July 28, 2025 • 20 mins
You know that feeling when it’s Friday, and you can’t even explain what you did all week?
Use-of-time tracking is supposed to help- but too often, it feels like just another way to keep school counselors in check.
This week on Graded, we’re pulling apart one of the most pushed- but least supported- tools in school counseling.
We’ll talk about:
- Why it’s recommended in the ASCA model—and required in some states
- Why real-world counselors struggle to make it stick
- What happens when it’s used for control instead of clarity
- And how it can be helpful—if you’re the one holding the reins
If you’ve ever felt like you’re working nonstop but still have no proof of it…
this episode might feel like a breath of fresh air.
*********************************
⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️
**********************************
Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make huge impacts for students, and catalyze change for our roles through grassroots advocacy and collaboration. Listen to get to know more about us and our mission, feel empowered and inspired, and set yourself up for success in the wonderful world of school counseling.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever check your bank balance and
immediately do a double takeLike what what's in there?
You know you haven't been doingany wild spending, just maybe
groceries and gas this time ofyear, maybe a few back-to-school
things.
But the number will still catchyou off guard because it adds
(00:21):
up fast and you really can'teven remember quite how it
happened.
Feel familiar Probably does,because that's how the end of
your school week might feel too.
You know you worked hard, butif someone asked how you spent
your time, you'd pause your time.
(00:43):
You'd pause.
Hey school counselor, welcomeback.
In this episode of our gradedseries.
We're digging into one of themost recommended activities in
school counseling use of timetracking.
It's supposed to help withadvocacy and bring a clearer
picture of your day-to-day work.
But does it actually help ordoes it just add more pressure
(01:06):
to an already impossible job?
I'll share why most schoolcounselors avoid it, how it gets
misused in our schools and whatit can actually show you if you
do it on your own terms.
So if you're ready for somestraight talk, my friend, some
clarity on your work and alittle bit of rebellion, you're
(01:26):
gonna be in the right place.
I'm Steph Johnson and this isthe School for School Counselors
podcast.
Use of time tracking is one ofthe most recommended approaches
in the school counseling world,but let's be real, it can also
be one of the most misunderstoodor misused, or sometimes just
(01:49):
plain unfair systems that arebeing pushed onto our plates and
, depending on where you live,you may not even have a choice.
Some states, like Utah, kansasand Texas, require school
counselors to collect use oftime data regularly as part of
their day-to-day work.
Other states are quicklyfollowing suit and while this
(02:13):
was supposed to be a way toprotect our time and clarify our
roles on campus, in practiceI'll be real it often feels like
a setup, because no othereducator on campus is expected
to do this not teachers, notassistant principals, not
diagnosticians, just us.
(02:34):
We are the only ones asked toprove day by day, minute by
minute, that we're spending ourtime correctly, that we're
aligned with some sort of modelor that we're doing it right.
So today we're going to talkabout all of that why use of
(02:55):
time tracking was evenrecommended in the first place,
why so many counselors struggleto make it work, what it
actually can do for you whenused well, and whether or not it
deserves a spot in your week orin your recycle bin.
Let's start with intentions.
Use of time tracking was nevermeant to feel like a punishment,
(03:20):
although some of you may feelexactly that way.
The idea was simple If schoolcounselors could see how they
were spending their time, they'dbe better able to advocate for
their role, identify anymisalignments and make
adjustments.
You could show the data to youradministrator to make things
(03:42):
crystal clear.
It was supposed to beempowering, like holding up a
mirror to your week, so thateveryone could be on the same
page.
That's why the ASCA nationalmodel recommends it.
That's why training programsmention it and why it shows up
in journal articles, jobdescriptions, pd sessions, you
(04:03):
name it.
But what started as a toolquickly turned into a
requirement in a lot of statesto maintain funding eligibility
or to ensure alignment withmulti-tiered systems of supports
or to be in compliance withschool counselor evaluation
rubrics.
And again I have to say let'sstop right here and call it out.
(04:27):
No other educator role is beingtracked like this.
Teachers aren't clocking howmany minutes they spend actively
teaching versus grading,principals aren't categorizing
their walkthroughs versusdiscipline and psychologists
aren't documenting every singleminute spent consulting with
staff, but school counselors areexpected to prove that we're
(04:51):
using our time appropriately.
