Time Management with Scott Williams

Great video by Scott Williams about how to manage your time with God as your No. 1 priority.

Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More

Today is a special day! Today is September 14, the date of the long-awaited release of the Get-It-Done Guy's book - 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More.

Think of this book as a VERY PRACTICAL 7 Habits for Highly Effective Hipsters.

Stever Robbins has a refreshing, fun, witty way of hitting each of his points home with clarity and practicality. Did I mention it's practical? Because you can actually take the steps he's advocating and transform your life's priorities and efficiencies.

I've only read a few chapters so far (you can get your sample chapters here - and also download some audio), but I'm definitely looking forward to reading the whole book.


Order Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More on Amazon.com Today

Spouses Working and Resting in Sync

Here's a novel concept:

• Everything that benefits the family counts as work.
• Both spouses "work" the same hours.
• Both spouses STOP "working" at the same time.
• Make a schedule and stick to it.

Let me tell you why this is such a novel concept for me.

I'm a half-time pastor (I work Tues, Thurs, half of Fri), a part-time web designer, and a half-time stay-at-home dad. My wife is a full-time teacher.

For the last couple of years, I've struggled with feeling "useful" because I'm just sitting at home half of the time. My wife struggles with feeling "useful" because she's not as involved in the life of the boy as she'd like to be.

As a stay-at-home parent, I can keep the house moderately clean, feed the boy, take him to gymnastics, and blow off any real interaction with him while I watch shows off the DVR and surf the web the rest of the day. There. I've done my part. Right?

Then, when my wife comes home (remember, she's actually been working all day), she rests while I'm putting supper on the table. Then I rest while she's doing more teacher stuff. Until it's time for her to go to bed, at which time I may do some web design or ministry stuff or Facebook.

This fragmented arrangement, where we work and rest out of sync with each other, has sometimes led to self-doubt about our usefulness, resentments about us-time v. me-time, some mild labor disputes about who's doing more, reinforcement of workaholic tendencies, etc.

Now, imagine we did something different.

When my wife leaves for work, I start "working." I do the dishes (with the boy). I tidy up (with the boy). I do laundry (with the boy). I school the boy. I play with the boy (actually focusing all my attention on him when I interact with him). I shop (with the boy). I work through my GTD lists. I do web design when he's napping. I fix meals (with the boy).

When my wife arrives home from work, she pitches in with supper and child-rearing. We both continue "working" at the home and family until the boy goes to bed...

Then? We're DONE!

The rest of the time is rest time... connecting time, tv time, internet time, pleasure reading time, whatever.

This arrangement honors the dignity of all the work being done (inside and outside the home). It resolves the labor disputes. It draws a clear line between life and work. It puts your connecting time in sync.

I gotta tell you... now that we're doing this, our house is a lot cleaner; the boy is happier; we both feel more useful; and we both connect better with each other when we're working together and resting together.

Would it work for you? How could it work if one partner worked nights? Could this be a first step to healing a fragmented life?

Efficiency v. Effectiveness - CAGEMATCH!

You may have noticed in my little blurb about me that "I'm on a journey toward becoming a more effective and efficient pastor."

Stephen R. Covey says:

"While you can think in terms of efficiency in dealing with time, a principle-centered person thinks in terms of effectiveness in dealing with people.”

I've too often made the mistake of trying to be efficient with people... putting the end results first or trying to make facetime as brief (i.e. efficient) as possible. Someone walks up to my desk to talk (about something actually important) and I've thought that I can "listen," check my e-mail, file papers, give "obvious" (duh!) answers, and still be effective. Um... no. Notsomuch.

Being efficient with people is not effective.

The goal here is to be efficient with time so you can take the time (however long it takes) to be effective with people.

This is something I've heard before (note 1, 2 previous entries on being fully present). But I find, as a naturally task-oriented person, that my default position is to ignore the relationship in the midst of getting things done.

Finally Back and Working Again

Thanks for your patience.

