The Principal's Handbook

Time Management Over the Summer: Creating a Productive Break
[00:00:00] On this episode, we're talking about time management over the summer and creating a productive break. That's all coming up next, right here on the Principal's Handbook. Stay tuned.
Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go-to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self-care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
=Welcome back to the podcast. Today we're talking about time management over the summer and creating a productive break.
That might sound like a [00:01:00] contradiction, creating a productive break, but I think it's so important to think about a productive break because if you think about summer break or holiday breaks, or even your spring break. If you are not intentional with how you use that time, it's like you leave and you come back and nothing happened between it, it goes so quick.
And if you're not intentional, you don't get the things done that you wanna get done. And before you know it, your break is over. And so that's why I really encourage, , principals, teachers, anybody who has the summer off, even my husband who's not in education, we talk about this. If he's off for an extended period of time, if he doesn't plan his break.
He is like stir crazy. And before you know it, his break is over and he is like,, I got nothing done that I wanted to get done. And so I think it's really important when you have this time off to really take advantage of it and be intentional to create a productive break and make it the break you want it to be.
I. I remember one summer I had this idea, I have, , kids, right now they're in second and third grade, but this was probably two years ago, so they [00:02:00] were a little bit younger, but I was gonna have this summer where we didn't have routines and just I was basically theming it a lazy summer, which I'm not good at anyways.
But, , for me and the kids. And it did not go well because they did not do well without structure, and I did not do well without structure. One thing I have learned about myself over time is that I love structure, and I think a lot of educators do. So I've just learned that if I have a break, if I have, you know.
Summer break, spring break, whatever. Even now as I'm working from home, when I'm recording this, I have to have structure. I have to have a routine in my day, and I have to be very intentional about how I'm using my time. Otherwise, it makes me crazy and I'm not like in this. Great. I'm not in a good head space when I do that.
And that's what I wanna talk about today is how do you create a break that's productive and you're really managing your time over the summer so that time doesn't just slip away. And before you know it, the break has passed. And if you wanna listen to another episode about making the most of your [00:03:00] summer as a principal, go back to episode 42.
I did a podcast on that last summer, and that could be really beneficial for you as well. Yeah, I just really, as we go through this episode, I want you to think about yourself, think about what you need as a person in the summer. Do you do well with structure? Do you do well without structure? How do you balance rest with the need to still plan and reflect and do the things that you wanna get done?
Because it is really easy for, like I said, time to fly and before you know it, the summer is gone. So you want to have intentional time management during the summer for both personal wellbeing and professional growth. And I say this too because I think a lot of times as educators, and this is something I do.
I put off projects in my house during the school year because I get so busy and I say, this is a summer project when I'm off work. But then before you know it, I didn't do it. So again, it's being intentional with what are the things that you wanna get done or what are things that [00:04:00] you talk about doing over summer?
So we're gonna dive right into some tips that I have for really made it a productive summer break. So tip one. Understand what you want from the summer. Like I said, , I made an intention two years ago that we're having a lazy summer. That's what I wanted. After having that summer, I realized I never want that again because it did not go , well with two little kids, but.
Maybe that's you. Maybe you want to have that lazy summer where you don't have a lot of structure and you don't have a lot of things to do. Maybe you're a person who gets all that stuff done during the school year and you want to have a lazy summer. Or maybe you decide I'm off for six weeks in the summer.
I wanna have one week of a lazy summer, right? You get to decide that. That's the fun thing about it. And so I want you to reflect on what do you need from your summer break to make it the best break for you. So for me, I always need time to recharge and reset. I need that. I need to be intentional about that.
Like I said, I'm a very structured person. I don't do good with not [00:05:00] having things to do. But if I tell myself these are the tasks I'm gonna get done every day to feel productive, and then in the afternoon I have time to recharge and rest. That's what works for me. But for some people they can do that, like I said, for a couple weeks or all day.
So know what you want. , also know what you want professionally. Do you wanna take time to. Read books, do courses, get PD in the summer. I have had summers that I've done both. I've had summers that have been very PD focused for me, where I really wanna learn and grow. It depends on where you are in your career.
I've had summers that I just need the break and I wanna focus on my personal development in the summer. So you have to know what it is for you. And in the last podcast episode, I actually have an episode where we're going through and making a summer action plan for pd. So that's something that's a goal of yours.
