Juggling My Time #SAVMP

Where did the time go? Is that a question that you ask yourself as well? Three are 24 hours in a day which should be plenty, but sometimes it seems like the day has simply escaped me. Let me give you an example of what I experience from time to time. I wake up early and get a head start on my day. A list of to-dos is neatly placed on my desk. I start chipping away at the list and get into a rhythm. The list is diminishing. Then, a visitor appears at my door. We chat momentarily, and that becomes the beginning of the steady flow of traffic to my office. The day is filled with classroom visits, hallway discussions, emails, visits to the office and so much more. Before I know it, the last bell indicating the end of the day is ringing. A plethora of extracurricular activities begins, students linger, parents call and my list is long forgotten, until my 2 hour commute home.

How can I get everything done? Here are a few of my tricks.

1) Dealing with the urgent efficiently. I try to get the experts around me to help me resolve problems and to brainstorm solutions. I realized that I need to be aware of issues in the school, but that I don't necessarily need to handle all of them.

2) Use the commute home wisely. As I am battling through traffic I can do a few things. I put on my Bluetooth and the magic beings. I can create voice notes to: create a new todo list and create a reflection on my day. I can also return calls to parents that didn't need urgent attention during the school day.

3) Learning when to ask people to come back, admitting that you are busy at the moment. At first I wanted everyone to feel like I was free to help them all the time. The reality is that I am not. Sometimes it is ok for them to give me the short version and either return later or email me the long version.

Please share some of your trick with me! I would love to hear what you do.

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