117 Top 5 ways to save yourself time as a building leade

The Principal Entrepreneur

As principals we protect our students, and staff, budgets and everything else, but rarely do we protect our time with the same vigilance. As building leader time is always in short supply because we give it away. Being efficient with our tasks creates the opportunity for us to have more time to focus on our goals that move that actually have a chance of moving our schools forward. Summer, when we MAY have more time :-), is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the best way to protect it and spend it. These 5 ways to save time are strategies we can add to our toolbox.
Skip the nonessentials
What do you absolutely need to do in order to be highly effective and efficient? Those are the priorities that you focus on first. Everything else can either be eliminated or delegated.
Keep focused on your mission
Keeping focused on your mission will help you make decisions about what you bring into your school. This will save time as you only allow programs that support your plan. Often times we get caught up in something that is cool or fun for the kids and it doesn’t support our overall goals. Stay focused on the mission until it is complete.
Implement multiple strategies
When it comes to time management come at it from multiple angels. Use technology to help save time, find others who complement your weaknesses so that important tasks can get done more quickly. Save your bandwidth for things only you can do. Stacking time saving strategies will compound the effects and provide you the hours for which you’ve been looking.
Make time for yourself
Making time for yourself actually increases your productivity. It gives you the mental capacity to do deep thinking. You actually will accomplish less if you try to pack more busy work in. Your brain like a muscle needs to rejuvenate so it can come back refreshed.
Time for a principal is precious. Often times it is wasted putting out other people’s fires. By managing our personal time consistently we can find more time to focus on quality work.
What are ways that you save time? Share your strategies in the comment section below.
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