¶ Cultivating Personal Routines and Mindsets
Welcome to the Teachers on Fire podcast. I'm your host, Tim Kavey, and today I want to bring you another edition of what I'm calling Sparks. Mini-segments intended to spark your thinking and ignite your practice. These short episodes are based on my written reflections, which you can find on the Teachers on Fire magazine at medium.com. Today's spark is titled 10 Productivity Hacks, Habits and Mindsets for Teachers.
I was speaking recently with Erica Sandstrom, a digital media teacher from the Boston area, about the incredible number of projects that she's currently involved in. When I asked her how she gets it all done, she laughed. She then told me that when she's pressed for time on episodes of the Teachers on Fire podcast, she skips forward to the part where I ask guests to share their best productivity hacks, habits, and mindsets. I want to hear what other people do, she explained. I'm there too.
In this turbulent season of education and with more demands on us than ever before, teachers and education leaders need to find efficiencies wherever possible, Our mental, physical, and social health depend on it. With that in mind, here are some of the productivity hacks, habits, and mindsets that former guests of the Teachers on Fire podcast rely on. Number one. Set a morning routine of mindfulness and intention.
Wendy Turner has found that she is much more efficient in the morning when she begins with intention. Her routine begins with coffee, a few minutes of silence, a stated purpose for the day, and an exercise session. Mornings that begin in this quiet, reflective way set a positive tone for the day and get things off on the right foot. It's really hard not to pick up the phone, she admits, but points out that we need those times of disconnection to find clarity and peace.
Number two, listen to your partner and use Microsoft's to do. Chanel Johnson credits her husband for sometimes pulling the plug on her work and saying, Nope, let's go. Sometimes we need that guidance to take a break, especially if we have a strong drive for learning, growth, and productivity that doesn't seem to let up. Chanel also gains a lot of value from Microsoft's To-Do app, which she uses to sync her task list across all devices.
She loves the sound it makes when she completes another task, and she doesn't hesitate to include take a break in her list of tasks as well. Number three, give yourself grace and track everything in a planner. Social media doesn't always portray an accurate picture of what life is like for educators, observes Kristen Merrill. We all have moments where we don't have it all together, and the tensions between personal and professional spheres make things a little chaotic.
Her go-to tools include a personal planner and she writes down every task. priority and concern that she sees weeks or months away on the horizon. It's not to say that none of the plates ever fall, she says, but as long as she's intentional about her most important priorities, She's learned to give herself the gray she needs when the house doesn't get cleaned perfectly or other ideals aren't met. Number four, break down your goals, gamify them, and keep it positive.
Caitlin Krauss suggests breaking numerical goals into smaller pieces. For example, instead of aiming for 20 full push ups. She sets a goal of 40 half push-ups, which gives her a greater sense of momentum and optimism about achieving the target. She also avoids goals or resolutions of deprivation. choosing instead to always frame her actions in a positive light. Being productive means realizing that we are not our worst enemy, so be kind and gentle to yourself, she encourages.
Finding ways to gamify our goals, even simple routines or chores like cleaning, can also add joy and pleasure to ordinary exercises of productivity. Caitlin shouts out Lisa Johnson's book, Creatively Productive, as a convincing argument that productivity doesn't have to look like grueling deprivation or robotic behavior.
¶ Strategic Time Management and Goal Setting
Number 5. Block time by the hour in a happy planner. One of the biggest keys to Jennifer Pirat's productivity is her happy planner. She blocks her time so that all hours are accounted for, and it generally results in a pretty regimented but productive day. To make sure a task gets completed, it needs to appear in her planner. Otherwise, it just gets lost in the shuffle. 6. Clearly identify objectives, quantify key results, and share.
When it comes to personal productivity, Daniel Bauer points to measure what matters, how Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation rock the world with OKR. A book by John Dewar. In it, Dewar writes about phenomenal leaders who understand how to leverage OKR. objectives and key results. It starts with identifying your objectives, those big ambitious goals that you don't even think you can achieve, Danny says. From there it's about
Quantifying the key results that help you work towards the realization of those grand objectives. Right now, Danny lives by five big objectives. He wants to, number one, help more school leaders level up. Number two, create amazing content. Three, increase his brand awareness. Four launch a live event, and five, improve his fitness.
He allows these five big rocks to guide all of his decisions in terms of where to invest his energy, time, and resources, and he makes it his goal to chip away at each rock a little more each day. The Japanese have a proverb that vision without implementation is merely a daydream. And in Measure What Matters, author John Dewar writes that ideas are easy, execution is everything.
Define your OKRs, Danny says, and then take action to move the needle on at least one of those objectives each day. In addition, he urges, make those objectives public in order to raise your support and accountability. Tell your partner, your teammates, your colleagues, and your PLN about your objectives, because isolation is the number one enemy of excellence.
A question Danny asks in his Mastermind group is, what is your one big thing? From there, Mastermind members hold each other to account. Are your words and deeds aligning with your stated objectives?
¶ Enhancing Focus and Daily Prioritization
Number 7. Block time for writing and treat it as a job. doctor Douglas Fisher puts time into his calendar to do his writing. This is block time that he treats as a job so he doesn't allow email, phone calls, or other distractions.
To interfere with that time. When it comes to writing, Dr. Fisher believes that every educator has a book in them. Many educators want to write, but it requires making that time non-negotiable. Although he is thrilled when other people enjoy and consume his writing, He writes primarily just to clarify his own thinking.
Number 8. Write specific goals on vision boards and reflect on them daily. There are two things Vernon Wright does on the regular that he encourages all educators and thought leaders to do in order to maximize their productivity. The first step, Vernon says, is to write down your goals and be very specific. The second is to review them, meditate on them, and reflect on them every day. Mix in a dash of hustle and just watch your goals manifest. It's about being focused.
Vernon has found that as he codifies his goals and makes them his magnificent obsession, things begin to line up. His goals come to fruition because all of his energies pour into them in a very focused way. Vernon also recommends using vision boards that can be referred to regularly from morning to evening. Every time he passes by his vision boards, he is reminded of where he is headed. Number 9. Prioritize tasks using Google.
One set of strategies that Dina Lau has found valuable is Angela Watson's 40-hour teacher week club, and one of her biggest takeaways has been the prioritized task list. Whenever she has a lot going on, she takes a few minutes to sit down and arrange to-do items by priority. Another helpful takeaway has been Google Keep, a simple but effective list keeper that syncs across all devices.
Nothing will kill your joy faster than when you try to be overly ambitious and get more things done in a day than are humanly possible, she points out. And number 10, wake up at 5 a.m. every day. Trevor Mackenzie gets up at five o'clock AM on the Daily and he's been inspired by other creatives to work before the rest of the world is awake.
The perfect time to tie up loose ends, complete tasks, do important reading, or write reflectively. With small children at home and students at school, the early morning is simply the best block of time in the day to be productive and undistracted. You just heard 10 productivity hacks, habits, and mindsets for teachers from terrific educators and former guests of the Teachers on Fire podcast. My name is Tim Kavey, and I'm proud to contribute to the education conversation through this show.
Make sure to connect with me at Teachers On Fire on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to catch more from me and hear from amazing educators who are bringing growth and transformation to K-12 education today. Thanks again for listening to this Spark episode. Stay safe and keep on learning.