Building a "Yes" Plan

“What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.” - Cal Newport Deep Work

"Just say no!" - Clarity & Time Dependencies

Growing up in Nelson County in the 80s and 90s the phrase "just say no" was a local and national slogan in the war against drugs. I remember it on billboards, on TV, and in the local DARE program. While we don't directly make connections between addiction and use of time there are a number of parallels. We are often unconscious of our dependencies and how we use time to create value in our lives and the lives of others. The truth is, it's not so simple to "just say no." In fact, if we don't have a clearly defined "Yes" it's hard to say no to the whirlwind and heroics that emerge in our day-to-day work. 

“Your will is not a manifestation of your character that you can deploy without limit; it’s instead like a muscle that tires.” - Deep Work

Building a "YES" Plan

Indeed, the alternative of always saying "no" to the whirlwind is saying "YES" to something else."Yes" to the deep work and priorities that will move your team and school forward. "YES" to clarity and depth within our priorities, processes, and performance.  Indeed, building a "YES" plan allows you to "Just say no" to many of the unconscious dependencies that emerge with how we spend time.

Backpack Planning = "YES" planning.

What is Deep Work? 

In a nutshell, "deep work" is time spent on the work that will generate the highest value for your team and organization. In our case, it's the most essential work that builds the capacity within our organizational ecosystem that creates powerful experiences for our students. This includes specific elements of the school and community ecosystem as they relate to your role. Developing clarity and depth in priorities, processes, and performance systems is essential to "deep work." Developing and deepening priority clarity over the coming months will be essential to our ability to deep work in the Summer of 2021 and into the 2022 school year. 

A few questions to think about Deep Work

How do we reflect on our use of time as a team? 

How much time do we spend on strengthening processes of collaboration to build collective clarity and capacity for our teams? 

How much time do we spend building systems that empower others to lead, learn, and grow? 

What would have to change to spend more time on "deep work"? 

Good news = the study of how we use time in work/life is ongoing & complex, but it's totally worth it!

Thank you for your leadership.