Productivity and task management
Life in school for administrative and teaching staff is a daily rollercoaster ride with numerous tasks and ToDo lists that seem impossible to keep up with. Technology has helped with many things but has created more paperwork and a constant stream of emails, not just internally but externally from parents and suppliers etc.
The only way to make a positive impact on tackling this productivity issue is to make a start with our own mindset and start to declutter our minds. Many years ago I read about GTD (Getting things done) and the methodology behind it. David Allen has written a great book, ‘Getting things done. The art of stress-free productivity’.
Why not use technology to help you to work smarter, reduce workload and easily collaborate with the rest of the school team. One example I’ve seen so many times in meetings is the use of traditional paper diaries to make notes and create to do lists. Handwritten notes and todo lists are out of date the minute the meeting is over. Until the contents of the notes and to do's have been clarified, organised & engaged with, they won’t jump out of the diary a few days or more later after the meeting to remind you. In many cases tasks and such are overlooked due to the way they are captured.
There are lots of ToDo list apps available online, many of which I have tried out throughout the years since adopting the GTD methods. Many years ago I made the decision to use ToDoist. The one main reason is that you can work collaboratively for free and it is simple to sign up to. The app is available on all devices or can be easily accessed on any browser using the web version. I used the free version for some time before upgrading to the Pro version, which allows me to do much more, including hosting projects with many other free users.
The best way to get started is to capture as much as you possibly can from your mind and list all of the things that you have to deal with at work. It also helps to create a personal set of projects too to help clear your mind. When I describe this process in my presentations I liken it to the pensieve from the Harry Potter stories. For those accustomed to the wizarding world, the pensieve is used to review and store memories which are captured using the wands of wizards.
Once you have a collection of projects and associated tasks the magic starts when you organise them with due dates. As many people start to use an App such as Todoist, they quickly realise the power of collaboration by arranging meetings with all staff or departments to identify shared projects and tasks. The final part, when things come together perfectly, is when tasks are shared and assigned to key people. Once each stage is completed, all relevant members know exactly the status of where things are up to whilst reducing the amount of internal email too, by allowing conversations to take place with a focus on each specific task.
