Tackling the Time Thieves!

School and trust business roles are relentless.  The day fills itself, priorities collide, and the most important work gets squeezed by the “urgent” crowding out the important.  This session helps you regain control by identifying the real “time thieves” in your environment, and in your own habits, then building simple, practical techniques to respond.

We will bring in Edward de Bono’s tools as a simple structure for clearer, faster thinking under pressure, including his Six Thinking Hats approach (parallel thinking, one lens at a time) and lateral thinking prompts to break stuck patterns and find better options.  This supports a mindset of protecting time for high-value work, reducing rework, and designing routines that stop firefighting becoming the default.

In this session we explore

• The most common time thieves in schools and trusts, and how they typically show up

• Interruptions, reactive culture and procrastination, and practical ways to reduce the drag

• De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats as a quick framework for decisions and problem solving (facts, risks, benefits, feelings, options, next steps)

• Lateral thinking prompts to reframe “stuck” problems and generate realistic alternatives

• Simple tactics for boundaries, triage, batching and decision shortcuts that work in busy environments

• A few OpEx style changes that improve flow: clearer ownership, fewer handoffs, less repeat chasing

Take home points

• Practical techniques to reduce daily time loss

• A simple thinking structure to make better decisions, faster

• Ways to challenge unhelpful habits, individually and across teams

• A short list of process tweaks that give time back without adding admin

This session is for

School business leaders, SBMs, CFOs, COOs and operations teams who want to protect time for high-value work, reduce daily friction, and feel more in control of the working week.

Justin Smith