
I've not shut down yet. I will, though. In 103 minutes we'll go to my mother-in-law's house for a great dinner, and then we'll hunker down at home and not leave until Monday morning. Ahhh. I wait for this shutdown all year.
Not yet, though, because last week I wrote
about priorities and how what we care about can get in the way of what we should be caring about. I ended that post by promising a few ideas about how I make sure I’m remembering the important
stuff—and how you can, too.
So:
Lists. Whether it’s an old-fashioned composition notebook,
Reminder app on your phone, or a well-managed Google calendar, writing down what
you need to remember—in other words, things you need to care about—is always a
good idea.
Find perspective
through people who do care about the
issue. If you don’t value something,
there is certainly someone who does.
Talk with them. Walk with
them. See why it matters. Walking a few steps in their shoes might
shift your priorities—or, at the very least, hold you accountable for caring
for it.
Address calendar conflicts
directly. If you need to be two
places at once, make sure you communicate the situation to whomever won’t have
your attention. That way, they don’t
assume you forgot about them. They’ll
know you simply have to be somewhere else.
Constantly audit
yourself. What are you forgetting to
take care of? Are there things you
aren’t attending to, because you don’t value them? What needs to become a bigger priority?
Make a recurring month-by-moth
list. I have a list, organized by
month, to help me remember things that are important to the mission of running
an efficient and well-organized school. I
add to it as things change over time, and refer to it often. It helps me remember the things I do not care
to remember (or can’t remember because they only happen at a certain point in
the year) A glance at December’s list
shows me 32 little things I must remember, such as:
Remind custodian to block No Parking lane before holiday
concert.
Complete classified evalutions by December 15.
Reconcile budget.
Check on January picture day.
Review indoor recess protocol.
Plan January PD date.
Plan, purchase, deliver staff gift.
Office lunch?
Plan spring evaluation schedule.
Meet with AP--revisit goals.
Own it. If you do forget something you should have
prioritized, be truthful. “I didn’t make
this a priority, and it slipped my mind.
I will do better next time. I
apologize that I didn’t support you in this.”
These are some tricks I have to make sure I don’t forget
important things that I really should remember to do. I never, ever want someone to think, “My
principal doesn’t care enough to remember certain things.” I want them to think I care about all of it…
all the time.