Right Coach

@ljhill85 Worry Time: 1) Decide how long worry time is 2) Set a time in the day for your worrying 3) At the allotted time, sit down & worry 4) When your time is up, walk away 5) Any further worries that arise tell yourself “I’ll worry about that in Worry Time.” 6) Repeat each day

I think the price you pay is too high for the role that you do as a Deputy Head. I don’t think you should have to pay with your evenings. Your weekends. Your energy. Your health. Your presence at home. The version of yourself that exists outside school. That price is too high. And this is what I'm here to change. Not the size of the job - I can't shrink your workload or make the system less broken. But I can help you stop paying with everything you have. You CAN do this essential work without sacrificing yourself. You CAN manage an unmanageable workload without working at your own expense. That's what I'm here for. DM me if you're ready to lower the price you're paying.

Leading a school is made harder by your unmanageable Inbox. In your position as Deputy Head, what strategies could you put in place to reduce email traffic? Limiting access to whole school email lists? Encouraging staff to email the person directly rather than cc-ing their Line Manager? Weekly newsletter instead of individual emails? And is email always the best method? Could it be a briefing instead? A notice board update? A phone call? A face-to-face conversation? What strategies is your school using to reduce email traffic? And what's actually working?

As a Deputy Head, it might feel like responding to emails is your main job. It's not. Checking your emails feels like it keeps you in control, so you know what’s going on, what’s waiting for you. But relentless checking fuels more checking, leaving your brain scattered, heightening your stress levels. To get control over your Inbox requires intentional action. It’s not going to happen by accident. Staff won’t stop emailing. Parents won’t stop emailing. The rest of SLT won’t stop emailing. Putting some structure around your emails contains the intrusion on your time and your focus, freeing up your time and energy for other tasks. Here’s an experiment to change how you manage your Inbox: •Set some specific email times – try different times, see what works for you •Deal with whatever’s in there if you’ve time •If you don’t have time, decide when you'll deal with it This will feel uncomfortable. Wrong even. That’s OK; doing things differently usually does. Will it be any more uncomfortable than how it is now?

What a school senior leader had to say after coaching with me: “Coaching with Vanessa improved my work life in terms of time and stress. I was a little sceptical to begin, however it was really useful and made me think rather than just telling me how to change things.” Are you ready to improve your work life in terms of time and stress?

Something I learned in Meta Cognitive Therapy is to ask the question and hold it in my mind, rather than trying to find an answer for it. I often use it when I'm worrying what people will think and with practice, it keeps me out of the loop. So for something like this I'd ask "What will she think about the car?" And gently repeat it. Without trying to answer it. I usually do it out loud as it helps me to hear it!

I literally hate my brain sometimes - mate's oil light came on and I sorted it. But then it wouldn't start. Turns out the battery was flat but jeez all my brain could and still thinks is I wrecked her car - even though we got it going and it's fine. I hate my brain sometimes

@NoshiA100 Just an ace way of thinking about things @NoshiA100

How lovely it is to know that despite everything you will start to bloom again.💜🌿

@TeachLeadAAli "Let's deal with the crocodile closest to the canoe" - love it.

Corporate speak that makes total sense. Let’s deal with the crocodile closest to the canoe. You’re asking the weatherman for directions. You mind if i drive now? Don’t put a part hat on a horse and tell me it’s a unicorn.

It's lovely to see so many school colleagues taking time out for themselves, their friends and families. I'm looking forward to some family time too and am excited to watch The Faraway Tree. I'm intrigued to see how it translates from what's in my childhood brain to the big screen! Very pleased that my bulbs are coming out for the holidays - first time to try them🌹🌷🪻

@TsuiAllen @PardoeMary Congratulations @TsuiAllen, enjoy your well earned play time!

Ta da! Need to get some new spectacles as I'm finding the frame is a bit tight from writing 4,516 words for a 4,500 essay, submitted just over eight hours ahead of schedule. Referencing my own recent article too thanks to @pardoemary Time to play outside now. Laters Tweethearts!

