What to Do When There’s Not Enough Time

“There is not enough time!” 

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It was my first year as a coach, and I wanted to be great at my job. I loved teaching and only left the classroom because I believed I could help more students by supporting teachers. I knew coaching could be transformational, but I wasn’t doing much coaching.  

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I made photocopies for teachers, put up bulletin boards, and did tons of observations but rarely had time to thoroughly debrief them. I read books about literacy intervention strategies, translated for parents at parent-teacher conferences, often ate lunch while responding to email, and created lesson plans for struggling new teachers in the evenings. 

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I know that teachers appreciated the things I did, but how I spent my time wasn’t improving teaching and student learning. 

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I didn’t feel very effective as a coach, and I felt like I never had time to improve my coaching practice. 

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I was trapped in this dynamic for two reasons: 

1. I prioritized everyone else’s requests and needs
2. I didn’t have an established schedule. As a result, I easily fell into the trap of being reactive 

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I hadn’t prioritized my time because I didn’t know what to prioritize. 

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That year taught me that there will never be enough time to do everything. That’s why it’s essential to spend your time proactively doing the most essential and high-leverage things. Anything else is a recipe for burnout. 

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Establish a weekly schedule if you want to thrive as a coach this year. 

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How you schedule your time has a great deal to do with three adjacent elements:

• How coaching is defined in your school or organization
• Your work plan or goals
• Other supports provided to teachers

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Keep these three in mind as you create your starter schedule for the school year. 

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Keep learning:

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