Time Saving Tips and Tricks
In today's digital era, effective time management and organization are more crucial than ever, especially for educators and administrators who juggle countless tasks daily. This blog post encapsulates several best practices and resources designed to streamline tasks and enhance productivity, focusing on five key areas: managing to-do lists, sending targeted email messages, ensuring continuity and clarity of guidance, and maintaining a well-managed email inbox.
I’ve written and spoken about this topic before, and firmly believe that a system for how we organize our work can lead to greater productivity as well as more flexible time to use for various needs. Additionally, a well organized action item list leads to greater accountability and follow through. What our systems look like and how we implement them are where the adaptive aspects of our work are tested. I’d rather focus on those pieces, while making my systems efficient and effective. Here are five practices that serve as a foundation for how to achieve this:
Practice 1: Accountability for To-Do Lists
A common scenario in all schools involves being approached by multiple staff members or students, each presenting a new task or concern. To manage this effectively, utilizing a cross-device application such as the Microsoft To Do app (there are many other options out there!) can help keep track of all these tasks efficiently. It allows for the addition of tasks on the go and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. Moreover, requesting email follow-ups for tasks that cannot be immediately addressed provides a digital trail that aids in accountability. Additionally, using specific tools like Boomerang for Gmail or Follow Up Then can help ensure tasks are not forgotten, costing $60/year and $48/year respectively. Not too much $$ for a resource that helps ensure follow through!
Practice 2: Targeted Email Messages
Communicating effectively with a large group, such as sending personalized messages to families of students performing below a certain academic threshold, requires a blend of the right tools and strategies. By leveraging data from student management systems (e.g., Aspen by Follett, custom data dashboards) and employing email or .pdf merge tools, we can send targeted communications efficiently. This approach not only saves time but also ensures that messages are personalized and relevant, enhancing the likelihood of a positive and appropriate response.
Practice 3: Continuity of Guidance
Miscommunication or differing recollections of conversations are common in busy environments. To mitigate this, maintaining a digital record of notes and conversations can be invaluable. Using a tool like Google Docs for note-taking allows for easy searchability of key terms without sharing sensitive information indiscriminately. Archiving emails rather than deleting them provides a comprehensive search capability, ensuring that any piece of information is retrievable when needed. A Google Form and the resulting Google Sheet from form submissions help keep track of daily tasks (such as entering tardies). This practice supports transparency and accuracy in communications and data collection. In note taking situations, when an accurate summary of the meeting and actionable next steps are built into the agenda and executed, then it leads to greater follow through and makes follow up communications easier to send.
Practice 4: Clarity of Guidance
Uncertainty about expectations or policies can lead to inefficiencies and frustration. Creating centralized resources, such as a newsletter or a guiding document (e.g., Professional Development Plan), can help provide clear and accessible guidance to staff members. Utilizing a Google Doc with a Table of Contents for weekly updates can serve as a dynamic and interactive way to communicate policies, expectations, and updates, ensuring staff members have a go-to resource for information. Similarly, a “Frequently Asked Questions” or other housing location of resources that is simple and easy to navigate. While a well structured and deeply detailed Google Drive or Dropbox with myriad folders and titles is comprehensive, a summarized location of the most utilized resources will help with those whom are busy and need a helpful nudge.
Practice 5: Well-Managed Email Inbox
An overflowing email inbox can be overwhelming and counterproductive. This can also lead to reductions in trust, when folks are expecting a follow up in a timely manner and don’t receive one. Employing strategies such as using Boomerang for Gmail to schedule emails for quieter times or setting up filters and labels can help manage the influx of emails effectively. Creating labels for specific categories (e.g., "Budget") and archiving emails for future reference keeps the inbox manageable while ensuring important emails are retrievable. Yes, delegating many of the tasks that hit our inbox and desk is effective in various ways in making leadership distributed and sustainable, while having a system in place that tracks emails (ex. Boomerang for Gmail returning emails to inbox when a reply is not received or after a number of days to ensure the actionable items are completed) keeps the process accountable. Yes, it’s possible to get to “Inbox Zero” every day, even as busy as we are, with as many emails as we receive!
These practices, supported by suggested resources, offer a roadmap to enhancing productivity and managing tasks more efficiently in an educational setting. By implementing these strategies, educators and administrators can not only save time but also improve the quality of interactions and the clarity of their communications. The digital tools and practices highlighted in this post are not exhaustive but represent a solid foundation for those looking to streamline their workflows and manage their time more effectively.