There you go. Go back to that podcast episode. That could be helpful also, do you want extra time to spend with family hobbies or [00:06:00] pursuing goals? So, you know, for me, my husband is not an educator and so it's not like he's off in the summer, so we don't necessarily get extra time together. But I get extra time with my kids because they're off in the summer.
Hobbies? My hobbies pretty much stay the same, but I think pursuing personal goals is a really good thing, you know? , having a goal of maybe some people like to try to lose weight in the summer when they're at home and they feel like it's easier to do during the school year. I think this is a great time, and we're gonna talk about this in a minute, but really putting habits and routines into place.
So what are some goals that you have for yourself? Maybe you have a goal to read a couple books for the summer, , or go travel somewhere. Go do something. What are those goals that you wanna get done?
And then think about how knowing your priorities and what you want from the summer. Is going to help you structure your time better. Okay? So know what you want so that you're able to structure your time better. To get those things done, which leads us to tip two, creating structure for your summer. [00:07:00] So during the summer, you have to have clear expectations for yourself of what do you want the break to feel like, and what do you want to accomplish?
, like I said, you have to know what you want and then you have to have those expectations for yourself. Like I said, , I a lot of times do where I will, , want my mornings, I'm a morning person to be very productive and then afternoon. Lunchtime they can be lazy afternoons where I'm laying out in the sun reading a book.
, so what do you want that to look like for you? Or maybe you want a couple weeks of hardcore getting things done around the house and a couple weeks to relax. Maybe you're a principal who works. I work with principals who have, , an all year contract. But they might take some vacation time. So also, the other thing about summer as a principal, in my other school I left work at two o'clock, so that's way different.
Like we had earlier office hours, that's a different structure than my school day where I'm leaving work at four o'clock. So even , that gives me a lot of time in the afternoon. Also [00:08:00] work in the summer, if you are working more in the summer as a principal, it's so relaxing and you get so much done. It's just a different vibe working in the summer.
. You have to figure out and you have to time block, schedule the things that you want to get done. On your calendar , and get them done. If you want to organize the laundry room or organize a closet, schedule it on your calendar, just like I tell principals to do during the school year. I do this in my personal life too, because this is how I get things done.
If I don't schedule it, it doesn't get done. If I even, I do this on the weekends, if there's something I wanna get done or a project I wanna work on with my husband, I. Schedule it on the calendar, , because that helps us be productive because the weekends are the same as the summer, right? If you don't have a clear plan of what you wanna get done before you know it, the weekend's over and you're back to school on a Monday.
So the summer is just a longer weekend, right? It's the same exact way. You have to have a structured plan. , again, here's an example. Morning. You might want [00:09:00] to work on professional development or personal development. Maybe it's a time that you wanna spend reading or planning for the next school year or doing a course.
Maybe you're like, for an hour a day, I'm gonna do that, right? And then an hour a day I'm gonna do something else. And then in the afternoon, you're enjoying your personal time. And in the evenings you're. Reflecting and just kind of hanging out so you again get to decide what that structure looks like for you.
You have to decide what that looks based on your personality, based on what relaxing looks like for you. Again, for me, I've learned over time, relaxing and doing nothing is actually more stressful for me. I do better when I am productive at some point in the day and then have time to relax. It just makes me feel better if I have some sort of productivity.
And then tip three is creating habits for the next school year. So I highly recommend this. , I talk to principals who wanna get better at work life balance. They wanna start working out or eating healthier or [00:10:00] just having more time for themselves. And there's no better time to do that than the summer.
When you have more time, that's when you can start building habits for yourself. . Habits created over the summer then can set you up for success in the fall when you go back to work. So some examples of that are time blocking, just like I'm saying in the summer, right? Time block the things you wanna get done, practice that now in your personal life, and then you'll do that as a principle that can be become part of your habit.
Setting boundaries, saying I'm not checking my work email in the summer. During the day, or I'm not checking my work email for two weeks. You know, whatever that looks like for your summer schedule as a principal, prioritizing self-care, taking time for yourself, figuring out what kind of self-care routine you want.
Do you wanna start walking every day? Do you wanna get a workout in, first thing in the morning? What do you want that to look like? But again, summer's a great time to get those habits in. And just like I said, eating healthy is another [00:11:00] one.
