Get Organized! Time Management for School Leaders

Discovering the wonderful and fascinating world of modern technology can be very exciting and exhilarating, causing even the most professional people amongst us to feel and act a little “giddy” sometimes. In his book, Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders, author Frank Buck (2008) is armed with a wealth of experience and knowledge about school leadership. As a veteran school system administrator, he explains with escalating enthusiasm in sometimes euphoric tones, the priceless time saving strategies, techniques and resulting organizational benefits a school leader can enjoy by embracing a personal time management system specifically tailored to fit his own particular needs. Buck delves into the practicalities of using various organizing tools such as a reliable filing system, modern desk top computer, hand held devices and a myriad of other self-invented tips and tricks that he came up with to complete routine as well as complex tasks that only a seasoned professional could offer to his colleagues so astutely. Buck emphasizes that (p. 5) “Executives waste six weeks per year searching for lost documents”. The underlying message throughout the book is for the school leader to get organized and stay organized because the time spent now preparing will pay big dividends in time saved in the future, but it is how we prepare that determines outcomes.

Frank Buck has served as an Editorial Advisor for the National Association of Elementary School Principals and his nationally-published articles are aimed at helping school leaders become better organized and better managers of their time. He has also conducted workshops that have drawn rave reviews by teachers and school administrators for their practicality and simplicity of message (p. v). With more than 25 years of experience as an educator, Buck shares many anecdotal stories throughout his book that will surely resonate with other formidable school leaders struggling to regain control of their ever increasing workload and will undoubtedly touch the lives of new school leaders by exposing them to sound solutions to a variety of challenges.  (Mons, J. W, (2009). Book Review: Get Organized! Time Management for School Leaders. Journal of Educational Administration, 47 (2), pp. 273-276)