The next step which needs to happen every single week is to conduct what I call a weekly round-up. That's just a meeting, with you and your three tools. This is where you scoop up deadlines from your calendar, tasks from your upcoming to-do list and then the left overs you just didn't get done. Happens to the best of us. And with those items, you'll build a new worksheet for the coming week; whether paper, digital or somewhere in between. >> As I sit down and do my weekly roundup, I open my email and then I will go through all of my different, folders with my direct reports and our meeting notes, to make sure that there's no to-dos that I don't, I. Do or do not need to capture for my next week. >> It's 9:00am, Friday, August 29th. This is Elijah's time to do his weekly round up. Elijah is the dean of students at Excel Academy in Boston. He's not a teacher anymore, but he still uses his Together System. You'll see that Elijah uses a blend of analog and digital systems as he prepares for the week. Step one is reviewing his notes from last week. >> I'm looking through Our associate dean of students meeting notes. Our last meeting we had our beginning of the year meeting. He needed to pick up. Shirts as well as review a lesson for orientation so I'm going to write that down as something that, to follow up with for him. >> So he's preparing his meeting agenda on paper, but you can see the meeting notes are on his computer. The balance of analog and digital really depends on your preferences and the culture of your school. >> I keep a folder on my desk that is entitled, schedules time management, and I literally have every weekly plan that I've created for the past two years. Well we are looking, what am I looking at right now is the template for our school's specific schedule. I'm go into my multiplan, plug in the things that I know that I have for next week. As well as look at the orientation schedules for each grade level, because it is orientation, to plug in the things that I need to make sure that I am a part of. >> Elijah built a weekly template for himself using Microsoft Excel. He chunked the time by his school's bell schedule. Now, he fills it in with the meetings and the deadlines for the upcoming week. I noticed Elijah has a second calendar hanging out in there, the orientation calendar. I forgive you, Elijah, for cheating on your comprehensive calendar a bit, but it is the beginning of the school year, it's an extremely busy time. What I really like here, is he's got the orientation encounter in his flexi, and he's pulling from it to populate his weakly worksheet. >> I have finished my weekly plan for the standing pieces of orientation that I am leading. This point I'll actually print this, add my to dos on the certain days that I want to complete them. [SOUND]. >> After Elija prints out his weekly worksheet he'll fill out the free pockets of time with to dos from last week's weekly worksheet. Stuff he jotted down on the fly in the hallway, and from his upcoming to do list. I love this. Now listen as he describes the additional content he write in during the week. >> If there is any follow-ups with families or things that aren't standard to the what happens in the job every single day I would say I'm going to write them down. And on my weekly worksheet, I have a place for students file, family phone calls. I also can just typically put it write the word calls, and then write down all the individuals that I need to call and follow up with on it, on a particular day. I'm planned, I'm good. The practice of going through your tools is just as important as the final product. The weekly roundup is where you pull the due dates from the comprehensive calander, grab those items that need to be started this week from the upcoming to do list and identify items from last week's weekly worksheet. Now is there a right time to do your weekly round-up? I mean, you know Elijah does his on Friday mornings. Should you? Here are some other answers. >> Every Sunday morning I sit down and I like dive right into like a check-in with myself. >> It happens. Sunday nights between the hours of eight and nine. Either Friday afternoon, or, or on Saturday. On Thursday evening on the subway home, I will take out my flexi and look through the previous week, and just sort of check off. If there was anything I had done that I hadn't gone through or anything I didn't get to that I wanted to put into the next week. And then also, just think about the week ahead, and what did I need to put in there. >> Sometimes when I'm really together, I'll do it on Thursday or Friday, but it usually happens on Sunday. >> It doesn't matter when you have your round-up, though I would avoid Monday mornings. You just have to make sure to set aside time for it. Personally, I do mine in my very quiet basement on Friday mornings with a huge cup of coffee before anyone in my house wakes up. I unpack my backpack. I pull out the meeting notes, I open my Outlook calendar, and I work through the last week. And then I start to look ahead. What meetings do I have this week? Is there anything I need to do to prepare? Do I owe snacks at my daughter's preschool? When am I going to buy them? Are there things I have to get started on for a few weeks ahead? And then is it big-brain work? Or is it lower energy? And then I put those to-dos in time slots. And I build my plan for the week right in Microsoft Outlook. And if you're thinking boy oh boy I've got so much to do, when on earth will I fit it in? Here's some insight from Megan who intentionally does her weekly roundup on Sundays. >> The reason behind doing it on Sunday usually comes out of. I would say necessity for me. Mental necessity. I took on a new position. I took on a leadership position last year. So I had my teaching schedule, but I took on a leadership position as a grade team leader, and there were some things where. There were some weeks where I couldn't think about next week because I had to finish Thursday and Friday. And once Thursday and Friday were finished. And the kids were dismissed, and everybody had a good week. Then I could start to think about it, but at that I just wanted to go home, or I had get some grading done. Like I couldn't think about next week. I just needed a little unplug and usually it happened on Sunday morning that I was ready. >> In your final project you'll schedule your first weekly round and build next weeks weekly worksheet. You'll use your comprehensive calendar and you upcoming to do list to help you along in the process.