@KyrstieStubbs "Saying no to anything that steals it" is a skill worth developing!

Good morning- love this and it is just the truth x My family are truly my home, my well being and my happiness x ❤️

Emails are the bane of school leaders’ lives. They multiply like Gremlins who've been fed after midnight. It's completely normal to need a strategy to manage them, they're not going to manage themselves. It's just not very normal to actually have one. Here's a strategy that my coachees report having the most success with, and will keep your Inbox as empty as you want it. To get started – clear the decks Create a holding folder. Drag all of your Inbox into a folder with today’s date on (it can be less stressful if you drag it a bit at a time - if you do it as one job lot it can look like it's disappearing!) Don't panic! It just means you can “start again” without it all staring at you. It’s still there for reference if you need it and if there are things to deal with, you can do it bit by bit. You'll likely get follow up emails, so there's a chance you won't need it as much as you think. Try the 4Ds approach This reduces the time you spend dealing with emails because it applies the "Only Handle It Once" philosophy. It will stop you scanning and rescanning the same set of emails, using unnecessary time, energy and brain power. And it makes going into your Inbox infinitely less stressful. Check your Inbox and decide which of the Ds you need to apply: Delete - You don't need it, press the button, get rid of it! Delegate - Get it to the person who needs to do it. Drag it to a “Delegated” folder &/or put it on a list so you know what you’ve delegated. Defer - This is something that can't be done now due to more time needed on it, thinking required or action required. Put it on a list or put in your calendar/planner so that you know that it's to do. Do - Do it immediately, there’s time for this one now.

@KyrstieStubbs @dsprimed It really is!

@dsprimed Gorgeous room!

Cheers 🍷

@debsybear This sounds delightful!

Morning folks - breakfast awaits and someone else has cooked it! Going to walk the city walls, mooch about and then the theatre. Then hopefully some more good food and beer

@debsybear What a lovely way to put it!

@vanessawears Very much enjoying being busy doing less busy things

Morning folks - some essay work and then off to York for a couple of nights to take in some culture. Love mooching about there - there will definitely be coffee, good and some beer

@TsuiAllen @cbokhove It's a great idea and sentence...mic drop indeed! (I think that's the first time I've ever used this phrase!!!)

@vanessawears @cbokhove Thank you for your ongoing encouragment. And here's a boom! mic drop moment I'm particularly pleased with: schools must consider "departing from the institutionalised rigidity or tradition of the school day Victorian classroom based learning".

So, I've reached a point in my essay where I'm writing about how progression and assessment is framed and will be referring to this article coauthored by @cbokhove

You’re a Deputy Head. You open your Inbox. What happens to your body? Perhaps you tense up. Your breathing becomes shallower. Your chest is tight. There’s no bear hiding around the corner, but your body doesn’t know that. What thoughts pop into your head? “What on earth will I be asked to do now?” “When am I supposed to do this?” How do you feel? A bit anxious? Before we can change our responses, we need to know what’s going on. Here’s an experiment that won’t take you any additional time, that will help you collect some evidence: Next time you open your email •     Notice what’s happening in your body •     What thoughts pop into your head? •     How are you feeling? Once you’ve got some evidence about what’s going on, then you can do something about it. The unmanageable number of emails – that’s not on you. How you approach this unmanageable number of emails – that is on you.

@TsuiAllen @intelino @microbit_edu Glad to hear it!

@vanessawears @intelino Thank you so much! I am actually having the best and very productive start to my day in a long time. Been reduced to a sneezy wheezy mess with the biggest smile on my face for seeing the set of #microbitLiveRewind video recordings from last month's event hosted by @microbit_edu

Good #morningmugshot all scrolling by the #teacher5oclockclub Back aboard the essay writing train this #TrainTrackTuesday with @intelino Laters Tweethearts!