How many hours a week should a headteacher work?

My experience both as a head and as a leadership coach has shown me that the number of hours a week a headteacher works operates a bit like a bell curve, or the ‘law of diminishing returns’: as you start clocking up the hours, more gets done. However, you reach a point where the more hours you put in, the less effective you seem to be, and you start achieving less and less.

At the risk of stating the blooming obvious, the World Health Organisation conducted a study in 2021 which established that working 55 or more hours per week is dangerous to health, compared with working 35-40 hours per week.

Many headteachers I know are pulling in way more than 55 hours in a week. They’re not thriving, they’re surviving.

A story that often emerges with heads I coach and supervise is this:

A head comes to their first session saying they can’t go on working the way they are currently. They know their health is at risk and their relationships are suffering. They’re finding themselves working more and more hours, without ever feeling as though they’re getting on top of things.

Our conversation gives them a bit of distance from the problem, which is just what their overwhelmed brain needs. They realise that trying to do this massive and messy job perfectly is impossible. They start to see that there’s no point in trying to prove themselves to all the people who are watching them. They understand that the person who knows their job best and how it needs to be done is them.

There is a recognition that their time is their own and they can start looking at the job a bit like a project manager - recognising tasks that need prioritising, tasks that need delegating and tasks that need dropping or reducing. 

So how do you find the ‘Goldilocks’ point? The number of hours a week that’s just right, not so many that you’re exhausted, but enough that you can stay afloat. Notice I’m saying ‘stay afloat’ here. For a school leadership role to be sustainable, you need to let go of ‘perfect’ and start exploring the average. When you get used to ‘staying afloat’, life feels better. You can be more present and experience more joy when your work is done, instead of mentally still being on the job.

Here’s a few ways you can find your ‘Goldilocks’ point:

1. Start noticing when you do your best work. When are you most focused? When do you have your best attention and which hours of the week are the hardest for you?

2. Start planning out your working week. Set aside an hour a week where you plan the week ahead, deciding strategically what work needs doing and when is the best time to get it done.

3. Start getting ruthless about giving your time away. Get used to saying ‘no’ when people ask you to do things that they should be doing themselves. Get used to handing tasks over when they are better done by someone else.

4. Make sure your working week has moments when you replenish yourself. For some people that will be spending time out on the playground having conversations with kids. For others it might be sitting in the staffroom to eat lunch a couple of times a week. Decide what you need and build it into your schedule.

5. Stick to the plan! If you’ve decided to stop work at 5.30, don’t start a new task at 5.25, start winding down at 5.15 so that you stop on time. Protect those times when you have your best attention - put a ‘don’t disturb’ sign on the door and talk to staff about why you’re doing that.

I know these things are often easier said than done, but when you make a start, you develop new habits. You might also be surprised how supportive your team are. Nine times out of ten they’re rooting for you and wanting you to be happy and healthy.

If you’re ready to get systematic about your workload, but need a bit of help to get yourself organised, I’ve got a digital resource that you might find useful. It’s called the ‘Workload Management Tool for Headteachers’ and it’s a sequence of videos and PDFs that walks you through some simple steps to getting a personalised system set up. It’s super-cheap right now, so head over to the link to find out more.

If you need more help overcoming the barriers, like saying ‘no’ or dropping the need for things to be perfect, let’s have a conversation. A few coaching sessions can really help you to get things moving in the right direction. Book into my calendar here for a free consultation.