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The Role of Time - Making the Minutes Count for Success

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Article for CoJDS Journal of Jewish Day School Leadership - The Most Important Part of the Principal’s Role

Submitted by Rabbi Yisroel Boruch Sufrin – April 2026 – Nissan 5786

Dean and Provost JETS College & Yeshiva (Jewish Educational Trade School), Granada Hills, CA Senior Consultant and Leadership Mentor, RYBS LLC‍

rabbisufrin@jetsschool.org

If Only I Had the Time

“If only I had the time.” This is a common refrain we repeat to ourselves. When educational leaders spend downtime together—at a convention or even an evening out—time inevitably comes up as the commodity we most desire.

When we begin a new role or project, we take pride in thinking intentionally, ensuring we have a plan and a set of desired outcomes. Some of us refine this further, creating benchmarks and measurable goals. Then reality sets in. There are so many facets to our role, with constant demands pulling us in every direction, that we begin to wonder how anything will get accomplished. If only I had more time.

While spending downtime with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l during one of his visits to my school in California, he shared that he sets aside up to two mornings a week exclusively for writing—secluding himself and focusing only on that task. I remember thinking, what a luxury—to have that kind of time. Then it struck me: here was the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, personal Rabbi to the Royal Family, prolific author, global lecturer, and leader of the United Synagogue—and he had time. At our next opportunity to speak, I asked my “million-dollar question”: “How do you have the time?” And quietly added, almost to myself, “If only I had the time…”

The Challenge

One of the greatest challenges in time management arises when an educational leader is tasked with a major initiative. Often, this comes from consensus among leadership—the Board, President, or Head of School. Yet the same individuals who assign the task often unintentionally consume the leader’s time with unrelated matters, despite knowing the deadlines involved. Beyond this, life itself intervenes. The regular day-to-day rigamarole of daily school tasks and events that happen, and the Principal’s day-to-day schedule cannot change.  The daily demands of school leadership do not pause.

How, then, can a leader make the time? How can a person balance responsibilities, remain present for students, teachers, parents, and family, and still meet expectations? How can the leader make the time?  How can a leader juggle making time, staying involved, showing care, and being present for all the students, teachers, parents, and, of course, their own family and personal health, and meet the benchmarks expected?

Know Thy Time

Peter Drucker, in his classic Effective Educator  addresses the time challenge head-on. In the chapter Know Thy Time he writes, “Most discussions of the executive’s task start with the advice to plan one’s work.  This sounds eminently plausible. The only thing wrong with it is that it rarely works.  The plan always remains on paper…good intentions. Effective executives…do not start with their tasks.  They start with their time.” He adds, “Effective Executives know that time is the limiting factor.”

On a spiritual level, time is equally sacred. Shemirat hazman—guarding time—is a core value emphasized by Chassidic and Mussar masters. In Hayom Yom (18 Nissan), the Tzemach Tzedek teaches that the soul is “on loan” to a person, and that everyone has a fixed number of days. If even one day is lacking, “one garment is lacking, and if one is lacking even a single day, he is lacking one garment.”  

In educational terms, we often say that if a student misses a year of foundational learning, it cannot be recovered. For a leader, a lost minute is a lost opportunity.

How can an educational leader be most effective by devoting time and energy to supervising teachers, focusing on curriculum and targeted professional development, while fostering a school culture centered on the most important activity in a school: learning.

Addressing the Time Challenge

Rabbi Sacks shared with me that his approach to time was rooted in an annual ritual.  After Pesach, he and his staff would revisit The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, focusing on Habit 3—Put First Things First.

Covey begins with Habit 1: Be Proactive. This means taking responsibility for our choices. Leadership begins with self-leadership. Between stimulus and response lies the power of choice. Proactive leaders recognize that they are in control of their actions—and therefore, their time. But the challenge remains: what happens when emergencies and workload pile up? Covey quotes Thoreau, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” As a necessary first step, he discusses how to develop the habit of being proactive.  This means taking responsibility for our choices.  Being proactive means that a person recognizes he or she is responsible for their choices, attitudes, and responses, regardless of circumstances. Proactive people act based on values and purpose, not mood or pressure. Between what happens to someone and how he or she responds lies the power of choice. In other words, leadership begins with self-leadership.

Proactive leaders must resolve that they are in command of their actions and choices, and therefore also their time.  Think how many times a person is frustrated when arriving for an appointment and waiting in a waiting room for so long.  When it comes to others, we always expect them to be on time; we must be conscious of being on time ourselves.  As a person in a school or organization who others look up to, the leader sets the tone. Being proactive about choices so that it allows a person to be organized and timely, leaves an indelible impression on everyone.

But then comes the expected challenge.  It is easy to say “be proactive.”  But what if the workload and the emergencies keep piling up? “What does it help if I am proactive?” is a common complaint. In addition, we often add while complaining that “What makes things worse is that no one understands the pressure I am under, being pulled from all ends.”  To help alleviate these pressures, Covey suggests a person start working on Habit Two.   Habit 2 is Begin with the End in Mind.

