Avoiding Activities Director Burnout: Know What You Do

Across the nation, athletic directors have been reassigned as activities directors. The “job” has changed. It is looked upon as a career for some, and yet for others, it just fills the need of the school.

There is an evolving door in the activities director’s career; and in any given week, another school district’s athletic director may decide to throw in the towel because he or she has reached the burnout level. Some activities directors still teach in the classroom, others are dean of students or principals. Even if the position is considered a full-time activities director, it is important to know what you do.

Many times in the world of an athletic/activities director, “extras” are piled on. The job may have changed from athletic to activities director. This may mean you need to supervise concerts or ensure doors will be open. You may also have the task of taking care of transportation for the math team, culture club, music and DECA. You may get randomly asked to supervise lunch, which in and of itself it is not a big deal, but requests upon requests can begin to pile up.

Another extra duty may be planning an event, whether it is a fundraiser or the Hall of Fame. Either of these tasks are daunting for one person, much less someone who is in charge of activities for a school.

Whatever your position looks like, you need to know what you do. Truthfully, when was the last time you listed every task you do as an athletic or activity director? Do you realize the number of tasks done in a week, much less a season? Knowing what you do alerts you when your plate is too full. Detailing the job allows for others to realize what you do. The best time to analyze your job is monthly by following these steps:

1. Write it down
It is important to write everything you do on paper. Yes, you can create an electronic document, but the paper is there for you to add as you get a phone call from a vendor. You can quickly add it to the list. Preseason tasks for sports in the fall need to be written in August. This way you will not forget any portion of your duties at hand. The best way to do this is each month. Set a day aside every month when you look back at your calendar and detail what you did for each event or meeting. Some of what you do seems tedious, but you can group that later. Recognizing the volume of tasks is a great way to mentally prepare what your job entails daily, monthly and each season.

2. Add the time to it
Once you have your tasks written down, add a column of the amount of time it took for you to complete each task. Setting up a football field takes longer than plugging the scoreboard in for basketball. It will also detail the “extras” you were given, such as lunch duty as that could be 30 minutes of your day. If you are also planning the extra events, such as a fundraiser, detail how much time during the week before the event it takes to accomplish the goals. Knowing the time you put into tasks allows for you to analyze your day.

3. Look at your tasks
Group your tasks. Put anything relating to each other in a group. Add the total time you spent on that group for the week or month. Ask the following questions of each grouping:

Example Group: Scheduling

• How much time in a week is spent working on scheduling?

• Is this something only you can do?

• Could you give that to someone else?

Highlight what others could do. With regard to setting up for a football game, could the middle school program do that? Maybe grounds workers could include that into their game day tasks. You are not “pawning” off parts of your job, you are becoming more efficient. You are recognizing the level of commitment that is involved in being an activities director and you are allowing others to help.

4. Act on what you know
Now you know. You know how much time is asked of you. You may realize you do not have that time. It is time to take action. You need to carve out time during the week that allows you to balance your personal and work life. Discuss what you know with your administration. Show where time could be cut back and acknowledge better efficiency. Re-designing portions of your job does not always mean spending more money. Be creative, involve teams in spring clean-up before the first game, or for setting up chairs in the gym for basketball.

Discuss the need for help, whether that is the ability to have others supervise, hiring an administrative assistant or an assistant athletic director. The administration may acknowledge the expectations and take something off of your plate when they see the details of what you do. Knowing your job allows for you to negotiate what is best for you. You are the expert and the more you know, the better you will be as an activities director and a person.

Activities directors have one of the most visible positions in school districts. The position evolves and gets harder to do. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and always behind the eight ball, know exactly what you do each day, and make it more manageable. Take the details of what you do, group them, look at the time needed, and now you know what you need to ask for. Before throwing in the towel, know exactly what you do.