A lot has happened in the last month. I finished up my ministry in Wichita, KS (training, delegating, leaving notes and processes for the next pastor), sold our house, packed up the moving truck, and headed up to Chaska, MN. Whew!

We're mostly done unpacking on this end of things, and we're finally able to find almost everything (where is that Ergo baby carrier?).

On the work side of things, I've started meeting with Matt and Adam (the other two pastors in this new church planting project) every day. We've officially come up with a project name, applied for a Federal EIN, opened up a bank account, and have looked at office space for rent. We've been meeting people in the area and have had some great spiritual conversations with people. It seems that the people we've met are really open to talk about spiritual things!

A few notes on efficiency and effectiveness at this point:

1. Working with a team is more effective and eventually more efficient. We have better ideas and better execution when we're working together. But it takes much longer to process information and get into team mode on the front end. I'm assuming that it will all be worth it as we minister in our areas of giftedness and learn not to unnecessarily duplicate effort.
2. We don't have an office yet! There is no way to be really effective and efficient without room to set up office space. There's no place in my home for my books or files (or even my GTD inbox). So we've found office space that looks like it will work well (individual offices and a common work area). Now if we can just find enough money to rent it.
3. We have started to realize that we can't really be effective unless we have the right priorities and direction. So we are starting out this project with extended prayer, fasting, and worship times together with our families. In fact, this weekend we are going on a spiritual retreat to kick off our listening time (40 days of prayer and fasting for clarity on our core values and mission). If you are a praying person, I would appreciate your prayers as we seek to understand God's direction for this new church plant.
4. We can't be effective or efficient without communicating clearly. If we don't communicate our needs and desires, we are just setting ourselves up for roadblocks and frustration. This week we met with an area pastor from our denomination to communicate our needs and desires as a new area church. He was a little blindsided, because he hadn't heard anything about it. He didn't even know we'd moved into the area! But after a good deal of open communication, it really felt like we were on the same page. I think we will save lots of time and energy because we made the time to meet with him and communicate openly on the front end.
5. Exercise! I'm making time for exercise. And it turns out it helps me to think more clearly. Who knew?

Anyway, I'm back and posting again. We'll be starting a blog soon for our church planting project, if you're interested in following that. Keep your eyes open.

List Jumping on GTD

Boom. All at once. 15 "Someday/Maybe" projects jumped lists and became active "Projects" within the last few weeks:

• Maybe someday I would make the flower bed look nice. Now it has to be done so we can sell the house.
• Maybe someday I would put new siding on the house/paint the new siding. Now it has to be done so we can sell the house.
• Maybe someday paint the ceiling... Now!
• Maybe someday fill dirt... Now!
• Maybe someday write sermon posting process... Now!

Having to move has suddenly changed all of those someday/maybe projects about my house and delegating ministry tasks into active projects. I'm using GTD, but I'm feeling overwhelmed again.

Sorry I'm not posting more, but right now it's not fitting so well into my contexts, time available, energy available, or priorities.

Maybe someday I'll write more...

Fully Present and GTD

You can tell a dating couple from a married couple when you go into a restaurant. The dating couple is talking and laughing and gazing into each others' eyes. They are in their own little world. The married couple will occasionally talk or look at each other, but they're pretty focused on getting the food eaten. The difference: the people dating are fully present with each other. (this is also a reason people have affairs with someone new, but that's a different topic).

Before learning how to manage my time (with Getting Things Done), there was virtually no chance of my ever being "fully present" - not for church members, or my wife, or God.

I always had a bunch of things (appointments, commitments, ideas, projects) filling my brain. I was afraid something would fall out. And full presence went out the window.

Devotional time: I'm reading scripture - my eyes are still scanning the lines, but my brain is obsessing over unfinished business. I'm praying, but I'm thinking about having to mow my lawn and pick up the dry cleaning and getting some items on the board meeting agenda. (It's not ADD or ADHD, it's a lack of time management skills.)

