Did You Schedule the Thinking? [296]

It's late June. The inbox finally went quiet. The tours stopped. The events are over. For the first time since August, nobody needs anything from you by end of day.

So here's the honest question: what are you going to do with it?

For most of us, the answer is the to-do list. The website fixes we deferred. The photo library nobody organized. The forty small things that pile up during the year. All of it useful. None of it strategy.

Here's the trap. A summer spent clearing the backlog feels productive, and you'll end August exactly where you started, just tidier. Busy is not the same as thinking.

The strategic questions only fit in a quiet week. What worked this year that we got lucky on, and can't repeat? Where did our best families actually come from? What are we doing in the fall simply because we did it last fall?

Nobody puts that on your calendar. That's the problem. The thinking that moves enrollment never has a deadline, so it never happens.

So put it on the calendar. One block, two hours, this week, before the fall planning swallows it. Not to answer everything. Just to ask the questions while there's finally room to.

The backlog will still be there on Friday. The quiet won't.

What's the one question about next year you keep meaning to sit with, and haven't?

Thanks,
Brendan

Struggling with team misalignment, communication gaps, or hiring challenges in your school? In this webinar, Miriam Stein of Thrive Hive will share proven strategies using the Six Types of Working Genius framework to help school leaders, admissions teams, HR professionals, and business offices build stronger, more aligned teams.

✅ Improve school team collaboration
✅ Hire smarter and reduce turnover
✅ Boost productivity and team morale

Perfect for Heads of School, Advancement Officers, Business Offices, Admissions, Marketing, and Development Teams.

Bio: Miriam Stein is a graduate of an independent day school and an educator at heart. She served as the upper school director of admission at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, part of a team responsible for maintaining the school’s 1000-student enrollment. After more than 20 years in education and in strategic enrollment, she moved into the world of consulting with Thrive Hive to help school professionals around the country with teamwork, collaboration and enrollment strategy. Miriam is a regular presenter for EMA, AISAP, Niche, FinalSite, Prizmah, and others.

RSVP today: https://community.marcomsociety.org/c/guest-experts-e2f31b/how-to-hire-for-marketing-admission-offices

Fractional Digital Marketer Program: Our flagship consulting program, where we help you get more inquiries by implementing inbound marketing, Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO, Reputation Management, and blogging for you! Learn more.

School Marketing The Right Way: Purchase my new book about school marketing. It was the book that I wished existed when I started my journey with marketing a school. Purchase.

SchoolMarketingCRM: My new marketing software for schools. This is the software I wish I had when I worked in schools. It handles all of your marketing functions, including landing pages, email automation, reputation management, appointment scheduling, and much more. Learn more.

The MarCom Society: Join other school marketing and communication professionals in my membership community, which is designed to help you become a better MarCom professional through training, support, and community. Learn more.

Sponsor This Newsletter: Promote yourself to 5,000+ subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter. Learn more.