Tag Archives: work

Breakfast meetings

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I really think that the opportunity to ‘break bread’ at a meeting makes the meeting special. Breakfast and lunch meetings are more than a chance to get work done, they are also an opportunity to connect.

It’s not just about filling your belly, and it’s about the sharing of more than a meal. It’s an opportunity to build a connection that goes beyond the necessities of work. The act of eating together helps to build relationships in a way that a regular meeting doesn’t allow.

Breaking bread is a way to build relationships that simply doesn’t happen when food isn’t one of the things being shared.

Monday to Fried-day

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Getting up at 5am to start my routine, then doing a full day of work, I feel like I’ve got nothing left at the end of the day. The only saving grace is that my morning routine is fulfilling, it’s me doing something for me… Writing, a workout, and meditation. Except here I am at 8:30pm already lying in bed, writing instead of reading (like I said I would this morning).

Why? Because my morning routine feels too rushed now that I’m commuting to a gym rather than working out at home. Getting most if not all of my writing done now, in the evening, will make my morning a bit more enjoyable. And that’s a sacrifice I choose to make. My morning routine is the priority I want so that when I get to work, I can be the best I can be at work. And the price? My evenings.

From Monday night to Thursday night, evenings are about recovery. Limited activity, limited thinking. By Friday after work I’m still a bit fried… It’s not an active weekend night, it’s a reset night. Still, I prefer this to waking up later and trying to do things after a full day of work. I’d rather have my evening downtime so that my mornings are energized than not do my morning routine and then pack everything into the afternoon when I’m tired from work.

Energize the mornings, feel great at work, and crash in the evenings. This is what my work week looks like, and it works for me… even if I have to sneak a bit of my morning routine into the evening.

99 Days

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Although I’m retiring at the end of the school year I really haven’t been tracking or counting down (yet). But I do have a colleague that is also retiring and he shared with me that yesterday marked 100 work days until we are done. So I’m heading into work today with just 99 work days left. That seems a bit surreal to me.

I know someone who started their retirement countdown with over 2 years left. It worked for him, but my mind doesn’t operate that way. I have always struggled with being excited through anticipation. I used to fake it for my kids, but they are grown up now. I get a tiny bit excited for a trip the night before, but only after my bag is packed. Even if I’m packing a bathing suit to go sit on a beach, the excitement level isn’t that high for me.

Sometimes I feel like I’m missing out by not getting excited in advance. I see excited anticipation in others and wonder what gene I’m missing that I don’t get the same feeling. I know that comparison is the thief of joy, but there is something ironic about joy being the thing you are lacking in your comparison.

99 days. Down to double digits. It seems short. There is still so much to do. And yet, I’m ready. Maybe not excitedly ready, but I’m ready.

Flipping the switch

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My work switch used to be turned on all the time. I’d respond to an email after 11pm, or even during dinner. I’d get to work around 7:15am and frequently stay at work until I was late for dinner. Furthermore, not only did I wear this work ethic like a professional uniform, I also used the word ‘busy’ like it was a badge of honour.

What I lacked was balance.

I think I still struggle with balance but it is getting better. The place this really shows is when I turn the ‘work’ switch off. It started with my vampire rule for email, whereby like a vampire not being allowed to enter your house without an invitation, I do not permit myself to send anyone an email after 6pm unless I’m invited in… unless I am sent an email requesting a response. Otherwise, my email can wait until the morning, rather than interrupt anyone in the evening.

When my switch is on, I’ll give my all, but when my switch is off, this is where I’ve gotten better. Now I am better at not being a slave to email. I am also better at not perseverating over things I need to do at work while I’m at home.

The one challenge in getting here has been letting go of the guilt. I know it’s healthy to toggle the switch off, but for a long time I felt guilty doing it, and if I’m honest, I still struggle sometimes. It would be nice if it was as simple as literally flipping a switch, but it isn’t. Sometimes the work light still flickers when it is supposed to be off.

Do not disturb

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For almost a year now I’ve left my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ all day. I only ever change it when I’m expecting a call. Other than that it stays muted. I have gone into my settings and set up ‘Allow Notifications’ so that, “Notifications from selected people will be allowed, all others will be silenced.”

This is a game changer for me. My phone is not the distraction it used to be. At home, I still get family notifications. At work my family, bosses, secretaries, and teachers can still get messages through. But everyone else has to wait until I look at my phone. My attention is no longer dictated by other people’s schedules and expectations to communicate with me. I don’t get distracted by spam calls and texts. I check my messages at my convenience not someone else’s.

It’s amazing how this little choice has made me more efficient and less distracted.

Fuelling my disillusionment

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A few months ago I wrote the following in response to a LinkedIn post, and then saved it in my drafts. The problem is, I didn’t copy the link to the original post properly. Furthermore, if I recall, it didn’t really answer the question that was posed. It was tangentially connected but not completely on topic.

I’ve edited my comment slightly, and I want to share it since I’m wonder if ‘it’s just me’ feeling this way?

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

It’s the doing more with less that fuels my disillusionment.

  • Greater and often unrealistic expectations of parents and universities.
  • Greater student social-emotional as well as educational needs.
  • Greater demands to prevent litigation (more documentation, more protection of data, more health & safety requirements… all ‘necessary’, but time consuming.)
  • Greater demands and expectations from the Ministry of Education, and Worksafe BC.
  • Greater costs – pay hikes, heating costs, perishable supplies. Even with no cuts to education, less money gets to the classroom.
    I could go on. I’ve watched my role shift from educational leader to middle manager of an educational machine. I feel like a shield trying to redirect and manage the above impacts away from teachers so that they, rather than we, can do great things with kids.

Still an important role but a lot less personally rewarding.

Am I the only principal feeling this?

