Procrastination is my game

A long time ago a friend of mine gave me a card.  The quote on it is my daily motto (so much so that I mentioned it in my speech to my daughter at her Bat Mitzvah).  It defines me in every sense of the way:

If you leave things to the last minute, they only take a minute to do.

Even when I swear I am "not going to procrastinate THIS time" I still manage to do it.  In fact, as I type, I should be showering and getting ready for school.  I should be eating breakfast.  I should be AT school.  But, alas I am not. It will all get done, just in a quicker fashion. Sometimes I am "fashionably late" but, honestly, never to school.

Last night (the night before the due date, mind you) I submitted my application for the Bill Morris Seminar.  The funny thing is that I knew I was going to apply months ago and the woman who wrote a reference on my behalf sent it to me hours after I asked her.  I didn't do it all summer long, even though I could.

I even wrote on all my notes and lists that it was due September 1 (really September 14) but I thought I could psych myself out to get it completed ahead of the night before.  But alas, I still waited to get it done two weeks past "my deadline", yet on time.

Fast Forward to this evening...

Now it is 5:49 pm.  There's dinner to make.  A book to read.  Emails to respond to.  Laundry to fold. Bills to pay. Classes to plan. The Sunday NYT to finish.  And yet I am sitting here re-listening to the Ted Radio Hour.  Tim Urban seems so comfortable with his procrastination.  It slows him down.  It sounds healthy.  For me, I just do all these other things instead and then get more stressed out. And yet, I never change. But maybe I can try and look at things differently.  Being in control of my procrastination could actually have a positive effect on my health.

"Be in control and to know that it is smart to slow down and to do that 

in a controlled, intentional way."-Tim Urban.

Adam Grant's excerpt also fascinated me. How creative are pre-crastinators, procrastinators and chronic procrastinators? Since I actually thought about the Bill Morris Seminar application all summer long, I'd like to think I'm not a chronic procrastinator (one who truly leaves things to the very last minute) and have a little bit more of that extra creativity in my blood than those pre-crastinators.


My list keeps getting longer and longer.  I've got lots of new exciting projects on the fire that I need to dedicate some serious time to.  Will I?  Eventually.  Will the projects be awesome?  You bet.  I promise not to chronically leave things to the last minute but will wait enough time (not really by choice) to spark that creativity for the benefit of all my students.

Fast forward again to late evening...

Some of my best projects have been planned the day before.  The teacher and I will sit down and within the short amount of time we have, a lightbulb will go off and we got it.  This happened a couple of times just this week and countless times over the years, including the original idea for our annual gala. Just think of all the hours we saved--

If you leave things to the last minute, they only take a minute to do. 

Now go procrastinate, take advantage of all that extra time you have and then CREATE!

ps-My glasses are Warby Parker.  Coincidence? Doubtful.

Pushy? Bossy? No...Just a Leader!

Tomorrow is our official start day.  As always the summer flew by but not without numerous leaps all over the Eastern Seaboard and the Dublin metropolitan area. Now, I just keep dreaming of the leaps I will take on Wednesday when I reunite with my students.

Earlier in the week I took a figurative leap by sending my faculty a pretty lengthy email about the new year.

My mission was to get them pumped and excited to collaborate with me. I wanted to remind them that I am here not to give them more work but to be a co-teacher and support them.  Do I lose sleep due to fears that I sound too pushy?  Of course.  BUT...One teacher who I haven't worked with much in recent years, already responded that she'd like to plan a project soon.  Score! Maybe it isn't pushy after all.

I have a dozen audio books on hold from three different libraries but nothing on my bookshelf, so I'm back to my TedRadio Hour podcasts again--This time the inspiring topic was "Disruptive Leadership." Check it out here:
About seven minutes into the podcast I had to take a break and jot down this quote from a military General, "One of the things about being a leader is that you fail every day."  Wow.  If that doesn't give you permission to make mistakes, learn from them and move on because it's what makes you a better person, I don't know what will.  I thought my letter could be a failure this time and turn people off.  Maybe it did but maybe it didn't.  Either way, something else certainly will be a fail this year and I'm going to  remind myself to be ok with that.  Not going to lie--I might cry, scream, swear. But I know I want to be a leader and if that means I have to fail, then gosh darn it, bring it on!