And somehow, in the middle ofall of that, we are still the
ones accused of not doing enough.
So even if the original ideawas helpful look at your time so
you can protect it the way itplays out often feels more like
surveillance than support.
(05:12):
Which brings us to what happenswhen real-world counselors try
to actually do this kind of work, because in practice, the
theory of track your time, seewhere it goes, use that info to
advocate for your role is neverthat clean.
There are a lot of concerns andthings that hold school
(05:33):
counselors back from jumpinginto collecting use of time data
.
One of the problems is thatchoosing a collection tool feels
like a dang research project,because you have to figure out
how you're going to track thistime.
Do you want to use aspreadsheet or a Google form?
(05:54):
Do you want to use post-itnotes and just pray that you're
going to remember to write itdown in the right place later?
Or do you pay for a softwareplatform, something like Scuda,
but then you really don't haveany training about what to do
with it.
The options can feel reallycomplicated and often they're
hidden behind paywalls.
No one tells you what the bestapproach is, but somehow it gets
(06:19):
treated like it should be ano-brainer.
Secondly, it feels impossible totrack time when you can't hit
pause.
Let's say you do pick a methodto collect your use of time.
That's great, but now comes theharder part, which is actually
remembering to log what you'redoing.
(06:39):
Most school counseling doesn'thappen in nice neat little
30-minute or even 15-minuteblocks.
You start working on a 504 plan, you get interrupted by a
crisis, then you have to run tolunch duty, then you come back
to find a parent waiting at yourdoor.
You don't have time to stop todocument all those pieces and by
(07:00):
the time things slow down, yourmemory is hazy or you're so
drained you don't even want tothink about it.
That's the part of use of timecollection that no one talks
about, because you often feellike you are in survival mode.
Moment to moment You'rereacting, adjusting, navigating
(07:21):
a hundred things, and a lot ofthose may not make it to the
spreadsheet.
Third, it contributes to thejust one more thing syndrome,
because for a lot of schoolcounselors, use of time tracking
feels like it's one more metricin a job where we already feel
like we're falling short.
We don't need any moreinformation to let us know we
(07:44):
are not hitting the mark.
Even though we are giving iteverything we have, we get
frustrated and discouraged bynever being able to attain those
ideal standards.
So use of time tracking becomesanother system that we're just
supposed to maintain that takestime away from what we actually
(08:05):
need to be doing on campus.
Or it feels like just anothercheckbox that sort of makes you
look like you're in control ofsomething, but really it's not
in your control at all.
You look like you're in controlof something, but really it's
not in your control at all.
I've seen school counselors getemotional and even cry over
this, not because they don'twant to collect the data, but
(08:26):
because the pressure of doing itright made them feel like they
were failing even more.
And these folks were alreadycarrying the weight of feeling
invisible or under-resourced ormisunderstood on their campus
and they decided that theydidn't want another task.
That felt like a test.
And then, fourth, what do you dowith the data once you have it?
(08:49):
Let's say you do trackconsistently for a week or a
month or maybe even a wholesemester.
You've got a beautiful colorfulpie chart.
You've got some graphs and abreakdown of your time.
But now what If no one's askingto see this, if there's no plan
for sharing or advocating withit effectively and that's a key
(09:13):
point there, because justshoving it under your
administrator's nose is noteffective advocacy or if you
hand it to them and they'rewilling to look at it, but they
don't even understand what itmeans when they have it, then
all that time and effort feelslike it was busy work, and then
we begin to wonder was this evenworth it?
Now let's pause there, becauseI'm coming down pretty hard on
(09:37):
the idea of use of time data.
I will tell you, though, that,despite all of these concerns, I
still believe that use of timetracking has value for school
counselors Not if it's beingused as a compliance tool or a
gotcha system, but it gives yousomething way more powerful than
(10:00):
we usually give it credit for.
When use of time tracking isdone by you for you, not because
somebody's breathing down yourneck it can be one of the most
empowering things you ever do inyour career.
First, it can remind you justhow much you do.
(10:20):
When you are running andputting out the dumpster fires
non-stop all day, it's easy tofeel like you're never doing
enough, because nothing everfeels resolved right and then
you're running.