A trick I learned was to write down the open loop or obsession or task, thus getting it out of my brain and into a trusted place so I could come back to it later. This would help me get focused again on my devotional for a few moments, but then there were more things to obsess about (and write down).

There were always more things to write down - more open commitments that I hadn't captured. Until GTD. When I did the mindsweep and captured all of my open loops and commitments into a trusted system, I suddenly had the ability to become fully present. I'll still get an idea, or realize something I haven't captured, but it's not this unstoppable flood... As soon as I get an idea, or realize a commitment, I write it down.

Now, I have the ability to be fully present (thanks to GTD), but I have not exercised it well. It turns out it's still going to take some practice to make it my automatic, habitual response to people (or God).

How are you fully present with others at work or home? How are you fully present with God?

Fully Present - Fatherhood

One of the greatest gifts we can give to anyone is the gift of being "fully present."

You know the "fully present" person. He makes you feel like talking to you is the single-most important thing he could be doing right now. She makes you feel like everything you say is interesting. You feel heard. You feel valued. You feel... loved?

You know the other people, too. You're talking and they're glancing around. You're asking for input, and they make you repeat the question. They're looking at their watch, waiting for the next thing. Or they're nodding their heads, waiting for you to be quiet so they can make their point.

All too often, I'm one of the other people - I'm the one looking around, checking my watch, nodding my head, waiting for you to leave. I'm task-oriented, not people-oriented. And I've used that as an excuse long enough.

Last summer, we had a guy come over and give us a bid on sodding our front yard. I was the one at home taking care of my son. And the guy asks, "you got the babysitting duty today, huh?" I said, "yeah, I get to hang out with him in the afternoons."

The more I thought about what he had asked, the more rankled I got. I really should have blasted him: "I'm not babysitting. I'm fathering. I'm being a dad. I'm doing the single-most important thing I could be doing right now - spending meaningful time with my son. It's my singular focus to pass on my beliefs and values to the next generation, to help my son grow up into a mature, responsible, productive, godly man!"

But I didn't say any of those things. I only thought them later...

But over the last few months, I have come to realize that I have not been as "fully present" as I would like to be for my son. I have not been so fully engaged in the "single-most important thing I should be doing right now."

Too often, I'm content to plunk him down in front of the TV to watch Praise Baby! or Muzzy auf Deutsch (hey, they're inspirational and educational, right?). Or I'll spend an afternoon surfing the web (or writing this blog), hoping he doesn't bother me too much or require a great deal of my attention. He comes over to play, and I catch myself shrugging him off...

But I want to be "fully present." I don't want to be the (physically present) absentee father. I don't want to be another parenting statistic. So I've resolved to blog only when he's napping. I've decided to keep a @Play list of ideas for meaningful things we could do together.

How do you intentionally make yourself "fully present" for your kids?

Enforcing Your Schedule

Last time I was getting my hair cut, the stylist was talking (I think it's part of their formal training) about my family and my job and what I do, blablabla. And she said, "Oh, I could never be a pastor. Being on call like that all the time..."

I've heard that sentiment quite a bit. I think pastors are only on call 24/7 when they allow themselves to be on call 24/7.

Does this stylist really think she can call and get in touch with her pastor at 3am? And does she think her pastor will actually do something for her at 3am? Maybe if her pastor is some weird, codependent, people-pleasing, enabler with no sense of boundaries...

Just a couple of personal stories:

I had a member call around midnight once. The ringing woke me up (I had been in bed two or three hours already). I looked at the caller-id and saw it wasn't a family member. So I went back to sleep. I called the man back around 5:30am. I said, "I noticed on my caller-id that you called me last night. It must have been really important for you to call so late. So I'm returning your phone call." The man could hardly talk, he was so sleepy. And he never tried to call me late again. (That's me being a little passive-aggressive.)

