Greetings!
At the start of a new year, how do you feel? Organized? Overwhelmed? Somewhere in between? One of my goals over the winter break was to get more organized, and to develop a system that would keep me organized. I wish I could tell you I have gone paperless, but maybe that will be for 2014! This issue--all about being organized!
I've asked my good friend Frank Buck, who specializes in organization to provide this month's Principal's Perspective and the Tips. Enjoy--and be sure to subscribe to his newsletter and follow his blog, as well as taking a look at his books for teachers and school leaders (under recommended resources).
Remember, you'll find activity templates, articles, podcasts, and more information about my presentations and books on my blog or on my website. No registration required, and they are all free! Finally, who do you know who might benefit from this newsletter? Please forward it to them and remind them they make a difference, just like you do. Barbara |
Getting (and Staying) Organized How did I get organized during the holiday break? I set aside three hour blocks, and banished my husband and son from my office to start with! That's the only way I could get any work done. My main tasks for the break? First, I took everything off my desk, sat of the floor, and sorted them. If I could act on them, I put a sticky note with the action item listed. If it needed to be filed, it went into a file folder. And if I had it, but couldn't really figure out what to do with it, it went into the recycling bin. I'll have to tell you, that panicked me for a bit. What if I needed it later? But I continue to find that I need far less than I think. My one mistake was to let our kitten in my office. She loved attacking each pile of paper! Next, I cleared out my email. I either answered it, deleted it, or filed it. In particular, I was pretty ruthless with the delete button and the unsubscribe link at the bottom of promotional emails. I didn't realize how many odds and ends I receive that I never read. In terms of filing, I now have 30 folders, but my inbox is empty. It felt really good to know that I had a fresh start, and I hope I can keep it up. |
Principal's Perspective
Every good thing you do as a principal happens in the dimension of time. Control your time, and you can control the direction of your school, your career, and your personal life. Fall victim to merely handling the daily demands as they appear, and you begin to feel like a ship without a rudder. Adopt a system and put every commitment into it. When you can see it all, you can make better choices about what to do now, what to do later, what to delegate, and what has to go.
|
|
|
|
Tips for Getting Organized
| |
Use tickler files so your desk stays clear and papers appear when you need them.
Adopt one tool, either a paper planner or software which syncs between your computer and phone. Put everything in it.
Identify all of your tasks which repeat weekly, monthly, or yearly and put them in your system. You'll never have to think about them again.
Use one paper journal to take notes during phone calls, meetings, and parent conferences. At the end of the day, decide what actions you need to take as a result of what you wrote.
Get your email Inbox to "empty" every day. |
|
|
