I know…this is a weird title…but it is honestly the best title I could come up with that spoke the truth about this blog post. This is all about what NOT to do so that you can stay energized, organized, and ahead of the game. If you have been reading my stuff for awhile, then you know how obsessed I am with putting systems in place to automate and create space for things that really matter. Along the way, I intentionally look at what was hard that day and I dig deep to figure out a system to make it more productive and efficient so that I don’t have to work so hard and long at that specific task. It ensures that I am spending my time and energy where it really matters. You know the saying….work smarter not harder…That is exactly what I am determined to do.
While I was figuring out all of the systems, I realized that I am always focused on how to do things rather than taking a look at what I should be avoiding. Looking back, I realized that there are four things that I was consistently doing that was not a good use of my time and took up way too much time and energy. Once I took a closer look at my days, I did some research on how to scale those tasks down so they didn’t consume me. These are four things I found that I feel you should avoid doing in order to stay on top of your game. These four things gave me space and some time to find clarity and actually get traction.
The first thing I avoided doing was filling my meetings and professional learning sessions with all the things I felt we needed to get done. I used to think that the more I crammed into our meetings the better the meeting would be because I would get more bang for my buck and the community I was leading would have so much more knowledge and takeaways. Actually, the only thing I was doing was making them feel overwhelmed and burnt out. I rushed through the slides and the agenda to get done quicker too so I didn’t take up too much time. That didn’t go over well either. It just made them more confused because I didn’t set anything up to dive deep into. I just listed it off to them with the intention of trying to be more efficient and effective. Once I avoided cramming info in and chose 1 top priority to dive into, it all changed. It forced me to talk less (10-15 minutes max) and got them talking, learning, articulating and doing more of the learning. I created space for them to research, connect, create, question, etc. and therefore they became more engaged and had more responsibility in the agenda of the meeting rather than just sitting there and being talked to with no real plan to implement. Not to mention, I actually tackled priorities by focusing on one at a time.
Speaking of trying to do it all….this is the second thing that I learned to avoid. I learned to avoid filling as much tasks as possible into one chunk of time. I was the queen of trying to do it all. Once I realized that I needed to avoid the urge to do it all and learn how to prioritize and create actions through a very specific system (which I teach in my digital course, School Administrator’s Academy, coming in June), I started to finally get clarity and traction. I now avoid setting a ton of tasks on my to do list and only set three things that are non-negotiables to get done that day.
It is actually freeing knowing that every task I’m committing to today actually is on my calendar. Have you ever sat down and wrote down a list of all the things you’re going to get done that day, and then you only get done half of them? When I really think about it, I never really had the time to do all of these. Who was I kidding to even write it down on that day? Yet if I didn’t get it done I felt like I failed not getting all of the tasks done. I didn’t want to feel this way anymore.
I also learned how to delegate other tasks with support. I learned to avoid stuffing my calendar with back to back events and now create 30 minutes buffers in between each meeting or activity. I fiercely manage my calendar now to give me space to breathe and focus on the next task rather than mindlessly running around trying to do it all. I also only focus on one habit to change at a time rather than trying to change it all. So for me, the one habit I am focusing on right now is to eat veggies most at every meal. By scaling in your priorities and being intentional about creating actions to tackle one priority at a time actually gets you more bang for your buck. You aren’t running around doing a little at a time, having no idea whether or not you are making any progress because you can’t remember where you started in the first place. Slow down, unpack it all, set a top priority and actions to get there and then go. That top priority gets your A+ effort. The rest can get your B+ effort for now…and B+ is still a pass.