Sheryl Sandberg talked about gender differences and leadership.  When we see an assertive girl, we call her bossy and yet with boys it's looked at as a positive trait.  I know I like to be in charge and express my opinions.  Just please don't call me bossy.

As school librarians, most of the time by ourselves in our space, we are looked at as leaders in our building.  I really don't mind because, hmmm...I like to be in charge. I like to lead.  But I also know when to delegate and I believe I do that well.  Isn't that a good sign of a leader, too?  Give people you trust jobs to do, then give them space to do them.  Together, to quote Lin Manuel-Miranda from Hamilton, "we get the job done."  And together this school year, we will ALL get the job of educating, leading, collaborating, making, creating DONE. Good luck! And as my NYLA/SSL peeps like to hashtag, #leadoutloud.

Some more leaps from Ireland:

One of the libraries at Trinity College. We learned his name is pronounced "Barkley"

At the Wicklow Mountains

With Natalia at Trinity College

Grit, Passion, Smiles and the Fun-Brarian

I took a break for a week from listening to audiobooks while I ran and tuned into the TedRadio Hour. Now that was inspiring, especially the episodes on success and education. I have been thinking a lot about both of those topics this summer, especially success.

I spent a few days with my cousins in North Carolina at the end of July.  I met their friends, Dave and Tasha, the owners of Rite Lite Signs in Concord. Very nice people who 28 years ago with only a ladder, a garage and $2500 from Dave's grandmother began their path to success.  I was fascinated to hear their story and tour the facilities. Honestly, I will never look at a sign the same way again.

Dave giving me the tour of the Rite Lite facilities. 

Choose Your Neon

Dave, Cousin Linda, Me, Cousin Dave, and Tasha with the obligatory leap!

 Was the key ingredient to their success grit?


In the past several years, I have offered summer book groups. We get together, have a snack and discuss the book.  Usually I don't get too many kids and this year was no exception.  In fact, I might have had fewer kids than ever, but I'm still going do it next year.

My husband came right out and asked me after the fourth one, one that actually was well attended according to the summer standards, "Why do you do this? Why put yourself through this for 1-2 kids?" Why?  Because I love it.  Why? Because I'm making a difference in the lives of those 1-2 kids. Why? Because I'm completely and totally passionate and driven about my job. 'Nuff said.



Two different, unrelated friends, told me recently on separate occasions that I must really love my job.  Is it that obvious? I can't remember if they were commenting because of my Twitter feed, FaceBook posts or my incessant leaps with books, illustrators, authors and students.  One even told me that if I don't love my job, I'm doing a great job faking it.  No fake news here, they nailed it.  I do love my job.  The forever optimist, I smile A LOT at school and just all the time. I'm happy.  And little did I know that one smile could taste so good, better than chocolate:




I've been thinking about my professional goals lately, too.  It was further sparked by this article, "Engineering Happiness at Zappos".  After I read it, I posted on Twitter that I was available to be a "Fun-brarian" at Zappos and we had a little back and forth. They don't have a librarian at the moment.  Of course, I have no desire to leave the job I love, although "Fun-Brarian" is pretty tempting.

Dear Zappos, 
Any chance you have an opening for a Fun-brarian position on weekends, school breaks and summers?  If so, I'm your girl!  I'm not kidding! I have grit, passion, dedication, smiles and hugs to share and definitely a sense of humor (a requirement when working in elementary education).  

It looks like those folks at Zappos are already having fun but maybe another company?

Another school year is about to begin.  It's going to be a great one, I just know it.  At the end of the 2014-15 school year, after the dust had settled from Spring visits from both Chris Grabenstein and Kwame Alexander, a colleague told me he was worried.  Knowing how competitive I am with others and myself, how could the next year possibly compare to this year?  And yet we managed to do some more amazing stuff that year and this past one.  In June, I asked him if he worried about me anymore. He flat out said, "No." We don't know what's lies ahead for us, but we know it's going to be AWESOME. As I told him recently via email, sometimes it's just a matter of clicking the "send" button. Happy, happy 2017-18 school year to all!

PS-Dear Ted Talk, If you ever want someone to leap onto your stage, I'm your girl...That's a goal of mine...lol...