Hack your office schedule, and hack “the nag” on your computer.
The church office is a tyrant!
It creates a certain type of work (often busy-work), and turns a pastor (aka “someone who pastors”) into an office troll. I’ve never met a pastor (DCE) worth their salt who wouldn’t rather be leading worship or teaching or being part of a fellowship or mission event, –than be stuck in their office. The only nice thing about having an office is that it gives you a place to study and write. Other than that… it eventually turns most pastors into office eunuchs.
Time to CREATIVELY HACK your schedule to revitalize your spirit and ministry. Everyone schedules their work…but I’m going a step further: I’m theme-ing it to make sure KEY OBJECTIVES get the time they deserve. You can theme it anyway you like. The point is to bring some sanity and efficiency to what is often a chaotic work place.
Make Work Monday: Take the list of people you saw on Sunday, their comments, things you need to follow up on, and make follow-up calls Monday afternoon while it’s still fresh in your brain and theirs. Pull out your LIST of every ministry and group you relate to and spend a moment thinking about how you can serve that ministry/group in the coming week. Then pull out your calendar and WRITE IN some time to work on that ministry in the coming week.
Ivory Tower Tuesday Afternoons: This is your time to study. No phones. Turn off the computer. May be accompanied by a long walk, or long talk with a parishioner about your studies. Might evolve into a “No Business Tuesdays.”
Wednesday Morning Writing: Get in EARLY and start writing that sermon or lesson plan. And dear preacher, if you need more than 8 hours, preach shorter sermons! Honestly… a 15-20 minute sermon doesn’t need 15-20 hours of effort. You’re not that good and the Gospel is not that complicated.
Workplace Wednesday Afternoon: Every Wednesday afternoon will find you visiting the workplace of a parishioner. You will see them in a whole new way and they’ll appreciate it. If you’re a youth pastor, this is your afternoon to take in a game (event) that one of your kids is in.
Thursday is for Thrashing: This is your day to write the bulletin, do the newsletter, work on the communication pieces, prepare for meetings, find your copy of the budget, meet with the Treasurer, and look forward to every other day except this one.
Phone Call Friday: Pick up the phone and the church directory and call people you haven’t talked to in a while -just to chat. Call 3 to 6 members/families. If you’re in a large church, have other staffers also do “phone call Friday.” This will make sure you get to everybody. Keep call notes in the directory. This is different than “Make Calls Monday” in that these are pastoral contacts. It also gets the members thinking about coming on Sunday! Buy a stack of personal notecards and follow up your calls with a written note.
Pretty soon, you’ll realize that HALF THE STUFF you USED TO DO in the office was a waste of your time. If you’re NOT on a church staff, raise the issue with your staff and personnel committee about how your staff members spend their time.
Final on Advice on the Subject: HACK AND DEPLOY ”THE NAG” on your computer
“The Nag” is built into every Windows computer’s copy of OUTLOOK …your email program. In Outlook, click CALENDAR. Then Right-Click a day coming up this week, and select “Set an Appointment.” A screen pops open asking you to describe the activity you want to be reminded of, and to set a time to have a POP UP REMINDER appear on your computer (ie, “the nag”). Set it to remind you of that event “2 hours before” it happens. Set it and forget it.
I have “nags” appearing two or three times a day reminding of the good, the bad and the ugly. More than once “the nag” has saved my butt… and reminded me to take the time for something important, rather than sitting around noodling some code or shoving paper around.
<>< Neil