From planning the curriculum to communicating with families, program leaders spend most of their days switching among multiple activities. Dr. Paul Young, retired school principal and former president and CEO of the National After School Association (NAA), suggests breaking up tasks into pieces that you can efficiently start and finish.

On a scale of 1-10, how well do you multitask? A research-based assessment that tests people’s multitasking skills determined that only 2% of people multitask effectively. And although our culture seems to encourage, even celebrate, the concept of multitasking, research shows that our brains are not engineered to easily or accurately perform multiple tasks at once. In fact, the more we try and do, the worse we perform on every task.

The reality is that after school program leaders never will be free from the responsibilities of multiple tasks. From planning the curriculum to communicating with families, program leaders spend most of their days switching among multiple activities. Dr. Paul Young, retired school principal and former president and CEO of the National After School Association (NAA), suggests breaking up tasks into pieces that you can efficiently start and finish. He also offers these simple adjustments to your daily schedule that could break your multitasking habits:

1. Envision your workday before it unfolds. Mentally run through the meetings, phone calls, email, paperwork, decision and dozens of human interactions you know you will face that day.
2. Plan and work from a schedule that you share with your staff, and teach them the benefits of time management.
3. Start your workday by meeting with key staff. Efficient office managers and custodial staff can best support your work and limit interruptions when they know your daily priorities. A 15-minute daily meeting will help set the direction and reap productivity increases for all.
4. Take control of your time by turning off the bells and whistles on your phones and computers, and read and respond to your phone messages and email only three to four times each day. On your personal phone message, state a time that you will accept calls or reply to messages, and request that your callers inform you when and where they can best be reached.
5. Create an expectation of your availability. Put a sign on your closed door stating when you will open it. That way, your staff will not waste their time returning for their “minute” until you are ready.
6. Create work blocks. Leaders rarely experience routine, typical workdays. Without scheduled and planned work blocks in which you can read, write and think, those crucial times likely will not occur. You will find yourself doing that important work at home at the expense of your family.
7. Bring calendars to every meeting. Never end one meeting without scheduling the next one. Every effective meeting agenda includes time for scheduling follow-ups.

Implementing these simple changes can reduce your stress, increase productivity and result in better-quality relationships with those who depend on you. For more valuable leadership tips for after school program leaders, check out Lead the Way: 24 Lessons in Leadership for After School Program Directors.