge.  It was my second year as the principal at Willis Junior High School, and it was a rude awakening to the realities, and demands, of the principalship.  I joked that perhaps, as a first year principal, I was naive to expectations -- moving forward, oblivious to everything I was supposed to be doing.  All of those expectations seemed to catch up with me in my second year.

I recently read a post by David Truss (@datruss), entitled Leadership and Capacity.  His comments really resonated with me and the way I was feeling at the end of the last school year, particularly this quote:

I'm not sure if it is just my personal capacity, or if it is the role of an administrator in this day and age, but I'm really struggling with how much of my job is not about educational leadership, and how much of it is more managerial and even secretarial in nature.

David talks about some advice he was given, suggesting that when things get really busy, it's important to be sure that what falls off "the back of our truck" are "things," and "not people."  It reminded me of the quote by Goethe that has been the tag line for my e-mail for the past year:

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. 

I did not do a good job living that quote last year -- seemingly spending an inordinate amount of time chasing after minutiae and treading like crazy to keep my head above water.  As David suggested happened to him, things fell by the wayside, include my social interactions, reflection, and writing.

In his book, God Can't Sleep, author Palmer Chinchen suggests that living a life of busyness is the equivalent of living life in a fog.  He points out that there is no correlation between hurry and productivity, and that all of us could benefit from practice at slowing down.

So, I have decided that I would like a mulligan -- a do over -- and this school year, here are five things that I will do different (drawn from Palmer's suggestions).

1. Take breaks.  Whether walking through classrooms, eating a healthy lunch, or just taking five minutes to breath deeply, and relax -- I will focus on taking some breaks throughout the day.
2. Minimize multitasking.  This is a tough one, since in the educational setting things come at you so quickly, but in most cases, multitasking leads to frustration and less productivity.  Focus is better.
3. Turn off my phone.  I love technology, but laptops, tablets, and smart phones make it nearly impossible to "get away" from my job.  This school year, I am going to set limits, and shut down -- frequent electronic holidays.
4. Do less.  I am a list addict.  I have tried every task app and program imaginable, searching for that perfect system that will help me manage all I have to do.  The bottom line is that regardless of what I use, I am always trying to do too much.  This year, I am going to narrow my daily lists, and focus on doing things well.     
5. Fill the day with what is important.  Too often, I find myself at the end of the day with regrets about what I have accomplished.  No more.  In the school setting, this means maximizing my time with students and staff -- the other stuff can wait.

One of the great things about education is the opportunity to begin anew -- each year is a chance for a "do over."  It all begins tomorrow morning.  I'll keep you posted!

Many of you have likely noticed that this is not my normal blog -- Molehills out of Mountains.  In what is probably an unorthodox (and ill advised) move, I have decided to begin anew -- just because it feels like the right thing to do.  I will be posting primarily about education, but also about other things that catch my attention, and inspire me.  So I begin with an audience of zero, and see where the journey takes me.