Optimise your valuable energy

In your role as a busy school leader, there are many tasks you have to deal with on a daily basis. Some you have no choice about, they’re just part of your role, but others might have just evolved to become something you do or might even be something that you’ve decided to take on yourself. But, do you know which of these elements of your role charge you and give you energy and which drain you, leaving you feeling mentally and physically exhausted? 

What gives you energy? 

Chargers are the activities you do in a day where you feel energised during and afterwards. They are things you enjoy doing, things that get your juices flowing and help you into what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described as ‘flow state’. They leave you feeling full of energy and excitement. When I was a school leader, my chargers were planning new initiatives and projects, developing ways to roll them out as well as working with other leaders in a collaborative way.  

People can also be chargers. You will all know certain colleagues who you gel well with, who you can bounce ideas around with or who you feel positive and energised when you’re in their company. I imagine you will also have experienced the opposite with other colleagues too!  

The dangers of the drainer! 

Draining activities are those that leave you feeling uninspired, bored or downright exhausted. They might not be a good fit with your skillset or interests or they might involve working with people who you find draining. They will not be tasks where you are working at your best and over time can drain your energy further, along with your enthusiasm for the job. My drainers were organising cover, creating duty rotas and analysing data. They will of course be different for different leaders, for some of you these might be a dream come true! 

Energy optimisation 

In order to optimise not only your energy levels but also your enthusiasm for your role, it’s important to improve your charger to drainer ratio. You want to spend as much time as you can on chargers rather than drainers or you’ll soon be running on empty batteries which can cause burnout which not only hurts your performance but also your wellbeing.

Practical steps 

Of course, in your role as a school leader there will always be obligations and drainers that you just can’t escape from. Spending some time reflecting on what charges vs what drains you is the first step to optimising your energy, followed by considering how you can reduce the number of drainers in your role. There are many ways you can do this, without just ditching them and getting the sack for not doing your job!  

Delegating 

I’m not advocating simply palming off your draining tasks on the nearest colleague but considering the interests and skillset of your team and offering the task to someone who will find it charging. It could even be a swap for something they find draining but that you love!  

Perspective on the purpose 

Try and find something that is charging about the purpose or outcome of the task. It might be the fact that you know break times will run smoothly once the rota is complete or that teaching and learning will be more effective if you’re involved in organising cover.  

Staying present

Instead of focusing on the unhelpful feelings of irritation, boredom, frustration or whatever other negative thoughts are driving you during the draining task, try to stay present by focusing on a sensation you are experiencing whilst doing it. That could be the sound of the keyboard buttons clicking as you type, the feeling of the paper in your fingers as you organise it into folders or the drip, drip, drip of rain on your umbrella as you stand on the gate in the morning!  

Treat yourself! 

If all else fails, why not simply plan in mini-charging activities throughout the draining task, it might spur you on to get it done. Knowing you can take a 5 minute break and do something you find charging might just inspire you to keep going and leave you feeling less drained than if you’d simply pushed on through to the bitter end.  

More chargers please 

However you decide to take control of your chargers and drainers, I hope that by identifying them and finding ways to experience more chargers in your life as a school leader helps you to enhance your performance but, more importantly your wellbeing.