So you forget.
Maybe some calls you made orthe list of students' names that
you've supported that week allstart to run together, or you
(10:42):
can't keep track of all thecrises you managed or the plans
that you updated or the meetingsthat you sat through.
It all just blurs together.
But when you come up with asystem where you can log it,
even briefly, you start to seethe volume of your work.
You can see clearly the weightthat you carry and then you
(11:09):
realize I'm not slacking.
I am saving the days in 15different ways.
I've seen some of my school forschool counselors, mastermind
members, go through their use oftime data and say, whoa, look
at that.
No wonder I'm so tired, becausesometimes the tracking isn't
(11:31):
about advocacy or compliance orfixing anything.
It's about you being able toacknowledge what's already
happening and to give yourselfsome grace and understand that
you are literally doingeverything that you can Use of
time.
Data also gives you a papertrail that you can lean on.
(11:53):
We all hope it never happens,but sometimes your work can be
questioned.
It might be a parent or anadmin, or maybe it's that
teacher that wants to know whatare you doing when you're not in
the classroom.
Use of time data can be veryprotective because it's a clear
professional record of whereyour time went and why.
(12:16):
It's how you prove that yourschool counseling program isn't
just you sitting in your officewaiting for students to walk in
and talk about their feelings.
It provides you documentationand credibility and, ultimately,
it's CYA school counselor style.
Third, your use of time datacan shift conversations with
(12:40):
your administrators without thedrama.
The way that school counselorsare taught to advocate in our
field right now is absurd.
It is absolutely ridiculous toencourage professionals to print
out a piece of paper from theinternet and shove it under
their principal's nose andexpect change.
In all the years that I've beenmentoring school counselors and
(13:04):
the thousands of schoolcounselors that I've had
conversations with, I can tellyou without a doubt, I have
never, ever heard of thatapproach working ever.
There has to be a better way,and if your principal wants to
know how you're spending yourtime, this is it, my friend,
because it's no guessing, it'sno feelings, no interpretation,
(13:28):
it's just numbers.
That way, when it's time tohave the conversation, you don't
have to feel defensive or angryor emotional.
You just show the chart and youexplain the imbalance and,
because it's not personal,you're able to fully invite a
conversation.
Here's what I'm seeing.
(13:50):
Let's talk about how to fitthis new initiative that you're
wanting into my schedule.
Where would you like for me toplace this?
What do you see?
That's not confrontation,that's strategy.
And fourth, your use of time.
Data can become an anchor foryou.
One of my favorite things is tohave my use of time display up
(14:14):
on my second monitor all daylong, and it's kind of funny
because when we have people thatare new to our campus or maybe
haven't visited in a while andthey walk into my school
counseling office, they willlook at that data dashboard and
they'll say, wow, what's that?
And I get to explain.
I log every single minute of myday, every single school day,
(14:39):
and they're like how do you dothat?
It looks impressive, it's fancy, it's color-coded, it looks
very official.
But the reason that I lovehaving it on my display isn't
because of the wow factor,although that's a pretty cool
side effect.
What I love most about it isthat it reminds me of what I'm
(14:59):
doing.
I need to see that data everyday to prove to myself that I'm
doing enough.
If you're like me and you'recarrying two or three times the
recommended school counselingcaseload.
Even if you have the bestoutlook on your work, you still
(15:21):
have those days where you feellike man, I'm never going to
make the grade, I'm never goingto get there, and that can feel
discouraging.
When you can see visually whatyou've been doing day to day,
week to week, month to month,you prove to yourself that what
you're doing is enough, becausethis job will never stop asking
(15:47):
you for more.
There will always be anotherrequest, another crisis or
another.
Hey, could you just help mereal quick, right, and you can
feel like you're being buried inan avalanche.
But that use of time data willgive you back some perspective
and it's going to remind you youare doing more than enough.
(16:10):
So, to be clear, I don't thinkthat use of time tracking is a
magic fix.
I don't think it's going tochange your entire campus
culture overnight or make yourprincipal suddenly drop to their
knees and say I've seen thelight Now.
I understand.
