I was struck by the simplicity of her message to “work smarter, not harder”. Time management, she told us, is a myth. It doesn’t help productivity—it often just gives us more to do and more to manage instead of giving us strategies to be more productive. Strategies—personal strategies—are what enable us to work—you guessed it—smarter, not harder.
Carson’s whole philosophy and the need for it really resonated with me because it dovetails with what I’ve been talking about for quite a while—how can we model balance for our students when we can’t seem to achieve it ourselves? Moreover, how can we learn to achieve balance (working smarter, living smarter) in order not only to maximize our potential at work (or school), but to live our lives in a happier, more intentional way instead of living in a constant state of waiting for the next thing to happen?
Certain people make this look very easy. One of them is Avery, a young woman (now in her 20s) whom I taught years ago. Avery was a driven, high-achieving student and the eventual valedictorian of her class. Despite her packed schedule and impressive achievements, Avery never seemed stressed out; she was always smiling and happy. It was so remarkable that I finally asked her: “What’s your secret? How do you do it?”
Carson’s whole philosophy and the need for it really resonated with me because it dovetails with what I’ve been talking about for quite a while—how can we model balance for our students when we can’t seem to achieve it ourselves? Moreover, how can we learn to achieve balance (working smarter, living smarter) in order not only to maximize our potential at work (or school), but to live our lives in a happier, more intentional way instead of living in a constant state of waiting for the next thing to happen?
Certain people make this look very easy. One of them is Avery, a young woman (now in her 20s) whom I taught years ago. Avery was a driven, high-achieving student and the eventual valedictorian of her class. Despite her packed schedule and impressive achievements, Avery never seemed stressed out; she was always smiling and happy. It was so remarkable that I finally asked her: “What’s your secret? How do you do it?”
Her answer was strikingly simple: “No matter what’s going on in my life, I go to bed at 9 p.m. every weeknight. I get my sleep.” It didn’t matter if she had an event or if she had an exam the next day. She honored her biological need to get quality sleep, and it was the secret sauce that allowed her to move past surviving her life to living it happily.
Avery’s healthy strategy, combined with Carson Tate’s recent talk, had me looking around campus at folks who really seem to “have it all together.” They’re incredibly organized and productive, and are often tasked with organizing others. They’re full of energy and good cheer. I wondered if, like Avery, these folks had a strategy. As it turns out, they do.
School nurse Nancy Hart keeps our students (and faculty) healthy every day, but how does she support herself? “The one thing I do that helps me keep balanced is to work out for one hour after school every day,” she said. “I do a variety of workouts each week that help me keep my body (and my emotions) balanced. When I miss (which is rarely), I notice a huge negative effect in my emotional response to stressors.”
Middle School Receptionist Rhett Newton draws strength from playing to what makes her happy—helping others. “My innate desire to help others and build relationships is what keeps me going and gives me energy,” Rhett said. “This desire motivates me to be a better listener, communicator, and problem solver every day. Helping others is my joy!”
Marla Reece, our overachieving front desk receptionist (or concierge, as she styles it pretty accurately), relies on faith and coffee. “Every morning I do two things in tandem to begin my day: To give me physical energy I drink a hot latte with steamed milk from my Nespresso machine. To give me emotional energy, I read a daily devotional on my phone.” Did you know there was an app for that?
Avery’s healthy strategy, combined with Carson Tate’s recent talk, had me looking around campus at folks who really seem to “have it all together.” They’re incredibly organized and productive, and are often tasked with organizing others. They’re full of energy and good cheer. I wondered if, like Avery, these folks had a strategy. As it turns out, they do.
School nurse Nancy Hart keeps our students (and faculty) healthy every day, but how does she support herself? “The one thing I do that helps me keep balanced is to work out for one hour after school every day,” she said. “I do a variety of workouts each week that help me keep my body (and my emotions) balanced. When I miss (which is rarely), I notice a huge negative effect in my emotional response to stressors.”
Middle School Receptionist Rhett Newton draws strength from playing to what makes her happy—helping others. “My innate desire to help others and build relationships is what keeps me going and gives me energy,” Rhett said. “This desire motivates me to be a better listener, communicator, and problem solver every day. Helping others is my joy!”
Marla Reece, our overachieving front desk receptionist (or concierge, as she styles it pretty accurately), relies on faith and coffee. “Every morning I do two things in tandem to begin my day: To give me physical energy I drink a hot latte with steamed milk from my Nespresso machine. To give me emotional energy, I read a daily devotional on my phone.” Did you know there was an app for that?
Most of you know Aaron Craven as our orchestra director, where he runs classes with incredible efficiency and organization—all while managing to inspire his students. He’s also doing a great job of project management for the school. “I’m not afraid to make a quick decision,” he said. “I’m focused on the outcome and work hard to meet that outcome on time. On a personal note, I block 40 minutes during the workday for exercise. This helps break the day and gives me time to think about some of those quick decisions I need to make.”
Lower School Counselor Megan Martin-Wall, as you might expect, has a lot of great strategies to steal, but one that’s especially helpful is list-making. “Making lists helps me naturally take inventory of what things on my list require more time and energy and what things can be taken care of quickly,” she said. “It also forces me to recognize those items that get carried over from one day to the next and ask myself, ‘Why are you avoiding this?” or ‘Why is this something you are always having to do’?”
