Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You
Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You: Strategies That Work From An Educator Who’s Been There
By PJ Caposey
(ASCD, 2018 – Learn more)
Reviewed by Anne Anderson
Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You: Strategies That Work From An Educator Who’s Been There by educator PJ Caposey will not take much time to read. It’s only 135 pages. However, it may take some time to break old habits and incorporate these new techniques.
Included in the book is a self-assessment that allows the reader to self-diagnose time management issues. Caposey identifies eight traits that can result in “time management difficulties”:
Work Avoidant- People Pleaser
- Prisoner of the Moment
- Checklist Dependent
- Disorganized
- Technology Avoidant
- Self-Serviing
- Perpetually Imbalanced
Advice and support to better manage time
Then the author provides advice and support for dealing with these time management difficulties in the eight chapters of his book. Caposey assures the reader that it is “perfectly acceptable to read the chapters out of order based on personal interest or current status.” (p. 5) Expect to see a bit of yourself in every chapter.
The book is filled with good information, although at times it seems somewhat research-heavy. His shared stories of working with teachers and administrators to become more productive are beneficial. An advantage of this book is that the problems and possible solutions are set in the context of education (Caposey is a career educator with experience as a teacher, principal, and superintendent). In the closing pages Caposey includes a chart that summarizes the Root Causes, Coping Mechanisms, and Solutions for each of the time management problems.
Easy to implement
Readers will find his solutions easy to implement. For those of us who are Checklist Dependent, Caposey offers this suggestion to increase effectiveness: create if-then to-do lists. He shares this example on page 65: “When I finish writing the assessment, I will work on scripting questions for tomorrow’s lesson.” For the People Pleasers, who need practice saying NO, he provides some phrases to use.
An administrator or an aspiring administrator will find Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You: Strategies That Work From An Educator Who’s Been There extremely helpful.
Former eighth grade teacher Anne Anderson is an educational consultant known for her practical ideas and engaging ELA workshops. Anne’s goal is to help teachers help students. Her positive approach and sense of humor bring encouragement to her audiences. She loves showing teachers how to use whatever resources they have – or don’t have – to enhance learning. Anne seeks to provide educators with practical solutions to teaching and learning problems. Visit her website and subscribe to her bi-monthly newsletter, Spotlight on Success, there or by texting ANNEANDERSON to 22828.