If you struggle with eating healthy summer's a great time to do that because you have more time to meal prep and find the meals that you like , and experiment with simple meals that you could do during the school year and sometimes for people. And I'm one of these people I had one summer, I'll never forget that I gained 10 pounds and it was terrible.
I went back to school and I could not fit into any of my, , work clothes, and it happened so quick over a six week period, but. , unstructured time can be harder for people in creating these healthy habits, and so I really encourage you to put those structures in place just so you go back.
Feeling good because I learned from that experience a few years ago. I never wanna do that again. So I've actually used the summer moving forward to, dive down into, you know, being more strict on my habits and making sure that I'm walking more and getting outside at Min Ohio where, you know, summer here is the best time that we can get outside because it's colder during other times in the year.
And so using that to be outside [00:12:00] and, , to get more steps in and to be more active and take time to prep more healthy foods and things like that. , and also just start to think about how any habit you create is going to shape daily routines and influence your leadership in the upcoming school year.
The more you take care of yourself, the more you're gonna be able to take care of others. We hear that all the time. I. But it is very true, and if you create some sort of routine and habit around this, you're gonna notice that and learn that as well. And I have a product called Leadership by Design, the Custom Habit tracker, and it teaches you how to create habits. And in it, I actually give you four ways to create a habit, four different ways so you can find what works for you. And then I give a lot of examples and I give you trackers to hold you accountable. And the nice thing about that is.
Is having trackers are a great way to create new habits because, , that accountability piece, you need some sort of accountability to really make a habit stick. And this product's only $7. And I think that if you don't have healthy habits in place, it's a great way to get [00:13:00] that done in the summer.
And then you can actually use this tool. You can actually use this tool to create leadership habits, , during the school year as well, so that it's really more about leadership habits, but you can also use it for your self-care habits in the summer. And tip number four is finding balance between rest and productivity.
So again, this kind of goes back to what I said where I am not good at just resting, but I'm also a person who sometimes can be too productive, right? And not take enough time to rest. So you really wanna find that balance. And that could be a hard thing to do. But the thing that I always have to tell myself, and this is where time blocking has really helped me, , because when I would just do a traditional list is I would schedule too many tasks that didn't allow me time to recharge.
It didn't allow me to just lay and read a book or, take time to rest. I have to be intentional and make sure that I'm time blocking and scheduling my rest. And my productivity. And then focus on just [00:14:00] intentional work periods rather than overloading your days.
So focus on maybe an hour of being productive for the day or whatever that looks like for you. Whatever you need based on where you are in your life and you know the things that you need to get done, but. Know what those periods are for you in the day, where you're gonna have rest and where you're gonna be productive.
And then allow room for being spontaneous again, I am such a structured person, I struggle with this, but I've had to let myself, , have room for this. But again, this is where my calendar helps me because if I have nothing time block for that day, then I know I have time to do whatever I feel like.
And so maybe that's the weekends. Maybe it's three days on your calendar. Again, whatever you want that to look like. But you want some time, , that you can just randomly do the things that you wanna do, but just make sure summer's a great time that you're relaxing, recharging, unplugging from work, , take time to disconnect.
I talk about this a lot during the school year, but it's the same in the summer. You have [00:15:00] to take time to disconnect from your email, from your phone. I have done this every summer as a principal where I really and truly disconnect because I mean, my teachers shouldn't be emailing me because they should be disconnecting, and so there's really nothing to email about.
I'd get parent emails, but I wouldn't respond until I came back to the office. You can just have an away message that you're gone until whenever you come back. Nothing is that important that you need to respond. Most parent emails are about who their kids' teacher is or what they're doing over the summer.
, so these are just some tips I'm gonna go back through to make sure that you're being intentional with your summer. So again. Understand what you want from your summer. Create structure for your summer. Create habits for the next school year, and find that balance between rest and productivity. Because remember, without structure, your summer can literally fly by and before you know it, you're walking back into school and you didn't get anything done that you wanted to get done.
You didn't rest the way you wanted to. And it can be really frustrating [00:16:00] and you feel like you wasted your whole summer. So I encourage you to set mini goals, set milestones. Stones and really think about what you want the summer to look like for you. , share this episode with a colleague and encourage them to take time to rest and relax this summer, , but also make it a productive break. Thanks again for listening to the podcast.
Keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week, and I'll see you back here next time.