It's not going to make themsuddenly respect your time, but
when you use use of time data onyour terms, it can give you
(16:34):
something that is really hard tocome by in this line of work
and that's confidence, thatvalidation that just sits in
your soul, that says I may notbe able to do everything, but
I'm doing something.
You start to realize thingslike oh, that's why I'm feeling
so tired or so irritable.
(16:54):
Or, oh, you know what, maybeI'm not as scattered as I
thought.
I'm covering five people'sworth of tasks.
Or this job isn't just big, it'sunreasonable, especially if the
expectation, either from youradministrators or from yourself,
is trying to perfectly align toa model that doesn't really
(17:15):
match your campus in the firstplace.
So is it even worth trying?
Well, it all depends on howthis information is being used
and who's holding the data.
It can be powerful forself-reflection, it can be great
for advocacy and documentationand it can help you reclaim your
(17:37):
confidence in your work.
But it can feel overwhelming ifyou don't have the right system
in place or if you allow it tocreate pressure to perform
instead of space to reflect.
So for this assignment, I'mgoing to give use of time
tracking in school counseling asolid B.
(17:58):
It's not perfect, but it'sstill pretty great and it's
worth trying if you get to do iton your own terms.
If you've been avoiding use oftime tracking because it feels
like one more thing to manage.
You are not the only one.
Here's what I recommend Committo one week, use whatever format
(18:23):
feels easy A notes app, stickynotes, a random spreadsheet.
Make sure it's in compliancewith your district data policies
and go forth Heck.
Get a spiral notebook if that'syour jam.
Place each task in one simplecategory, even if it's vague
Direct services, indirectservices or non-counseling Done.
(18:45):
You don't need a full blown outsystem, you just need a
snapshot.
Commit to that one week, thenlook at it just to see what's
real.
Because I bet once you do,you're going to realize you're
not falling short.
You're just doing more than youor anyone around you realizes.
(19:07):
And if you're looking for aplace to build that use of time
system that fits your reality,come check out the mastermind,
because we talk about data eachand every month, not only the
tools needed to capture it, buthow to set up systems so that
you actually remember to do it.
And then we work together totell the stories the data
(19:29):
reveals.
We build systems that actuallywork on real campuses in real
time.
Hey, if you think I've beenkilling some sacred cows so far,
you ain't seen nothing yet.
In the next episode I'm goingto be talking about small groups
for everything.
What are the benefits, what arethe drawbacks, and should you
(19:50):
really be running as many as youare right now?
Keep listening, because I'll beback soon with another episode
of the School for SchoolCounselors podcast.
In the meantime, I hope youhave the best week.
Take care.
Do you ever check your bank balance and
immediately do a double takeLike what what's in there?
You know you haven't been doingany wild spending, just maybe
groceries and gas this time ofyear, maybe a few back-to-school
things.
But the number will still catchyou off guard because it adds
(00:21):
up fast and you really can'teven remember quite how it
happened.
Feel familiar Probably does,because that's how the end of
your school week might feel too.
You know you worked hard, butif someone asked how you spent
your time, you'd pause your time.
(00:43):
You'd pause.
Hey school counselor, welcomeback.
In this episode of our gradedseries.
We're digging into one of themost recommended activities in
school counseling use of timetracking.
It's supposed to help withadvocacy and bring a clearer
picture of your day-to-day work.
But does it actually help ordoes it just add more pressure
(01:06):
to an already impossible job?
I'll share why most schoolcounselors avoid it, how it gets
misused in our schools and whatit can actually show you if you
do it on your own terms.
So if you're ready for somestraight talk, my friend, some
clarity on your work and alittle bit of rebellion, you're
(01:26):
gonna be in the right place.
I'm Steph Johnson and this isthe School for School Counselors
podcast.
Use of time tracking is one ofthe most recommended approaches
in the school counseling world,but let's be real, it can also
be one of the most misunderstoodor misused, or sometimes just
(01:49):
plain unfair systems that arebeing pushed onto our plates and
, depending on where you live,you may not even have a choice.
Some states, like Utah, kansasand Texas, require school
counselors to collect use oftime data regularly as part of
their day-to-day work.
Other states are quicklyfollowing suit and while this
(02:13):
was supposed to be a way toprotect our time and clarify our
roles on campus, in practiceI'll be real it often feels like
a setup, because no othereducator on campus is expected
to do this not teachers, notassistant principals, not
diagnosticians, just us.
