Maybe it's just the pressure I put on myself, but in ministry there is a mad rush some days. With the pressure to be excellent, innovative, creative, over-the-top, grow fast, time is slipping by.....well, needless to say I wish I could be laid back and under achieving, patient and maybe be able to sit back and just wait for God to do it all...BUT...I see through scripture that God works through our actions. Therefore it is important for me in all this madness to manage my time.
There is so much to time management so I just going to touch on a few points.
Balance In Life
It is important that you have a balance in your life. Work at work...be home when your at home. Now for me, that is hard. I often let work come home. I also work a full time job and we are launching a church as well. It is easy to let things get blurred and take over the other areas. Keep God at the center of everything.
Plan Your Time
If you don't plan your time someone or something will plan it for you. You will be at the whim of everything that could possible get in your way.
A simple way to plan is break your mission into key objectives. Next, create goals that will reach each of those objectives. Now, write out all the tasks needed to achieve those goals. Take those tasks and fill your calender according to your schedule. I know you can't possibly plan for every little thing that might happen, but you will effectively set your calender by the tasks that need to be accomplished.
Cut Out And Delegate
Those things that do take up your time and get in the way of your performance, cut them out. You are the one that can answer that. Look carefully and prayerfully at what you do every day. Take a day and write out what you do every 15 minutes and see what takes your time.
As a pastor or ministry leader you should also delegate the tasks that other people can do. If you don't you are robbing your people of the joy of serving. Delegating is part of leading. If you want to better manage your time learn to delegate.
What are the things that are keeping you from managing your time? What are some tips you may have for others?
Don't miss any part of this series:
- Part 1 - The Intro
- Part 2 - Time Management
- Part 3 - Leading People
- Part 4 - The Fishbowl Syndrome
- Part 5 - The Pressure To Produce
3 comments:
Jason,
Ministry is crazy!!!
I'm much better at the balance than I was a year ago. Time management is much better than a year ago (thanks to a well needed PDA and using it wisely). Then theres delegation. My crutch. The thorn in my side. I'm finally catching on to this one. Sometimes I enjoy 'feeling busy'. This doesn't always equate to being effective. I've watched others take on tasks and do better than me with them! Go figure. It's been a great learning experience.
Delegation was and still is a tough one for me. I always get caught in the "it won't be as good as I need it" thought. I've been slowly getting over that one though.
Jason,
This is such an ongoing challenge, but not an insurmountable one. I think once we learn to delegate, streamline and automate, we begin to wonder why we didn't do it sooner.
The "they won't do it as well as me" is such a trap. First of all, they actually MIGHT do it better than me (I've often been pleasantly surprised) and second, alot of the things that tend to suck me in are those smaller tasks, that even if I am able to do them PERFECTLY, they really don't affect the bottom line of my ministry!
I constantly screen by asking the question: "Is this one of the top 20% activities that delivers my top 80% results?" If not, I need to delegate it, eliminate it or streamline it and get back to priorities.
Just my 2 cents.
Scott N. Smith
www.sermonators.com
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