As an administrator, you already know that you have to master organizational, time management, and efficiency skills. And if you’re in higher education you’re having to do that while managing numerous departments, faculty, staff, and student’s schedules. And that is a lot.
So it’s important to not only prioritize each item but to know how to leverage technology and tools so you can take control of your time–all while strengthening your relationships.
Utilize calendar blocking to your advantage
Blocking out time on your calendar early will help you get through the day more efficiently. If you need to update a document, place a 20-30 minute blue block on your calendar to solely focus on that. Or, if there is an important admissions phone call you need to make, create a yellow block in order to give the person you are interacting with your full attention. Pre-designating times on your calendar ensures your mind won’t wander throughout the day. Using color coding will help you visually understand what types of tasks you are spending most of your time on. You can mark administrative tasks in blue, meetings in green, admission items in yellow and the list goes on.
Take control of your inbox
Almost everything is scheduled over email. Whether you are connecting with a person virtually or in-person, locking down a time can be difficult. You can send multiple timeslots that work for you, yet that doesn’t guarantee any of those slots will work for the recipient. This ultimately leads to endless back and forth and takes up chunks of time that could have been dedicated to other important tasks like budget calls, donor meetings, assisting with the admission process, and more.
Aye Moah is CEO and Co-Founder of Boomerang, the most popular extension for Gmail and Outlook, enabling millions of people worldwide to schedule meetings in just a couple of clicks and tame their inbox with email productivity tools. Moah has a decade of experience in bringing category-creating products to market.