What other people use to manage their time wouldn't fit me. After years of being a salesman, and a pretty tame time/schedule continuum which I was pretty much totally in charge of, now I have days when nothing I planned can be accomplished. The ebb and flow of ministry just makes it difficult to keep a tight schedule.
Using the Palm Pilot and keeping an up to date calendar on the laptop helps. And really, just having the laptop and shuttling it from home to church and back makes a big difference, because everything I work on is in one place.
But the biggest help I've found lately is something I'm not doing.
For several years, I was deeply involved in an online forum for pastors. The wealth of insight I found there, combined with the camaraderie of people involved in the same avocation I am, made it a place I felt at home - like I was part of a big family.
Well, like in some real families, things happen to change the relationship. And to make a long story short, I decided that I would severely limit my interaction there from now on.
Friends, I have time.
Time to research sermons and Bible studies. Time to call on members. Time to strategize, to think, to pray, to plan. I had no idea how much time I was wasting on there.
Take a look at what you're spending your time on. It might not be worth it.
Grace!
David
Wise words... and a wise choice.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, David.
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