Keeping the End in Mind

Rabbi Shlomo Alkebetz when describing the bliss of the Shabbat, quotes the famous Hebrew saying סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה - “The final action is rooted in initial thought” Think intentionally, have the end in mind.  In Pirkei Avot, the Mishna teaches, “Who is wise? One who sees what will be born,” meaning the wise person anticipates the future. The exercise of anticipating the future is not an exercise in prophecy or is not prediction, it is purposeful foresight. Effective leadership requires a clear vision of the destination. This begins with a personal mission statement. That mission acts as a GPS, determining priorities. What aligns rises to the top; what does not can be delayed—or eliminated.

To create the clear picture of the future, a person needs to create a personal strategic plan.  An effective leader needs to take time to reflect on their core values.  To make an educated decision on which core values to prioritize, the leader needs to begin with their personal mission statement.  The mission statement acts as a GPS to help decide which values need time, priority and focus.  If something is in a mission statement, then it automatically pushes itself to the top of the priority list.  If it does not appear there, then it can be eliminated or at the very least be pushed down the line of priorities.

Making Choices and Prioritizing with Intention

Drucker describes a head of a large company who complained that in two years he had eaten out every night except for two evenings.  Every night he had to attend a dinner function of an organization or company, or an influential person.  He saw no alternative.  In speaking with so many of my own colleagues, I can attest as a former Head of School how many current school and community leaders would say share the same sentiment.  They are “eating out” almost every weeknight.  And for those who live inside the community they serve; this may ring true on Friday nights as well.  

The effective leader must realize that “eating out” decisions also must be made within the parameters of which “events” fit into their mission and priorities.  In the case of the example that Drucker brings, the leader, when asked to reflect on which events to prioritize, realized that some people had invited him and did not even expect him to attend.  They had just invited him to look good, and not feel bad, they left him out.  If he had prioritized his decisions, he could have found that family time, which is a core value and part of his mission, could have found a few evenings at home.

Clarity - Who Controls Time?

If the issue is time management, how does insisting on taking the time to be proactive and developing the second habit of keeping the end in mind help?  Spending the time to be thoughtful also takes up precious minutes. In addition, many people seem to think they are using the strategies of Covey and Drucker and it is not helping in their time management challenge.  Covey’s third Habit now comes to the rescue. gets left by the wayside.  It is time to Put First Things First.  

In this Habit Covey creates a quadrant.  Every action a leader takes fits into one of these squares.  The quadrant is: Important and Urgent (IU); Important and Not Urgent (INU); Not Important and Urgent (NIU); Not Important and Not Urgent (NINU). People have a tendency to allow the not important (NI) items to dominate their day and time.  They justify this as ultimately, they see their role as being accountable and if there is a crisis, it is their responsibility to take care of it.  At times, these crises are not important to the person themself, but it came to their table, so it must be a sign he or she must deal with it.  Sometimes the crisis is important and then for sure the person has to stop everything to address the crisis.  On occasion the person will lean towards taking the time to doing something not important in the scheme of things and the item is not a crisis, but its just cool to be seen taking the time to deal with these trivialities.  In the end, the items that are important, but not yet a crisis always get left to the end.  

In reality “a student at the university, a worker in an assembly line, a homemaker, a fashion designer, or president of a company…your effectiveness would increase dramatically, if a leader proactively aims to prioritize items that fall under the INU category.  Crises and problems shrink to manageable problems “when thinking ahead.” The objective of the quadrant INU tool is to manage our lives effectively, using sound principles, maintaining a balance between increasing production and our capability.

How to Say Yes While Saying No

The more a leader exercises intention using the habits to begin prioritizing how to set up their diary, it will mean saying no to certain requests of time.  The personal mission statement and honesty and transparency of the leader with their constituents will allow the “No” to mean a “Yes.”  It is never what a person says it is how they say it.  If a leader is transparent and explains to his or her constituents, starting with their assistant, and including their President, colleagues and family, that they have a set of core values and a mission that drives them, it will go a long way.  When a leader expresses how precious tie is not only for themselves but also for everyone else, and how the leader values others times like his or her own, this helps to set the tone for productivity, collegiality and respect.  

Saying Yes and Meaning No

Consider the following scenario. I once secured a meeting with a highly respected Head of School. I arrived eager to learn and contribute. I waited over an hour while others entered and exited his office. When I was finally admitted, the meeting was repeatedly interrupted—phone calls, casual conversations, non-urgent matters. After an hour, I was left with five minutes. In effect, he had said “yes” to me—but demonstrated “no” through his actions. Years later, he called me in crisis—seeking help for issues that might have been prevented with better prioritization.

Does this sound familiar? In my mind this reputable school head had said to me NO while saying YES.  All the NINU matters were a priority over our reserved time together. The NINU category items were taking him off task from his INU items.  Many future crises could have been averted, and I would have also felt validated and valuable.  

In Conclusion - Use Time to Create Time

In conclusion, a leader will consciously take the time to create more time.  Using the Covey approach can be one of many tools to help address time.  On a practical level, when a leader sets his diary according to his priorities, rather than allowing the diary to create his priorities, magically, productivity increases.  And the leader feels better about accomplishing more of his personal mission in life.

Rabbi Y. Boruch Sufrin is a former Head of School and Covenant Foundation Educator Awardee who serves as Provost and Dean for Torah Studies at JETS in Granada Hills, CA. He is President of RYBS LLC and consults with schools in the U.S. and South America on leadership, strategic planning, and curriculum design. Time management for educational leaders is one of his signature areas of expertise. Rabbi Sufrin invites feedback or follow up to this article at yboruchs@gmail.com.

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