Busy?

First of all – sorry for missing the post last week.  I caught a bad case of whatever is going around and it was not a fun time.  My kids were also sick and I was doing my best to not only help my wife, but also keep her from not getting what we all had (she stayed healthy!).

Anyway, this week I think its an appropriate time to talk about the term “busy.” I’ll be blunt – I hate the term “busy.”  I get it that people have full plates – myself included – but for some reason that term really frustrates me – especially when it is used as an excuse.  As an administrator I do my best to make sure I do not use “busy” as an excuse for why I could not do something.  They are running just as hard if not harder than I am in making sure our students are getting are getting top notch instruction in their classrooms every day.  My job as an administrator is to support them in any way I can.  From removing bureaucratic roadblocks, to being an advocate for what they are doing and the building and district level, if they need my support (either by asking for it or me recognizing the need for it) I need to make it a priority to support them.

I saw a quote the other day that really struck home: nobody is too busy – it is just a matter of priorities.  Powerful.

Some wear busy like its a badge of honor – and no matter what they always seem to be talking about how busy they are.  We all have full plates – every single one of us in this profession is pushing the limit with what they need to accomplish for our students and our schools.  We get it.

My biggest takeaway from reflecting on this blog post is that I am going to be more intentional in never telling my team I am too busy for whatever they are bringing to me – it must be important to them because otherwise they wouldn’t be bringing it to me.   I may be honest with them and let them know it it is not a top priority right now (and then given them an explanation why), but I will get to it when I can.  Conversely I am going to try and start holding my folks accountable for not using “busy” as an excuse either.  It will be a paradigm shift that may work or may not work but it is worth a conversation. But we are not busy enough not to have the conversation.