A simple strategy for focusing on priorities, reducing stress, and feeling a sense of accomplishment as a leader
Plus, sign up for a free webinar on how to use the Ivy Lee Method
A colleague recently asked me, “How do you manage your time so you stay focused on your priorities?”
In an information-rich world, we need systems to discern and organize what’s essential to know or do and what’s not.
For example, it’s possible for me to spend an entire day simply responding to and sending emails. There needs to be parameters in place to help create self-awareness about our limited time and how we use it. And the simpler the system, the better.
Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t organize their time and energy around their priorities.
The biggest reason is they don’t know where to begin.
There are other reasons for allowing outside factors to monopolize our days.
We feel we need to be “responsive” by replying to emails as they come in.
We don’t know what our priorities are –we haven’t clearly articulated them.
We think we need elaborate software to properly schedule our time.
We use busywork as an excuse to avoid getting into classrooms or making decisions.
Here’s the thing: in my sixteen years as a school leader, I’ve experience all of these issues! Fortunately, I have found a simple system – the Ivy Lee method1 – to address this challenge.
Here's how to use this approach, step by step:
Step 1: Write down six tasks you want to accomplish the next day.
Within those six tasks, make sure at least some of them align with your school’s priorities.
Here is my list for one day. As I wrote these down, I prioritized “Instructional Walks” and listed it first. Getting into classrooms to learn about daily instruction is aligned with our school goal of implementing an effective literacy curriculum.
As you accomplish a task, “X” it out and decide on the next one.
Step 2: Add tasks to your list as they come up during the day.
You don’t have to analyze whether a task is a priority at that moment.
In my example, I was reminded that we need to set a date for the fire department to come over and observe a drill. It’s not a literacy priority, but important. In the meantime, I filled out an educator evaluation survey as I prepared for teacher observations.
This is an important point: Keep your tasks doable within one day. If you are working on a larger project, think about that next step in accomplishing a larger goal. The smaller the better.
Step 3: Defer tasks that didn’t get done and delegate tasks that aren’t your priority.
Again, the point of this system is to create awareness about what is and is not a priority for you.
On this day, I ran out of time to get everything done.
I used the “>” symbol to defer “Title Grants” to the next day (Thursday).
I used the “<” symbol to defer “Email Parent Group” to next week, creating an event on my digital calendar for it.
I crossed out “Leadership Team Minutes” by delegating the task to a colleague.
I thought about delegating “Enter Purchase Orders” to my assistant, until I remembered that only I have access to the Title grant accounts.2
And tomorrow starts another day with six tasks.
You might be thinking, “Does this process get boring?”
It doesn’t. It’s actually freeing. I can focus on what I can do today. I worry less about what I have to do down the road and I can devote more of my attention on the work in front of me. I feel less stress and a greater sense of accomplishment when I go home.
How are instructional walks going for you? If you missed the first week of the email course, you can read it here. Tomorrow I will be posting Week 2, on how to visit classrooms with a learning vs. judgment lens.
Free Webinar: How to Create a Coaching or Conferring a Habit
On Wednesday, September 14 at 6 P.M. CST, I will show you how I use the Ivy Lee Method to ensure instructional walks and coaching conversations are prioritized.
You will see me demonstrate both a print example (above) and a digital approach, either of which you can apply and adapt to your teacher or leadership practice.
Celebration Zoom Call with Regie Routman
Join me on Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 6 P.M. CST for a live video conversation with Regie Routman, author of Read, Write, Lead: Breakthrough Strategies for Schoolwide Literacy Success and many other books.
We want to celebrate your first four weeks of instructional walks! I will also be asking Regie to share her wisdom on becoming a literacy leader.
I learned about the Ivy Lee Method in the back materials of the Clear Habit Journal. Lee was asked by a CEO in 1918 to help his workers be more productive. Lee advised the CEO to have his employees write down six tasks they expected to accomplish. Whatever they didn’t accomplish was moved to the next day. The CEO was skeptical, so Lee offered to postpone payment for his consulting until after he tried it, and then pay him what he felt this idea was worth to him. The CEO tried it, and discovered that productivity went up significantly. He was so delighted that he wrote Lee a check for $25,000 (the equivalent of more than $400,000 today).
Ryder Carroll offers an update to the Ivy Lee Method, for example the symbols used above, in his book The Bullet Journal Method.