Kevin Westwood, our associate athletic director and athletic trainer, works long days taking care of our student-athletes (and has more than a few adults he takes care of on a daily basis, too). He (or his counterpart Aaron Parks) is always on hand at games to ensure our athletes are well cared for at their games and practices, so how does he fuel his own tank? Although he admits that he doesn’t believe there’s any one “magic bullet” for him, humor is his go-to. “I try to add humor as a means of gaining perspective on the tasks each day either for myself or the folks we care for.”
Megan Newbauer, our Lower School administrative assistant, has a strategy that really resonates with me and shows just how well she understands her own productivity. “I have been leaving by 3:45 or 4 at least four times a week this year and it has really made a difference,” she said. “Also, I typically do not respond to emails once I have left for the day. I want to be present for my kids, and I’ve realized that it is all going to be there the next day.”
I love all of the above strategies, but Megan’s hit closest to home: it’s all about the email. Carson Tate devotes a whole chapter of Work Simply to taming your inbox, and it’s no wonder why: The average person spends about 28 percent of their workweek managing email. I was horrified to have the number quantified, and I quickly realized that it was dead on for me. I’m spending more than a quarter of my time at work managing a tool that should be helping me work better, faster, and more efficiently?
It’s become a cultural norm to answer email as quickly as possible, but—as Carson said—whenever you say “yes” to something, you’re saying “no” to something else. Is it important that I respond to emails? Sure. But is it truly urgent? Is responding to a colleague’s question about the schedule within the next 20 minutes key to anyone’s survival? Of course not. It’s important, but not urgent.
So, I’m going to follow the examples of the people who seem to have it figured out, from my former student to Megan Newbauer. I’m going to set a rule for myself and see what happens when I follow it, even though it goes against a current cultural norm. I’m going to say “no” to email so I can say “yes” to the rest of my work and my life.
Lower School Counselor Megan Martin-Wall, as you might expect, has a lot of great strategies to steal, but one that’s especially helpful is list-making. “Making lists helps me naturally take inventory of what things on my list require more time and energy and what things can be taken care of quickly,” she said. “It also forces me to recognize those items that get carried over from one day to the next and ask myself, ‘Why are you avoiding this?” or ‘Why is this something you are always having to do’?”
Kevin Westwood, our associate athletic director and athletic trainer, works long days taking care of our student-athletes (and has more than a few adults he takes care of on a daily basis, too). He (or his counterpart Aaron Parks) is always on hand at games to ensure our athletes are well cared for at their games and practices, so how does he fuel his own tank? Although he admits that he doesn’t believe there’s any one “magic bullet” for him, humor is his go-to. “I try to add humor as a means of gaining perspective on the tasks each day either for myself or the folks we care for.”
Megan Newbauer, our Lower School administrative assistant, has a strategy that really resonates with me and shows just how well she understands her own productivity. “I have been leaving by 3:45 or 4 at least four times a week this year and it has really made a difference,” she said. “Also, I typically do not respond to emails once I have left for the day. I want to be present for my kids, and I’ve realized that it is all going to be there the next day.”
I love all of the above strategies, but Megan’s hit closest to home: it’s all about the email. Carson Tate devotes a whole chapter of Work Simply to taming your inbox, and it’s no wonder why: The average person spends about 28 percent of their workweek managing email. I was horrified to have the number quantified, and I quickly realized that it was dead on for me. I’m spending more than a quarter of my time at work managing a tool that should be helping me work better, faster, and more efficiently?
It’s become a cultural norm to answer email as quickly as possible, but—as Carson said—whenever you say “yes” to something, you’re saying “no” to something else. Is it important that I respond to emails? Sure. But is it truly urgent? Is responding to a colleague’s question about the schedule within the next 20 minutes key to anyone’s survival? Of course not. It’s important, but not urgent.
So, I’m going to follow the examples of the people who seem to have it figured out, from my former student to Megan Newbauer. I’m going to set a rule for myself and see what happens when I follow it, even though it goes against a current cultural norm. I’m going to say “no” to email so I can say “yes” to the rest of my work and my life.
What I’m saying “no” to: constant email checking. My goal is simple: only check email six hours per week. Six days out of seven (I’m giving myself one day off completely), I’m going to block off one hour during which I will do nothing but read and respond to emails.
What will this allow me to say “yes” to? Everything else. Yes to walking around campus. Yes to having face-to-face conversations. Yes to lunch with actual humans, maybe in the fresh air. Yes to more intentional, fully present time with my family. Yes!
Will my emails pile up worse than ever? Or, given a solid hour to focus on nothing but email, will I find I’m more productive and watch that count on my inbox dwindle? I’m planning to give it a try and measure the data (I’m a data wonk, after all) to see if my plan is something I want to continue saying “yes” to, or if it’s another great opportunity to learn from failure. Stay tuned for my next blog, in which I’ll discuss this experiment—success, failure, or wash.
What will this allow me to say “yes” to? Everything else. Yes to walking around campus. Yes to having face-to-face conversations. Yes to lunch with actual humans, maybe in the fresh air. Yes to more intentional, fully present time with my family. Yes!
Will my emails pile up worse than ever? Or, given a solid hour to focus on nothing but email, will I find I’m more productive and watch that count on my inbox dwindle? I’m planning to give it a try and measure the data (I’m a data wonk, after all) to see if my plan is something I want to continue saying “yes” to, or if it’s another great opportunity to learn from failure. Stay tuned for my next blog, in which I’ll discuss this experiment—success, failure, or wash.