Use a Future File to Clear Your Desk
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses how a simple future file system can clear paperwork off your desk and free you to get into classrooms every day.
Key Takeaways
- Paperwork Never Ends - Waiting to finish every paper task before visiting classrooms means you'll never get there consistently.
- Use a Future File - A 43-folder tickler system lets you sort unfinished paperwork by the day you'll need it again.
- Decide the Next Step - Before filing a document, identify the action needed and write it on a sticky note.
- Clear Desk, Clear Mind - Removing papers from your desk reduces mental clutter and creates headspace for instructional leadership.
- Give Every Paper a Home - If you're not finished with something, it should go into the future file so it returns when you actually need it.
Full Transcript
If you want to get into classrooms every day, you've got to get anything that's standing in your way out of your way and off your mind. And one thing that's probably on your mind at all times, if you're in your office, is the pile of paper or just the spread of papers covering your desk.
There is never going to be a day when you get all of that work done and then you can get into classrooms. So what you've got to do if you want to get into classrooms as an instructional leader is you've got to get that paper organized
so that you have peace of mind about it. You're not worried about it. It's not taking up space in your head.
It's taken care of even though it's not done. The best way that I have ever seen to do this is with something called the future file or the tickler file. You can find this in a lot of old books on productivity. David Allen's Getting Things Done talks about it. But I like to think of it just as a future file where you mail things to your future self. Super simple system.
I don't have anything to sell you around this. It's just 43 folders, and I've put together a free guide to help you understand how to set that up, how to use it, how to keep from getting stuck with it. And how to keep from getting just a big pile that constantly gets kicked down the road to tomorrow.
One key to making the system work is deciding what you're going to do with everything. Not doing it now, but saying, okay, I've got this packet of paper on my desk. I need to do something with it.
What is that? Do I need to give it to somebody? Do I need to talk to somebody about it? Do I need to take some action? Write that on a sticky note and then put that packet or that paper in the folder system so you get it back tomorrow or next Friday or two months from now, whenever you need it. And then your desk can be clear.
You can have everything that doesn't need to be on your desk off of your desk so that you can have that peace of mind. You can have that headspace free to actually get into classrooms, pay attention to teaching and learning, engage with teachers about their practice,
and make a difference for learning. You can get that guide at principalcenter.com slash future. Print it out, follow the directions, or just have someone in your office help you set it up. They might want one as well, or you might want them to manage the system for you
so that every paper has a home.
If you're not done with it yet, it doesn't go in the file cabinet, it goes in the future file system so that you get it back the day you need it. Check it out, principalcenter.com slash future.
