“Remember that time is money.” —Benjamin Franklin

My teaching career began in 1994. The dress expectations for male teachers included wearing a shirt and tie each day except Friday when we could wear a school-spirit polo/golf shirt. I settled into a routine of spending quite a few hours each weekend completing three educator-related tasks: (1) grading papers, (2) lesson planning for the next week(s), and (3) washing/drying/ironing my dress shirts and pants (mostly khakis). The washing and drying were going to take place for all my laundry; but the ironing was for my school attire. I often spent my time ironing in the living room while watching sports on TV. It seemed like a natural confluence. It also provided me necessary mental respite from the other weekend work.

As my career progressed, I assumed more responsibilities at my school — I coached more sports, I began teaching multiple AP courses, and I returned to graduate school. My weekend task list increased. Actually, it expanded inelastically. Suddenly, my ironing time shifted from me completing a needed task in a relaxing manner to me hurrying up so I could spend time I didn’t have on all the other things I needed to do which were both urgent and important. I was living out a real life example of the economic principle of opportunity cost and I had a decision to make.

Sometime in the late 1990’s, I began taking my button-down shirts and dress pants to a local dry cleaner. The $12-15 (double that for today) I paid each week for 4 professionally cleaned shirts and pants was something that would never have made sense to me in college. But as a teacher who needed that specific amount of time more than that specific amount of money, it was both a necessary decision and a lesson that has repeated itself numerous times since then, especially the last twenty years leading within and across schools.

There are things worth doing yourself as an educational leader. There are also things worth delegating, restructuring, outsourcing, or paying someone else to do. Maybe it is because you are like I was with more tasks to complete than time available and outsourcing becomes a survival decision. It could also be that someone else in the organization should be doing that task but you are the only person who knows how at the moment and you realize that needs to change and soon.

Whatever opportunity cost is taking place in your educator life right now, we can relate to these circumstances and we can partner with you to devise a solution.