A family transferred to Cornerstone from a different church. They are very active members with lots of energy and ideas. Unfortunately, those ideas seemed to desperately require my input every Sunday (my day off). Sometimes multiple times on Sunday. This went on for about three weeks [note to self: passive-aggressive behavior doesn't work with some people]. Finally, one Sunday when they called, I just said, "Look. Sunday is my day off and I'm trying to spend it with my family and not think about work (because a big part of the pastor's job is thinking). I'm excited that you have all these ideas, but if you need to get in touch with me, I'm available during the week. Please don't call me on Sunday unless you're dying." They seemed a little hurt and brought it up twice over the next couple of months, but they have never called me again on my day off.

Top 5 Ways to Enforce Your Schedule:

1. Publish your work schedule. Write it out on a chart. Put it on the church office door. Send it out to all the members. Give it to all the new and potential members in your Membership Class. When it changes, send a new one out to the members, so they'll have an updated copy. Download my most recent.
2. Don't publish your home phone number. Not even in the church directory. If you really think people may need to get in touch with you during non-office hours, get a cell phone. When you don't want to take business calls, just turn your cell phone off. Your spouse doesn't need to become your de facto secretary, constantly telling people to call you at the office or taking your messages.
3. Make exceptions truly exceptional. If someone is dying, break your schedule. Otherwise, keep it intact.
4. Be direct about your boundaries. Tell your church that they can't get in touch with you on date night. Tell people what you will and won't do. Tell them you're only willing to work 40 hours a week. If you don't tell them, they won't know.
5. Quit micromanaging. For the most part, let your church members make their best decisions and let it go. If you have to control everything and make yourself indispensable, people won't be able to make a move without your personal blessing. If you have created that pastor-dependent culture, it's your own fault when people are hounding you for input 24/7.

Some links to previous articles:

• Work Two Day-Parts Every Day
• Why I Do My Weekly Review on Monday
• Tuesday is My Pastor's Date Night

The Amazing Expanding Project

Here's a time management principle: Projects will naturally expand to fill all of the time we dare to give them.

If you set aside 20 hours of your work-week to spend on your sermon, your sermon will be more than happy to use up all of that time. Because you have allotted so much time, 1) there's no sense of urgency, so you're more likely to procrastinate; 2) you'll spend a lot of time on a turn of phrase, an illustration, or finding graphics (all nice things, but really worth the time?). And you'll wonder why you have no time left for your ministry, your spiritual life, your friendships, your reading, or your family.

If you are a preaching pastor in a multi-staff church, 20 hours worth of prep may be the exact right thing for you to be doing with your week. But if you are a lone pastor in a smaller church, there's ministry to be done.

So I suggest that you short-schedule yourself on major projects so you won't waste time. If you set aside 6 hours for your sermon, it may take 7 or 8. You may go over, but you won't have wasted all of that time doing unnecessary things.

You work better under pressure, anyway. Don't you?

So, there's my Time Management Tip for the Day: Short-schedule your projects so they don't gobble up your life.

(Don't worry, I'll do a post later about building margin into your schedule. Just for balance.)

Procrastination

I just ran across this video from the show with ze frank. I thought it would be worth your time to watch... while you're putting off doing something really important. Enjoy!

Working Two Dayparts

One of the things my supervising pastor taught me when I was an intern was the two daypart rule. The rule: work two out of three dayparts every day. He didn't ask me to clock in or keep a strict schedule (although he did evaluate my work to see whether or not I was being lazy). All he asked was that I worked two dayparts every weekday.

Most days I worked morning and evening. Occasionally, I would work afternoons.

I still think this is a good system. There are a lot of things a pastor has to do in the evenings - church board, school board, prayer meeting, worship practice, visitation, etc.

I've seen some (workaholic) pastors who put in a full work-day (every day) and then try to fit in full evening schedules as well - to the detriment of their families (and their sanity).

And I've seen other (workaphobic) pastors who have no set office hours, come in only when they feel like it, and remain impossible to find - to the detriment of their churches.

I really do believe that I get more done in the mornings than the afternoons (which is why I prefer a morning/evening split schedule). Sometimes I have to switch, but not very often.

