Time Management For Coaches
Time is fleeting. A little planning can help us take control of it.
For many of us, time management is tricky. Time is fleeting and if you’re distracted or unable to switch tasks without losing severe transition time, a day full of productivity can turn into a headache and nothing gets done. In the depths of the pandemic and lockdown and even into today’s world of work and coaching, time management has formed an entirely new identity. We must balance in-person and virtual meetings, can get distracted by an administrator or athlete at any time, and may have to switch a plan or line-up at a moment’s notice, all while wearing a mask and trying to avoid fogging glasses. How can we use a bit of planning to take control of our time?
Let’s start with the basics and pick a planner. Whether you’re a virtual calendar keeper or prefer traditional paper, pick one and stick to it. If you prefer a paper planner, but must have a calendar online for meetings, designate the purpose for the online calendar to solely house video call links and meeting information, while your paper planner holds everything else. Be sure to check your planner at the end of each day to see what’s in store for tomorrow.
Next, make a list of your to-dos in order of priority and place time estimates next to them. Take a look at your calendar and time block when you think you’ll get those to-dos done. By connecting your to-dos to the calendar, you’re committing to yourself that you’ll follow through on that task during that time. Also, last-minute things often distract us or get in the way of our productivity and if we are ready and prepared for an awkward time block, we can knock out a to-do and be productive even in those in between moments (Levin & Idler, 1983).
Self-care is also pertinent in our time management strategies and believe it or not also needs to be scheduled into our days. Self-care frees us up to make decisions with a clearer perspective and provides much needed recharge time to give our athletes and jobs our best selves. We don’t have to find huge chunks of time, 10 to 20 minutes will suffice, if you choose something you truly enjoy and solely focus on this activity, you’ll feel fulfilled and ready to tackle the tasks of the day.
When coaches can get a grasp on their own time management, they are more likely to be effective with the time management strategies used to train and coach their athletes to prepare for competition (El-Komsan & El-Gebaly, 2010). By taking care of what we need to in the office portion of our jobs and being sure to take care of ourselves along the way, we can better focus on and serve our athletes.
How do you manage your time or your calendar? Comment below.
Stay tuned for Thursday’s post about time management for your athletes!
References
El-Komsan, W. A., & El-Gebaly, T. (2010). Time Management of the Training Process and its Relationship to the Quality of Decision Making to Coaches of Some Individual and Team Sports. World, 3(2), 90-99.
Levin, L. S., & Idler, E. L. (1983). Self-care in health. Annual review of public health, 4(1), 181-201.