One practice could be the most effective way to accomplish almost anything. Pastors who do this have a much greater chance of finishing their work and completing their tasks. What is this one practice? Well, we could spend the entire blog post building up to the grand announcement, but since you might only read the first two paragraphs, we’ll tell you right up front. The practice is this: writing it down! How many times has a great idea entered your mind, but before you wrote it down, it was gone, vanished? You didn’t write it down, now you are resigned to hoping it re-enters your mind at some future point in time.
Putting things in writing has a wonderful way of validating their importance. We write down important things. We attach our signatures to important documents. Documents are just fancy papers on which we’ve written things down, whether in our own hand, or on a keyboard. Want to remember the four passages you want to cover in your sermon in two weeks? Write them down. Want to know that lady’s name the next time you run into her? Write it down. Want to visit these three people next week? Write it down. Want to get those three ministry projects started this month? Write them down. Want to sort out your thoughts on a complex ministry dilemma? Write them down. This is such a simple practice, yet so many pastors would have to admit they don’t do this on a regular basis. “Oh, I’ll remember that” we say. Yet we don’t remember, because we haven’t written it down. This post is coming out on a Friday. If you are reading this on Friday, what are the three most important things you need to accomplish next week? Have you written them out – all the things you need to accomplish next week – so that you can determine which three are most important? If you have, good job! If you haven’t, will you? If you won’t, is it because what you do in your life and ministry just isn’t that important? Whether or not you get them done doesn’t really matter? Are your responsibilities just no big deal? Are your people just not that important to you to visit, that you wouldn’t write down their names and which days you want to visit them on? You know, we can have all kinds of software and hardware, high tech gadgets like cell phones and tablets – but are we missing what could be the single greatest tool for getting things done – a simple piece of paper we keep on our desk or in our pocket, to which we refer two dozen times a day? When people talk to me (Jeff) in the lobby on a Sunday morning, and they want me to remember something, or do something, I tell them all the same thing: “Send me an email”. What am I asking them to do? Two things: Help me to remember what we’ve talked about. Write it down and send it to me. My Inbox is my task list for the things I need to do for others. I use it to remind myself that something needs to be done. As I get things done, I delete emails. I will even, at times, send myself an email, my digital way of writing something down. What if we simply wrote things down? Things that were important. Things that were both urgent and non-urgent. Things that mattered so much that if we missed getting them done, caring for people would hang in the balance. Write things down. Tasks, goals, projects, names, phone numbers, ideas, deadlines, sermon topics and outlines, illustrations, and priorities. Write things down. If you write something down, you have a much greater chance of getting it done. Write down your stuff for Sunday, then wake up Sunday morning, look at your paper, and step confidently into your day, knowing you are going to get things done. Have wonderful weekend!
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Today's podcast episode is so practical, anyone can do this! Do you ever struggle with priorities and knowing what to do next? Ever wonder why your day happens to you, and you don't happen to your day, first?! Today's episode is for you.
Dave Jacobs, the coach to small church pastors, lays out in simple detail how to set priorities and approach your schedule for any given day or week. He provides us with the four foundational priorities we should set just as people, and then his five essentials that every small church pastor should plan around.
In our conversation with Dave, we talked about what our essential focuses should be as pastors. But before he even got to the essential focuses, Dave outlined how we as pastors must prioritize our lives:
Four Foundational Priorities:
Once you have your priorities in order, it's time to focus in on your essential responsibilities. Dave laid out 5 essential areas where we as pastors should be focusing our time and energies: The Five Essentials:
So, how are you doing with focus? Are you scattered all over the place? Can't seem to put first things first and order your schedule well? Step one is checking your priorities. Step two is trimming away the extra "stuff" from your list of responsibilities. And if all else fails (or if you just need a little more help) step 3 is CALL DAVE! We promise, you won't regret it. Don’t you just get the shivers up your spine when you hear a conference or seminar speaker mention the words “time management” or “focus” or “priorities”? Oooooh, I love to hate them so much! We in the western world certainly fixate on time, productivity, and effectiveness. Sometimes it would just be nice to live in one of those cultures where clocks don’t matter, and relationships way trump tasks and productivity. What did you say... that’s what heaven is going to be like? Oh, good! Because from the time we are children, we are taught, however unwittingly, that the clock rules our lives! Cultures in Africa and South America, among others, do not share our American values of profit, time management, effectiveness, efficiency, task orientation, and productivity. Other things like, relationships, relaxation, appreciation of nature and life, and oh, sleep, are much more important. They value conversation, presence, an afternoon nap, procrastination, and doing things well rather than quickly.
The increased opportunities to travel in the 20th century brought situations where two groups of people found themselves in the same space trying to communicate about possible joint ventures, only to leave frustrated and confused, unable to get their points across, or to understand the other group. The problem? They were unaware that cultural differences prevented understanding. So, when it comes to us small church pastor types, how are we to understand time management, focus, and priorities in our lives and ministries? Do we follow our American culture, or the Bible? I mean, if you’re a good American, you’ll immediately understand that there would be no difference… of course. American culture, especially small church pastor American culture, would mirror the culture and values of the Bible! (you can see my tongue in my cheek, right?) There are myriad books on Amazon and in your local brick and mortar bookstore on time management, self help, life plan, etc. But we’d like to offer an additional resource to you – this week’s podcast episode #68! On Wednesday we’ll talk with the man who coaches pastors of small churches, Dave Jacobs, about establishing priorities, limiting our focus, managing our time, and putting first things first in our lives and ministries. How should we think about these things? Wouldn’t these things look different for a pastor of one hundred people than they would for a pastor of a thousand? What if I’m a bi-vocational pastor, how should I think about my time? Here’s my favorite question: How about I just drive myself absolutely insane by constantly second guessing my time management decisions and continually feeling discontent with how well I am managing my life and ministry?! I mean, there’s always going to be a better way, right? As Jonny would say, “Tune in” this week to the 200churches Podcast, episode #68, and just relax with us for a while, and let us encourage you in your pastoral ministry. A new episode is released every single Wednesday at 12:00am. (That would be midnight on Tuesday, for you normal people) This week our goal is to encourage you in your approach to focus, priorities, and time. Finally, remember what Jesus said to us, "Come to me..."
Episode 47 of the 200churches Podcast is jam-packed with great content! Jeff and Jonny share some leadership lessons they've learned in 2013, as they reflect on their church's "Annual Meeting" and the transition into the coming year.
They also have a great conversation with Erik J. Fisher from www.beyondthetodolist.com. Erik is the Social Media Manager for Indiana Wesleyan University, involved in ministry in his local church, and the founder of the BeyondTheToDoLIst Podcast, which explores productivity... beyond just a "to do" list! He invites a myriad of productivity experts and gurus onto his show and provides very challenging interviews around the topic of productivity. Erik's new book, Beyond The ToDo List - Goals, is available in both Kindle and Audio version for just $4.99! You cannot afford to not buy this book! (As usual, Jeff & Jonny receive no kickback if you buy this book - this is not an affiliate link - they just love the book and the podcast!) Jeff's favorite episode of BeyondTheToDoList is #44 with Baratunde Thurston. If you think his name is interesting, wait until you hear him - he is outrageously enthusiastic and passionate and you will be left wanting more as the episode comes to a close - it is AMAZING! This episode is sure to encourage, challenge, and further equip you as you provide pastoral care and leadership in your 200church. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving - and we are planning some great podcast episodes for you in this month of December! |
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