Whatever you decide for your work schedule, I suggest that you write it down, share it with your church, post it prominently on your office door, and try to stick with it. There's already a weird notion that pastors only work on weekends; there's no need to reinforce the stereotype.

Tuesday is My Pastor's Date Night

My wife and I are both PKs (pastors' kids - for those of you who don't know). And both of our shiny, happy families disintegrated when our pastor dads left our pastor's wife moms. Her family split when she was six; mine finally tanked when I was in seminary.

Needless to say, we both learned a lot about pastor's families. Mostly what not to do. I'm shocked I'm a pastor. And my wife is shocked she's married to one.

So, when we were first getting serious about being in a relationship together, we put some safeguards in place to keep us from the kind of non-relationship that destroyed our parents.

One of those is date night. Ever since we've been married, we've always taken one night per week for date night. It usually means dinner out and a movie in. But sometimes it means Taco Bell and a trip to Barnes&Noble. The point is that we are intentionally making special time for each other on a weekly basis.

When we had our firstborn, it was a little harder to have date night. But as soon as he was old enough, we set up a babysitting co-op for Tuesday nights with a couple of other young families. So now we have date night 3 out of 4 Tuesdays (it's our turn to babysit the other week).

My church knows about date night. They know not to call me on Tuesday evenings. Ever. I put it on my work-schedule that I share with all of my members. And I enforce it. It makes its way into sermons (when I preach about the Sabbath, I talk about date night; it helps people see Sabbath in a relational way and reinforces my date night boundaries).

Not only is date night good for my sanity and the strength of my marriage, it's good modeling for the other families in the church.

Personal Vision Workbook - 10. Accountability

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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God never intended us to be loners. We need others to pray for us, encourage us, challenge us, and keep us honest. That’s why Jesus sent out the disciples two-by-two. That’s why Paul had Silas and Moses had Aaron.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” - Proverbs 27:17

While Proverbs 27:17 isn’t true about Superbowl parties, it is true about accountability relationships. When we ask someone to keep us accountable, God uses that relationship to make us better than we could ever become by ourselves.

New Year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to fail if you haven’t asked someone to keep you accountable.

Note: Christian accountability relationships should be male-male and female-female.

Ask God to lead you to the right accountability partner.

Brainstorm at least 3 people you know who can keep a secret:

1.
2.
3.

Choose one and ask if they are willing to keep you accountable.

Give them a copy of your access areas [link], obedience areas [link], and your concrete action steps [link].

Meet for about an hour at least once per month for accountability.

I would love to know how God has used this vision process in your life. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you've discovered.

Personal Vision Workbook - 8. Personal Calling Statement

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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What is God calling you to accomplish for His glory? As we’ve already noted, God has a plan for your future.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart.” - Jeremiah 1:5

Sometimes, this calling will unfold slowly, as it did for Nehemiah. Other times, the calling will suddenly knock you off your horse, as it did for the Apostle Paul. It might be a miraculous calling, or just a gut feeling about what God wants you to do.

Schedule at least an hour of uninterrupted time for this section.

Prayerfully look back over your past [link] , your mentors [link], your identity [link], and values [link]. A picture should be starting to emerge about God’s vision for your future. On a separate sheet of paper, write down everything that may be a clue to your calling.

How has God used you in the past?

What events or people inspired you to give your best to God?

What calling did you have that you pushed away?

Write a rough-draft Calling Statement:

I believe God is calling me to…

Test the calling:

Can you see it? Is it bigger than you? Would you do it even if you didn’t get paid? Will it make a difference for God’s Kingdom? How is it different than what you’re already doing?

Write a rough-draft Calling Statement on Personal Vision Statement.pdf

Personal Vision Workbook - 7. Core Values

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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Our personal values determine what we do and how we do it. Personal values are essentially priorities statements. They are 4-8 things that repeatedly show up in your life. If someone were to follow you around for a week, they would be able to say 4-8 things about what you value most in life. One of King David’s values statements says:

“The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver or gold.” - Psalm 119:72

David was saying that if it came down to a choice between obeying God or getting rich, it was a slam-dunk decision.

