External stakeholders and public constituents often have predetermined notions of what administrators do. This quantitative study was designed to help provide concrete evidence of how their time is actually spent. This researcher-developed survey was electronically sent to 332 secondary school principals in the state of Iowa. Although some principals were unable to submit a response due to their summer career transitions or vacation, this study proceeded with a 44% response rate. Findings from demographic data suggest an aging population of white administrators, mainly serving in small schools of less than 400 students with a somewhat high percentage of socio-economically deprived students. The survey findings provide strong indicators that secondary principals spend far too much time in day to day functions that are not directly related to student achievement. They also suggest, however, that these principals still strongly believe that the time they spend in improving teaching and learning at their schools is productive and worthwhile. The specific findings about how principals spent their time provided the impetus for further investigation.