Sick season

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One of my secretaries was sick all last week. Last night I had two messages from teachers telling me they’ll be away today. One of them doesn’t even work in my building on Mondays so it’s not like they caught it from each other. It’s that time of year when colds and flus start spreading like wildfires through students and staff.

I got the flu shot this weekend, I work out regularly, try to eat well, and I take vitamin and mineral supplements. I am careful about touching my face, and keeping my hands clean. I try to do everything I can to prevent myself from getting sick.

Does this mean I’ll escape the contagion? Only time will tell. You can do everything right and still get sick… but I know that I’ve significantly increased my odds of staying healthy, and if I can’t avoid the sick season altogether, hopefully I’ve at least reduced how hard it will hit me.

I’m just grateful that the people I work with stay home when they are sick. In my younger years I used to ‘soldier on’ and just come to work sick like I was doing everyone a favour. Now I realize that I’m not just helping myself recover, but I’m also helping prevent others from getting sick when I stay home. I appreciate everyone else doing the same. It makes the work environment better for everyone.

Constant interruptions

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I was reminded yesterday of the never ending flow of interruptions that a school principal can be faced with. My day went well enough, nothing major happened, and I had some positive interactions with both students and staff. But I was a yo-yo bouncing in and out of my office, feeling like I was always working on a task other than what I wanted to, or planned to, be working on.

At one point I washed my coffee cup to fill it and then ran two errands with an empty cup in my hand, because I was distracted before filling it. At another point I was holding an HDMI cable that I was taking to a teacher and was interrupted a couple times, and even went back to my office holding the cable, before finally taking it to its intended place.

And this is often the norm. Being pulled one way when trying to go another. Starting a task and finding it undone an hour later. Creating a quick ‘To Do’ list, only to make it a ‘To Do Tomorrow’ list.

At one point I was asked a policy question regarding funding for an online course. I was pretty sure our system was trying to charge a student for a course I thought they should get for free. I went to the OneNote where I keep my links to the BC government policies. I got several 404 errors on the website. This even happened to my 2025-26 policy link I added in April. It seems the Ministry has made updates again and changed the main links.

I searched the website for the specific reference. Couldn’t find it. I asked Copilot to look for me. Copilot agreed with me, but didn’t provide links to the actual policy for this specific situation. I asked my online principal’s group chat, and this usually very responsive chat stayed silent for an hour and 40 minutes. Then I got an answer agreeing with me with a comment that this principal also couldn’t find the answer when she asked previously, and had to get a response from the Ministry via email.

What should have been a simple question took me almost 2 hours to answer. And I can’t even count the amount of other things I did in that time, including a 45+ minute meeting and a 10 minute phone call to a parent that I played text tag with trying to find a good time that we could both chat.

Yesterday was a good reminder of the constant interruptions, redirections, and multitasking expectations of a principal. Sure there are those moments that are efficient and effective, but for large parts of any given day, with countless ‘other duties as assigned’ tossed unexpectedly onto my ‘To Do’ list, or rather the ‘Gotta do this first’ list… most of the time the interruptions are the job.

Experience is something you get right after you need it.

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Ever notice how many jobs say, “Experience required”? Who are all these experienced workers looking for new jobs?

How many jobs want you to have a degree first? I understand a doctor, nurse, lawyer, architect, or engineer needing a degree, but how many corporate jobs really need a prospective employee to have a degree?

I love the quote, “Experience is something you get right after you need it.”

At some point in your life you are going to learn something on the job. You are going to figure it out either just when you need to… or just after you’ve messed up the first attempt.

Hiring is going to change. You aren’t going to see companies focusing on degrees and academic accolades. Instead, you’ll see people with micro credentials or niche skills being hired because they have learned skills that directly relate to the job expectations. Or you’ll see jobs being offered on a trial basis and companies willing to hire based on characteristics like flexibility, ingenuity, and creativity. ‘Come try this out for a 3 month contract, and we’ll see if you’ve a) Got a good head on your shoulders, and b) Fit with our community and values.’

Don’t worry about experience, you’ll get on the job. Just come with the right attitude and an affinity for the job. The first time you try something, that’s when you’ll get the experience. Before that, it’s not schooling or past experience, it’s evidence that you are a learner and you are willing to put in an honest effort. That’s what will get you hired.

27 years

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Today is my 27th Wedding Anniversary. Including the time we’ve dated, I’ve now spent more than half of my life living with my wife. What a wonderful adventure it has been! I feel blessed to have found such a wonderful person to spend my life with. And together we’ve raised two amazing daughters that I couldn’t be more proud of. Tonight we celebrate as a family, breaking bread together at one of our favourite restaurants. Tomorrow we head off early to go to a funeral of a friend’s parent. The contrast in celebration is stark, and an important reminder to appreciate all that we have, while we still have it.

I’m also days away from my 27th anniversary of being an educator. And here too is a similar contrast, as I plan for this to be my last year before I retire. I don’t leave counting the days, I leave feeling like there is still more work to be done. I leave with a reminder that I’m going to miss this as much as I’m looking forward to the freedom of not working daily.

How did I get to two milestones of 27 years and still feel like things have only just begun? How does time go so quickly? How am I the parent of two adults in their 20’s? My oldest daughter is a quarter of a century old. My young wife and I are both in our late 50’s. She has been an amazing educator for over 30 years. Those just don’t feel like our statistics, those are the stats of older people. I saw a T-shirt on an older man, who rode past me a few days ago, and the message on his shirt said: “It’s weird being the same age as old people.” I haven’t connected so quickly to a T-shirt slogan in a long time.

All that said, today is a day of celebration. The past 27 years have not necessarily been easy, but they certainly have been rewarding and memorable… and I look forward to the next 27 years of finding joy, showing appreciation for what I have, and feeling younger than I am.