It’s often easy to say we value certain things, even when there’s no evidence that it’s a real priority in our behavior. What values do you consistently exhibit in your life?

Complete the following sentences:

My character traits that I value the most are…

It really bugs me when others aren’t…

Some of my core convictions about people and relationships are…

Here's a sample list of some possible core values:

Justice, Honesty, Service, Family, Being Real, Teamwork, Worship, Hard Work, Friendships, Pioneering, Leadership, Simplicity, Humor, Music, Respect, Helping the Poor, Obedience, Excellence, Mentoring, Details, The Big Picture, Practicality, Evangelism, Prayer, Listening, Healing, etc.

Choose 4-8 values and write them on the Personal Vision Statement.pdf

Personal Vision Workbook - 6. Identity Statement

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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Who are you really? In the grand scheme of things, who did God design you to be? As we go into the Identity Statement, remember: this is about being, not doing. This isn’t about what God wants you to do. It’s about who you are as a Christian human being.

Start off by looking up the following verses, and writing out what they tell you about who you are in Christ. Any other verses come to mind?

John 15:1-11 –

John 15:15 –

1 John 3:1-2 –

1 Peter 2:9 –

2 Corinthians 5:20 –

Ephesians 2:10 –

Romans 6:15-18 –

Why do you exist?


Apart from what you do, what gives life its deepest meaning?


Complete these sentences:

I exist as…

I am a…

Write down this rough-draft Identity Statement on the Personal Vision Statement.pdf

Personal Vision Workbook - 5. God at Work through Others

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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The Bible is chockfull of mentor relationships:

Moses mentored Joshua (Deuteronomy 34:9)
Elijah mentored Elisha (1 Kings 19:19)
Mordecai mentored Esther (Esther 2:7)
Jesus mentored the disciples (John 1)
Barnabas mentored Paul (Acts 9:27)
Paul mentored Timothy (1 Timothy 4:11-16)
Etc.

God has also brought special people into your life to shape your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. They might be anyone – parents, teachers, co-workers, pastors, friends, neighbors – anyone who invested in your life, inspired you, or influenced who you have become.

List people who have significantly impacted you and what they contributed to your life.

What qualities did you see in these people that God wants you to have?

Is there someone you could mentor?

Personal Vision Workbook - 4. God at Work in My Past

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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Every one of us has been on a spiritual journey bringing us to the point where we are now. God has been at work shaping our characters, interests, and skills – getting us ready for His vision for us.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” - Ephesians 2:10

God had prepared Moses long in advance of the Exodus. Being threatened as a baby, being brought up in Pharaoh’s court, being exiled, becoming a shepherd on Mt. Sinai – everything was meant to prepare Moses for his specific vision.

Spend 20 minutes brainstorming (on a separate sheet of paper) any and every significant life experience you’ve ever had. Write them down quickly as they come into your mind. Write down good experiences and bad ones. You should have 75-100 experiences when you are done.

Now go through your list and put your life experiences in chronological order on a different piece of paper.

Take a highlighter and mark all of the negative life experiences.

Do you see any patterns or recurring themes?

What spiritual strength have you gathered from the negative experiences?

Which experiences gave you a sense of peace or knowledge of being in the center of God’s will?

Personal Vision Workbook - 3. Progressive Obedience

The following is from my Personal Vision Workbook. Read the introduction and legal stuff.

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God has already been at work, speaking to you through His Holy Spirit. He’s been telling you what He wants you to quit doing and start doing. This isn’t the big vision God has for you, but it is a stepping stone toward that vision. If we’re not willing to start obeying God in the little things, why would He show us the big things?

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” - James 1:22

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” - Luke 16:10

What do you know God wants you to do differently…

…at home?

…with your spouse?

…with your kids?

…with your leisure time?

…at work or school?

…at church?

…in your access areas? (see access areas post)

What will you do about it? Who will you tell about it?