Page 11 - Leadership Basics 8

In addition to asking such questions, you can conduct a more systematic analysis. For example, see
the table below where Sally Lim broke her day down into four basic categories after she had kept a
careful diary over a number of days. She went through each of her activities and placed them in one of
the following categories (of course you can develop and define your own categories if you wish).

 Professional (P)
Have someone follow you around for a set period of time – but this is usually not possible, at
least for extended periods. Even asking someone to spend half a day with you can be revealing.
Ask the person to observe and record everything you do.

 Crisis (C)
Activities which have to be done immediately. Problems which arise within the school, such as
interpersonal conflict or crisis decisions.

 Routine (R)
Activities which basically deal with routine administrative matters such as correspondence,
phone calls and ‘on‐the‐move’ supervision.
 Individual (I)
Any activities which are personal: phone calls from home or coffee breaks.

Through your analysis you need to assign priorities to what you do and identify and attack those
activities or actions which waste your valuable time. If you use a diary such as the one provided in
Microsoft Outlook, it can help you analyze your time by grouping specified categories.

An Analysis of Sally Lim’s Day

Category No. of Duration Total
Acts (mins.) Time %
Professional 7 139 27.5
Crisis 5 41 8.1
Routine 25 165 32.6

Individual 11 161 31.8

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