Time Management for Instructional Leaders: Where are you?
When was the last time you got everything done that you wanted to do in your role as an instructional leader? Coaches and school leaders in charge of instruction often wear so many different hats and struggle with time management. In particular, they feel like they are often missing out on the central part of their jobs: observing classes and supporting teachers in growing. It just feels so hard to get into classrooms when there’s so many things to do!
“The job of a principal is arguably one of the most interrupted jobs anywhere. You are continually bombarded by students, parents, staff, and the mini-crises that occur each day.” - Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
In this two part post, I’ll share not only some reflection questions to do a self-check on your time management, but also my top strategies for staying organized and prioritizing instruction (coming next week).
Instructional leaders should be spending at least 70% of their time on leading instruction. But we are often the first to be called on to support testing, do teacher evaluation, cover classes, go on field trips, collaborate on committees, and so on. The list can be endless.
Below I share a number of self-check and reflection questions designed to understand what is causing your challenges with time management. If you are struggling to keep instruction the focus in your role, give yourself 5 - 10 minutes to answer the following reflection questions. You may need to schedule that time for tomorrow afternoon so that you actually have time to think about it. Or maybe you schedule a time to reflect on these questions with a peer. For coaches of coaches, these are helpful questions to walk through in a coaching meeting.
Quick Check-in on Time Management
These are designed to get at the big picture of how you are using your time. These questions should have a fairly brief answer.
Do you keep a daily schedule or calendar?
How do you schedule your day?
Does anyone expect to see your schedule each week?
What percent (do you estimate) of your day do you spend in “triage” mode compared with planned events or meetings?
Do you take time each morning to set your priorities for the day?
How many hours a week are you working? What is your goal for how many hours you’d like to work?
Deeper Reflection on Time Management
These questions are designed to support you in unearthing why you
When do you feel most accomplished in your role?
What do you find most challenging when it comes to managing your time well or being able to prioritize instruction?
Who sets the priorities for how you use your time?
What support or accountability do you have for how you spend your time?
What are the top 3 things that take up most of your time?
What are the 1 - 3 things you wish you had more time for?
What would the impact be for you, your family and your staff if you were in a better place with time management?
Reflect on the quote from above: “The job of a principal is arguably one of the most interrupted jobs anywhere. You are continually bombarded by students, parents, staff, and the mini-crises that occur each day.” - Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
After spending some time reflecting here, what is the one biggest thing you’d like to find a way to shift or change so that you feel more successful in your role?
I hope with these questions that you are able to dig into some of the root causes that are pulling you away from being able to focus on the most important part of your role: instruction. Being able to identify what the underlying challenges are (as well as when you are most successful), sets you up to know what and how to change.
I’m sure it would feel amazing if I told you there was a magic bullet to time management: just do X and you’ll be able to prioritize instruction everyday! But that doesn’t exist. There are, however, some very helpful tools and practices that can completely shift how you work and what you spend most of your time doing. I’ll share some of the most helpful strategies for time management for coaches in my post next week!