Paper In, Paper Out ... Breath In, Breath Out, Move On

This week started with some urgency. On Saturday I received an email from the asst. principal saying that we needed to give the semester exam study guides to the 8th graders on Sunday and that she needed copies of all semester exams by Friday (tomorrow). I sent her back and email pointing out that the 8th graders wouldn't be in school on Sunday and that the photocopying system at school has a 24 hour turn around time, so the earliest I could give the 8th graders a hard copy of their exam study guide would be Tuesday. I then posted the study guide electronically on the school internet communication system and put the final touches to my exams. Yesterday (Wednesday) my last semester exam was completed, checked, and sent to be copied. Today I'll do the stapling. When I was in graduate school studying administration there was  a course on the high school principalship. We had a couple of classes on organization and stress management. If you have ever been a principal, you know how the paperwork can drown you. One of the tips the professor had was (as much as possible) touch a piece of paper only once. Arrange your time, so that when you start going through your inbox, each piece of paper will have an immediate conclusion. You won't need to pick it up (again) and read it (again) and think about it (again) and decide to put it back in the in-box (again). Good advice; and although certain pieces of paper just don't lend themselves to that sort of one time handling (grant applications, resumes for advertised jobs, Board agendas, ...),  it was an idea that stuck with me. I used it to keep my head above the paper flood. I still use the concept of 'touch this paper once' to navigate through the stream of teacher paperwork from creating exams and getting them to admin to responding to parent communication.
Today is the Thursday Jazz Fest Day of the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. How I wish I was there!! In 2006 Jimmy Buffett played at the first post-Katrina jazz fest. It was a great occasion, but there were too major disappointments: 1) the Neville's didn't come and 2) Jimmy didn't sing "Breath In, Breath Out, Move On". This song is for me is the emotional equivalent of  touch each paper once. Certainly it is much harder to do, but there are many emotional situations that require the same sort of mindset. A minor example of how it works is: take a soothing breath in (think about admin that has sent you an email on Saturday directing you to pass out a study guide on Sunday & how to handle), breath out, move on.