Work is complicated.
I’m not terribly adept at filtering out the minutiae.
I find it extremely challenging to focus on what is most important.
Recently I have been trying a new approach to planning my work day. I began this process by spending focused time considering what matters most in my job. As a junior high school principal, that meant considering what is best for my school community, and what activities and actions sustain my ability to pursue what is best for my school.
I boiled down the results of my brainstorm, and developed three questions that I use to plan my day:
Who will I encourage today, and how will I do that?
How will I be visible (and present) for my students, staff, and parents?
What difficult conversations are in order?
Those three questions reside at the top of an Evernote ‘day map’ I use as a daily guide. As I plan each day, I make sure that I create time in my schedule to address each one of these questions.
It’s a new endeavor, so I’m sure my process and questions will evolve over time, but for now, it seems to add some clarity to my day.
molehills out of mountains 