(02:34):
We are the only ones asked toprove day by day, minute by
minute, that we're spending ourtime correctly, that we're
aligned with some sort of modelor that we're doing it right.
So today we're going to talkabout all of that why use of
(02:55):
time tracking was evenrecommended in the first place,
why so many counselors struggleto make it work, what it
actually can do for you whenused well, and whether or not it
deserves a spot in your week orin your recycle bin.
Let's start with intentions.
Use of time tracking was nevermeant to feel like a punishment,
(03:20):
although some of you may feelexactly that way.
The idea was simple If schoolcounselors could see how they
were spending their time, they'dbe better able to advocate for
their role, identify anymisalignments and make
adjustments.
You could show the data to youradministrator to make things
(03:42):
crystal clear.
It was supposed to beempowering, like holding up a
mirror to your week, so thateveryone could be on the same
page.
That's why the ASCA nationalmodel recommends it.
That's why training programsmention it and why it shows up
in journal articles, jobdescriptions, pd sessions, you
(04:03):
name it.
But what started as a toolquickly turned into a
requirement in a lot of statesto maintain funding eligibility
or to ensure alignment withmulti-tiered systems of supports
or to be in compliance withschool counselor evaluation
rubrics.
And again I have to say let'sstop right here and call it out.
(04:27):
No other educator role is beingtracked like this.
Teachers aren't clocking howmany minutes they spend actively
teaching versus grading,principals aren't categorizing
their walkthroughs versusdiscipline and psychologists
aren't documenting every singleminute spent consulting with
staff, but school counselors areexpected to prove that we're
(04:51):
using our time appropriately.
And somehow, in the middle ofall of that, we are still the
ones accused of not doing enough.
So even if the original ideawas helpful look at your time so
you can protect it the way itplays out often feels more like
surveillance than support.
(05:12):
Which brings us to what happenswhen real-world counselors try
to actually do this kind of work, because in practice, the
theory of track your time, seewhere it goes, use that info to
advocate for your role is neverthat clean.
There are a lot of concerns andthings that hold school
(05:33):
counselors back from jumpinginto collecting use of time data
.
One of the problems is thatchoosing a collection tool feels
like a dang research project,because you have to figure out
how you're going to track thistime.
Do you want to use aspreadsheet or a Google form?
(05:54):
Do you want to use post-itnotes and just pray that you're
going to remember to write itdown in the right place later?
Or do you pay for a softwareplatform, something like Scuda,
but then you really don't haveany training about what to do
with it.
The options can feel reallycomplicated and often they're
hidden behind paywalls.
No one tells you what the bestapproach is, but somehow it gets
(06:19):
treated like it should be ano-brainer.
Secondly, it feels impossible totrack time when you can't hit
pause.
Let's say you do pick a methodto collect your use of time.
That's great, but now comes theharder part, which is actually
remembering to log what you'redoing.
(06:39):
Most school counseling doesn'thappen in nice neat little
30-minute or even 15-minuteblocks.
You start working on a 504 plan, you get interrupted by a
crisis, then you have to run tolunch duty, then you come back
to find a parent waiting at yourdoor.
You don't have time to stop todocument all those pieces and by
(07:00):
the time things slow down, yourmemory is hazy or you're so
drained you don't even want tothink about it.
That's the part of use of timecollection that no one talks
about, because you often feellike you are in survival mode.
Moment to moment You'rereacting, adjusting, navigating
(07:21):
a hundred things, and a lot ofthose may not make it to the
spreadsheet.
Third, it contributes to thejust one more thing syndrome,
because for a lot of schoolcounselors, use of time tracking
feels like it's one more metricin a job where we already feel
like we're falling short.
We don't need any moreinformation to let us know we
(07:44):
are not hitting the mark.
Even though we are giving iteverything we have, we get
frustrated and discouraged bynever being able to attain those
ideal standards.
So use of time tracking becomesanother system that we're just
supposed to maintain that takestime away from what we actually
(08:05):
need to be doing on campus.
Or it feels like just anothercheckbox that sort of makes you
look like you're in control ofsomething, but really it's not
in your control at all.
