by Carla Silver
One of the greatest challenges of working in the 21st century is, and will continue to be, staying focused in order to be truly productive. And when I say productive, I mean getting tasks accomplished, solving problems, executing, and yes, producing something of value. But I also mean making authentic connections with others, practicing mindfulness, and living a rich and balanced life.
We have all read the articles about how we are creating a new generation of multi-tasking millennials who can, during the course of a important conference call, answer their emails, update their Facebook status, tweet about the article they are reading, and cook a gourmet five-course meal one-handed.
I simply don’t believe it.
I might not be a millennial, but I have always been an extreme multi-tasker, aided by the latest technology of the day. Even as teenager, the phone, computer and television were almost always simultaneously employed during the homework hours. “One appliance at a time,” my mother would holler. As an adult, I embrace the social media movement whole-heartedly. While Facebook is still my social media of choice, I Tweet and Link-in on a daily basis. Google + and Skype are always near at hand, taking the beloved but rather primitive phone calls of my teen years to a more personal level. And yes, I do cook a meal every night for my family, usually while playing Words with Friends and watching a TED talk.
But as I neared the end of 2011, I felt myself dwindling in all areas of productivity and had a serious Koyannisquatsi
| Koyannisquatsi: How I Worked in 2011 |
moment. Responding to Facebook posts, Linked-in messages, tweets, texts, and what I would call, ongoing email exchanges became all I did, and I felt myself becoming incapable of getting the basic tasks accomplished, much less solve a complex problem or tackle a major project. I felt exhausted all the time, had trouble sleeping, and became increasingly impatient. I was not enjoying time with my children because I was completely unable to detach from work left undone at the end of the day. This was truly “life out of balance.”
One of my commitments to myself and to my family and colleagues this year is to “think different” about the way I work, and to redesign a more disciplined approach to productivity. If we are going to teach our students one skill for the 21st century, it has to be about clearing through the clutter of cyberspace slowing down our pace in order to focus and truly be productive – in the fullest definition of the word. As teachers and leaders in our school communities, we need to model this behavior. This year, I am looking very closely at the way I spend my time during the work day, to make priorities, and to draw very clear boundaries for myself and others. Here are just a few changes I have made since January 1.
1)Tackling Email:
Thanks to one of our seminar fellows, Andrew Davis(Middle School Head, Crystal Springs Uplands School), I have become an “Inbox Zero” convert. If you want to know more about Inbox Zero, watch video of Merlin Mann presenting to
| Merlin Mann Explains Inbox Zero |
Google employees. I did and have wasted no time getting on board. This might have been one of the best investments of one hour I have made in years. Since January 1, I have ended each day with zero emails in my inbox and I am no longer using my email as a to-do list. More importantly, I am working hours at a time with my email turned off and carving out time to meet with people face to face or on the phone or tackle big projects uninterrupted, to write, or think creatively about new projects. I check every hour or two and then take the necessary time to address anything essential or add less urgent tasks to the to-do list.
Sanebox has also helped to manage email clutter. Eric Niles (Head of School at Athenian School) introduced me to this online tool which helps to train your emails to go into specific folders in more user friendly way that smart mailboxes and creating email rules. You can train emails to be automatically sent to your inbox, to be saved for later or to be archived or deleted.
2) Time Management:
The second thing I have done is to review my calendar and my to-do list to see how they align. Inspired by the Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy of David Allen, I design my day based on the tasks that need to be accomplished within the open time on my calendar. The tasks that are relatively easy to take off the list get scheduled to be done in the shorter available intervals of 15 and 30 minutes in between meetings and phone calls, while I clear hour and two hour blocks of time for the projects that need it. And I commit to those large blocks of time except in rare cases.
I am learning to be protective of the “unscheduled” time on my calendar because it really isn’t “free” time, it is work time. Setting these boundaries also means holding others to starting and finishing on time. A late phone call or meeting can start to back everything up, and sometimes, when there is big block open time on one side of a late call, it is tempting to let the call creep into that time, but is that productive? Of course each incident requires a judgement call, but if the time set aside for important projects gets taken away, will the project get completed? Will it be done with quality and thoughtfully? This change in boundaries might take some training of others to get to meetings on time and to end them on time too, but as Merlin Mann points out in his Inbox Zero talk, aren’t we always renegotiating with our colleagues (and even our families) about how we work and live together and share the same space. Just because we have been operating with certain behaviors doesn’t mean that they are the best practices or that they can’t change to be better and more efficient.
And if you don’t have any “unscheduled” time on your calendar, it is your responsibility to make that time. Gary Gruber as a Head of School made a regular practice of blocking off time for thinking and writing and being creative and productive. When a meeting or phone call began to creep into that time, he would say, “Excuse me, but I have another appointment.” It didn’t matter that the appointment was with himself and the projects he needed to accomplish. This is not selfish behavior, this is productive behavior.
3) Self Discipline:
So what about all of my beloved social media applications? Has it meant breaking up with Twitter and foregoing Facebook? Never! But is has required a new level of self-discipline around engaging in social media. I personally find Twitter to be a terrific source of articles and videos on education, innovation, and a rich opportunity for professional networking. So I start each work morning with 15 minutes on Twitter or Facebook, sometimes finding an inspiring or provocative article to carry me through my morning. But then I hit the ground running.
Let’s face it. Becoming more productive is entirely about self-discipline. There is no one perfect way or methodology to getting things done, accomplishing tasks or finding balance. Franklin Covey, GTD, Inbox Zero, 4 Hour Work-Week, these are all the same at the most basic level because they require self discipline. It isn’t about working harder, but rather working smarter and working different.
The other day I asked Jonathan Martin, Head of St. Gregory’s and prolific blogger, how he had time to write so much. His blog is a constant source of fascinating articles about education, technology and innovation. I know the HOS job is a time consuming one, and Jonathan has a family with young children. Where did he find the time? He responded by saying that it was a bit like working out and getting in shape. The more he did it, the easier it was. It requires discipline to stick with it, and he has to carve time, but then at a certain point it becomes a healthy habit and a necessary routine.
We would love to know how you address productivity in your work.