Next step, avoid having 1000 different digital folders scattered all over the place and assume that you will know how to find them quickly. Ugh…this was a time suck for me! I created digital folders for everything and then just had them all in one place on my shared drive. It took me so long to find things and often I forgot what I had even named the folder in the first place. This was taking up way to much of my time and I was so frustrated. So….I learned a system from Amy Porterfield on how to make folders with sub folders and then sub sub folders. In other words, I had one folder that was the big umbrella and then the next biggest topics that were related fell into that, and then I created smaller topic folders (sub sub) that went into those folders. Kind of like organizing numbers into fact families! So for me, an example of this is, my topic folder might be Meetings. Some of my medium topics inside of that folder are staff meetings, professional learning communities, admin meetings, and ed council. The sub sub folders inside the staff meeting are agenda, slide deck, resources etc. Inside the professional learning communities I have sub sub folders like agenda, priority plans, grade level specific tasks, etc. So you can see how having a very organized system rather than avoiding having all the folders splattered all in one place can be very productive and efficient and way less frustrating. So definitely avoid having all of your digital documents all over the place. Think about how you can organize it into folders, sub folders, and then sub sub folders. Game changer my friend!
The fourth thing I avoid doing in order to stay on top of my game is ending the workday without a plan for the next day. And here’s the thing: that plan has got to be on your calendar. In order to stay on top of my game, I end the workday with a plan for the next day, and it’s actually in my calendar. I learned this one from Michael Hyatt. It really hones in my focus for what I need to get done the next day before I leave work. If I am going to plan for five tasks tomorrow, I actually have to find space (with buffers) in my calendar for the next day to ensure that those five things get done. I actually only really focus on three but there are days where I need five to get done. Those five things might be to lead a staff meeting, observe a teacher, do a write up on feedback for the teacher, meet with the teacher to give feedback, get on a call with board office, and then I actually input time slots into my calendar for the next day for each of those tasks. I use Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus planner to help me set up my day and it has really helped to focus me and remind of me the importance of prioritizing.
The big lesson here is to realize what is stressing you out and then try to avoid doing that same thing over and over again. Catch yourself in that moment of panic and stress and pause to determine a top priority and let the rest go rather than trying to to do it all. You don’t have that much time and energy to keep cramming and keep doing the same habits that are tiring you out. Be intentional to find clarity in that pressure moment and learn to edit out the noise and set priorities.
In fact, I had to prioritize the other day because I caught myself going back to my old ways when I was cleaning my house. I had it in my calendar to clean the house but I didn’t prioritize the cleaning. I realized I was getting overwhelmed because I was trying to do it all at once (dusting, vaccuuming, bathrooms, deep cleaning the baseboards, walls, and organizing closets). I could feel the anxiety rising as I tried to do it all. But because I have learned these things to avoid, I stopped myself before I got burnt out and made a plan. I was only going to do the vaccuuming, dusting and bathrooms today. I would choose another day to do the deeper cleaning. I instantly felt lighter and actually got it done rather than quitting because it was too hard. So yes….I am still a work in progress on falling back to my old ways but I am getting way better at pausing to find clarity on what is stressing me out and then prioritizing so it doesn’t crush me altogether.
Avoid doing what you have always done, it doesn’t change things or make anything better. Sit in the muck of it, pause and figure out what is most important and then make a plan to only get that done. Give yourself grace and avoid trying to keep doing what you have always done.
So there you have it, four things I avoid to stay in the game. To recap, the first one is to avoid stuffing my meetings full of everything, the second was trying to do it all and stuff everything into one chunk of time, the third thing to avoid was to have digital folders labeled for everything instead of organizing into groups of sub folders, the fourth thing to avoid was leaving the office without a plan for the next day. These are four things that help me stay in my game and get a lot done throughout the day, throughout the months, throughout the quarters, and throughout the year.
Thanks so much for always checking out my blog posts. If you loved any of these things to avoid or have any of your own that you want to share with me, jump on Instagram (@evenifyoumiss1), send me a DM, or post about it. Tag me. I’d love to know some of the things that you avoid or some of the things you do to stay top of your game. I also have a private facebook group called Principals and Leadership. I genuinely would love to hear from you. And also, if you know someone who would enjoy this blog post, please grab the link and share it with them. I’d be so grateful. I am so passionate about sharing our knowledge with each other!
I also have a free guide to start up and shut down your day that you can download here!
Porterfield, Amy. “The Not To Do List.” Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, Amy Porterfield, Mar. 2022.
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