Do you every find yourself at a certain point in the day and wonder where on earth the day has gone? Perhaps you get to 3 pm and realise you have been non stop, but not achieved anything off your to do list? If this sounds familiar, then tracking your time could be the answer. Think about time as being similar to money or food. If you’re trying to lose weight, you track your food intake, if you’re trying to save money, you track your spending. So then it makes sense that in order to save time you should track how your spending it. By tracking your time you will understand what tasks you are spending your time on and how much time you are spending on certain tasks. There are apps you can use to track your time but a simple notebook will work just as well. Here’s how:
If you have competed the time tracking activity honestly, you will spot times when you procrastinate; do all the other little things you tell yourself you need to do rather than the big job that you’re nervous about or just don’t want to start. Make a decision and just get on with it! A well known technique for procrastinators is the red dot technique. Every time you pick up a piece of paperwork or a task, put a red dot on it. Do you end up with one dot before it is completed? Or does it look more one of the children has had free reign with a red bingo dabber? If it’s the latter, just get it finished!!!
Make a plan for your day, to include your tasks such as 15 mins of answering emails, 30 mins walking around your setting and identifying good practice, a 2 minute meeting with a parent, 10 mins to call back those enquiries etc. Plan out how your day would look ideally but include opportunities to walk around and be involved in your setting. Share this plan with your senior team so that they are aware of the way you ideally want your day to run. This s good practice for them to learn some strategies for when they move into a leadership role themselves. If your team know you will soon be popping in, they will be les likely to interrupt you when you are focused on an office based leadership task.
Have a list of the things you need to do, with your priorities at the top. Work from the top down so that those priority jobs get completed first. Have a look at the list and identify tasks that you could delegate to your deputy or senior team. Don’t forget, this is good CPD for them, as long as the tasks are varied and within their capabilites. Don’t expect to achieve everything on your list, this will only make you frustrated, but do identify the top three things that absolutely need to be achieved. Add deadlines to your list, this will help you to prioritise how your list will look over the coming days.
Leading a nursery is no easy task, and staying flexible to meet the ever changing needs of your early years setting is essential. There will be frustrations and times when you face challenges in terms of your time and ever growing to do list. Remember that you are just one person, trying your best to run your setting in the best possible way for the children and families you support. Know that there is always tomorrow and that your emotional health and wellbeing should always be a priority. Have an audio book, a song or a breathing technique in your personal toolbox that you want listen to when faced with a challenge – Brene Brown is often my personal go to!
These five time management tools will not only help you to boost your effectiveness and be more efficient, but they will hep you to manage your setting with a calm and direct leadership style.
Oh and one last thing……Smile, even when the soiled nappy hits the fan and check out our blog on leading with happiness!
If you would like to know more about how The Key Leadership can help you with leading your setting, contact us at hello@thekeyleadership.co.uk