You look like you're in controlof something, but really it's
not in your control at all.
I've seen school counselors getemotional and even cry over
this, not because they don'twant to collect the data, but
(08:26):
because the pressure of doing itright made them feel like they
were failing even more.
And these folks were alreadycarrying the weight of feeling
invisible or under-resourced ormisunderstood on their campus
and they decided that theydidn't want another task.
That felt like a test.
And then, fourth, what do you dowith the data once you have it?
(08:49):
Let's say you do trackconsistently for a week or a
month or maybe even a wholesemester.
You've got a beautiful colorfulpie chart.
You've got some graphs and abreakdown of your time.
But now what If no one's askingto see this, if there's no plan
for sharing or advocating withit effectively and that's a key
(09:13):
point there, because justshoving it under your
administrator's nose is noteffective advocacy or if you
hand it to them and they'rewilling to look at it, but they
don't even understand what itmeans when they have it, then
all that time and effort feelslike it was busy work, and then
we begin to wonder was this evenworth it?
Now let's pause there, becauseI'm coming down pretty hard on
(09:37):
the idea of use of time data.
I will tell you, though, that,despite all of these concerns, I
still believe that use of timetracking has value for school
counselors Not if it's beingused as a compliance tool or a
gotcha system, but it gives yousomething way more powerful than
(10:00):
we usually give it credit for.
When use of time tracking isdone by you for you, not because
somebody's breathing down yourneck it can be one of the most
empowering things you ever do inyour career.
First, it can remind you justhow much you do.
(10:20):
When you are running andputting out the dumpster fires
non-stop all day, it's easy tofeel like you're never doing
enough, because nothing everfeels resolved right and then
you're running.
So you forget.
Maybe some calls you made orthe list of students' names that
you've supported that week allstart to run together, or you
(10:42):
can't keep track of all thecrises you managed or the plans
that you updated or the meetingsthat you sat through.
It all just blurs together.
But when you come up with asystem where you can log it,
even briefly, you start to seethe volume of your work.
You can see clearly the weightthat you carry and then you
(11:09):
realize I'm not slacking.
I am saving the days in 15different ways.
I've seen some of my school forschool counselors, mastermind
members, go through their use oftime data and say, whoa, look
at that.
No wonder I'm so tired, becausesometimes the tracking isn't
(11:31):
about advocacy or compliance orfixing anything.
It's about you being able toacknowledge what's already
happening and to give yourselfsome grace and understand that
you are literally doingeverything that you can Use of
time.
Data also gives you a papertrail that you can lean on.
(11:53):
We all hope it never happens,but sometimes your work can be
questioned.
It might be a parent or anadmin, or maybe it's that
teacher that wants to know whatare you doing when you're not in
the classroom.
Use of time data can be veryprotective because it's a clear
professional record of whereyour time went and why.
(12:16):
It's how you prove that yourschool counseling program isn't
just you sitting in your officewaiting for students to walk in
and talk about their feelings.
It provides you documentationand credibility and, ultimately,
it's CYA school counselor style.
Third, your use of time datacan shift conversations with
(12:40):
your administrators without thedrama.
The way that school counselorsare taught to advocate in our
field right now is absurd.
It is absolutely ridiculous toencourage professionals to print
out a piece of paper from theinternet and shove it under
their principal's nose andexpect change.
In all the years that I've beenmentoring school counselors and
(13:04):
the thousands of schoolcounselors that I've had
conversations with, I can tellyou without a doubt, I have
never, ever heard of thatapproach working ever.
There has to be a better way,and if your principal wants to
know how you're spending yourtime, this is it, my friend,
because it's no guessing, it'sno feelings, no interpretation,
(13:28):
it's just numbers.
That way, when it's time tohave the conversation, you don't
have to feel defensive or angryor emotional.
You just show the chart and youexplain the imbalance and,
because it's not personal,you're able to fully invite a
conversation.
Here's what I'm seeing.
(13:50):
Let's talk about how to fitthis new initiative that you're
wanting into my schedule.
Where would you like for me toplace this?
What do you see?
That's not confrontation,that's strategy.
And fourth, your use of time.
Data can become an anchor foryou.
