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Managing our Time
By James Bradford
A friend once worked as an organizational consultant to executives in the oil industry. One day I asked him what he thought distinguished good CEOs from exceptional ones. His answer — exceptional leaders had a uniquely intuitive gift for determining the most strategic ways to fill the blocks of time in their days. In those famous words of Goethe: “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
Time, like money, needs to be managed if it is to be leveraged. The key is to prioritize and plan in advance, rather than on the run. Setting priorities means identifying those very few “matter most" activities that require daily or weekly attention in order to fulfill our core mission. For those of us who preach regularly this means sufficient time for the study, prayer, and 'creativity' that underlie good message development.
I find that creativity demands both concentration and context. Concentration thrives in uncluttered, open spaces of time: time to pray and let a message gestate in our spirits, time to dream new thoughts and let God speak to us, time to distance ourselves mentally from those tasks that interrupt our focus or dampen our creativity. I call it “psychological space.” The business world calls it "staring out the window."
Context answers to the "where?" of creativity. Are there certain settings that trigger our imaginative juices? Where are we most reflective and prayerful? Does walking (or pacing!) enhance our ability to think clearly or pray intentionally? Are there specific locations where God seems to regularly meet with us? Do we need a study space separate from the church office to psychologically insulate our intuitive work from our administrative work? Where are our books most accessible to us? Are we more creative at certain times of the day? How do deadline pressures sync with how we are wired to work?
In terms of scheduling a week, some pastors with regular preaching responsibilities find it helpful to divide their week into half-day blocks, primarily engaging only one type of work in each of those blocks -- whether it be counseling, mentoring, administration/email/correspondence, visitation or study. Usually half-day periods are sufficiently long to accommodate interruptions and yet allow some degree of thoroughness. Doing a variety of things in short bursts of time is exhilarating but not necessarily strategic.
Time management needs to assume a yearly rhythm as well. Spontaneity from week to week may get us by, but in order to feed a balanced spiritual diet to those we shepherd we need to step back and see the whole. The summer months are great for this.
In the words of another successful friend of mine: “I'm not necessarily smarter than anyone else—I'm just better organized. That way I'm always a step ahead of the crowd.” In his book on pastoring turnaround churches, Gene Wood includes a helpful appendix with fifty time management suggestions.1 Let me conclude with a few of them:
- Just say NO.
- Hold stand-up meetings. People will stick with the focus of the meeting if not allowed to sit.
- Use a time analysis sheet for a week. Compare (in fifteen-minute blocks) what you planned to do versus what you actually did. Are there patterns?
- Habitually carry 3 x 5 cards or self-adhesive notes.
- Do mundane but necessary tasks in your down time.
- Handle (most) paper only once! (We usually don’t do this because we are afraid to make decisions.)
- Develop a habit of punctuality.
- Avoid events and invitations which serve only to boost your ego.
- Become a filer, not a piler.
- When possible, do first what you dislike doing.
- Scrutinize ongoing commitments harder than onetime commitments.
- Delegate low priority items that won’t have much impact to someone who can do them 80 percent as well as you can.
Reflective Questions:
1. When and where am I the most creative and prayerful?
2. Which two or three of the time management suggestions listed above do I most need to work on?
Note
1. Gene Wood, appendix 1 of Leading Turnaround Churches (Carol Stream, Ill.: ChurchSmart Resources, 2001).