One of my favorite things is tohave my use of time display up
(14:14):
on my second monitor all daylong, and it's kind of funny
because when we have people thatare new to our campus or maybe
haven't visited in a while andthey walk into my school
counseling office, they willlook at that data dashboard and
they'll say, wow, what's that?
And I get to explain.
I log every single minute of myday, every single school day,
(14:39):
and they're like how do you dothat?
It looks impressive, it's fancy, it's color-coded, it looks
very official.
But the reason that I lovehaving it on my display isn't
because of the wow factor,although that's a pretty cool
side effect.
What I love most about it isthat it reminds me of what I'm
(14:59):
doing.
I need to see that data everyday to prove to myself that I'm
doing enough.
If you're like me and you'recarrying two or three times the
recommended school counselingcaseload.
Even if you have the bestoutlook on your work, you still
(15:21):
have those days where you feellike man, I'm never going to
make the grade, I'm never goingto get there, and that can feel
discouraging.
When you can see visually whatyou've been doing day to day,
week to week, month to month,you prove to yourself that what
you're doing is enough, becausethis job will never stop asking
(15:47):
you for more.
There will always be anotherrequest, another crisis or
another.
Hey, could you just help mereal quick, right, and you can
feel like you're being buried inan avalanche.
But that use of time data willgive you back some perspective
and it's going to remind you youare doing more than enough.
(16:10):
So, to be clear, I don't thinkthat use of time tracking is a
magic fix.
I don't think it's going tochange your entire campus
culture overnight or make yourprincipal suddenly drop to their
knees and say I've seen thelight Now.
I understand.
It's not going to make themsuddenly respect your time, but
when you use use of time data onyour terms, it can give you
(16:34):
something that is really hard tocome by in this line of work
and that's confidence, thatvalidation that just sits in
your soul, that says I may notbe able to do everything, but
I'm doing something.
You start to realize thingslike oh, that's why I'm feeling
so tired or so irritable.
(16:54):
Or, oh, you know what, maybeI'm not as scattered as I
thought.
I'm covering five people'sworth of tasks.
Or this job isn't just big, it'sunreasonable, especially if the
expectation, either from youradministrators or from yourself,
is trying to perfectly align toa model that doesn't really
(17:15):
match your campus in the firstplace.
So is it even worth trying?
Well, it all depends on howthis information is being used
and who's holding the data.
It can be powerful forself-reflection, it can be great
for advocacy and documentationand it can help you reclaim your
(17:37):
confidence in your work.
But it can feel overwhelming ifyou don't have the right system
in place or if you allow it tocreate pressure to perform
instead of space to reflect.
So for this assignment, I'mgoing to give use of time
tracking in school counseling asolid B.
(17:58):
It's not perfect, but it'sstill pretty great and it's
worth trying if you get to do iton your own terms.
If you've been avoiding use oftime tracking because it feels
like one more thing to manage.
You are not the only one.
Here's what I recommend Committo one week, use whatever format
(18:23):
feels easy A notes app, stickynotes, a random spreadsheet.
Make sure it's in compliancewith your district data policies
and go forth Heck.
Get a spiral notebook if that'syour jam.
Place each task in one simplecategory, even if it's vague
Direct services, indirectservices or non-counseling Done.
(18:45):
You don't need a full blown outsystem, you just need a
snapshot.
Commit to that one week, thenlook at it just to see what's
real.
Because I bet once you do,you're going to realize you're
not falling short.
You're just doing more than youor anyone around you realizes.
(19:07):
And if you're looking for aplace to build that use of time
system that fits your reality,come check out the mastermind,
because we talk about data eachand every month, not only the
tools needed to capture it, buthow to set up systems so that
you actually remember to do it.
And then we work together totell the stories the data
(19:29):
reveals.
We build systems that actuallywork on real campuses in real
time.
Hey, if you think I've beenkilling some sacred cows so far,
you ain't seen nothing yet.
In the next episode I'm goingto be talking about small groups
for everything.
What are the benefits, what arethe drawbacks, and should you
(19:50):
really be running as many as youare right now?
Keep listening, because I'll beback soon with another episode
of the School for SchoolCounselors podcast.
In the meantime, I hope youhave the best week.
Take care.
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