schedule | More Than Dodgeball

Chris WesleyMore Posts When You Don’t Have Time

I would like to say that when I was young and single that I enjoyed all the margin that was in my schedule to the fullest. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Just like now I had responsibilities, obligations and burdens that constantly made me wonder, “Where did all the time go?”

Doesn’t matter what season of ministry you find yourself in, time management can be a struggle. The problem comes when you do not monitor the amount of responsibilities and obligations that cross your plate. What it does is create a unnecessary and debilitating tension. In order to be successful in youth ministry and manage all that is in front of you, it’s important to step back, look at your calendar and:

Focus On A Few: There is this pressure in youth ministry to do it all; however, all that leads to is ineffective ministry. Focus on those few things that you, and only you can accomplish. By focusing on what you are best at doing you’ll have the greatest impact for your ministry. Delegate the rest to your volunteer and leadership teams to create more capacity.

Learn To Say “NO”: It’s flattering to receive invitations and offers especially when they can lead to big opportunities. While it’s not always easy to say, “NO.” what it will do is protect you from overcommitting. To discern what to accept and what to turn down, figure out what will move you towards your vision and what will pull you away.

Prioritize: To stay efficient you need to know what is Urgent, Important and Expendable. By sorting tasks and responsibilities in their proper category you won’t have to worry about tangents tearing you away from your vision. Make a list, write it down and revisit frequently.

Build Safety Nets: Find people to share your schedule, and goals with. Ask them to hold you accountable and check-in. It’s also important for you to schedule in (Even if you don’t have time) to just connect with God. When you feel as if you have no time, the best you can do is pause and wait for God’s direction.

You always have time, the question is, “How are you using it?” Consistently look at your schedule, review your responsibilities and trim what is unnecessary When you can add margin to your schedule you allow room to recover, refresh and enjoy what God has called you to do.

Which of these habits is hardest for you when it comes to making time?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

2 View Comments May 14, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts Avoid The Summertime Blues

With summer quickly approaching schedules change, people leave and you are ready for a BREAK. If you’ve been in ministry long enough you know that summer is one of the most important times of year because it enables you to make tweaks and changes without disrupting the momentum. It’s also a time for you to relax, grow and experience new things with your students (i.e. mission trips). The only problem is it’s also a perfect opportunity for:

Momentum to Fade
Volunteers to Drop Out
Teens to Forget About Your Ministry
You to Fall Behind in Your Work

To avoid these pitfalls and summertime blues it’s important to treat summer as seriously as you do any other season. To do this you need a strategy. If you want to avoid your summertime mishaps and come out on the other side focused and ready for the fall, be sure to:

Keep True To Your Schedule: The tendency is to just shut it all down over the summer. While you do need periods of rest, it’s important not to lose the time frame you work hard to promote. If you aren’t going to meet regularly with your teens still keep your program time as an opportunity to meet with parents, host trainings or check-in meetings for the camps and events. Make sure people are reminded that your designated ministry time is still on their minds.

Be Consistent But Keep It Light: While you want to maintain your meeting time, don’t feel like you need to maintain the work load. Look at cutting certain components (i.e. technology or activities) that take a lot of preparation and focus on the relationships, which can happen more organically. By planning light you give yourself the capacity to focus on strengthening your leaders and giving yourself some much needed rest.

Switch The Focus: During the year your focus is on growing disciples amongst the teens. In the summer change that focus to your leaders. Find times to meet with them, hang out, invest and grow with them spiritually. It’s a time to be reflective, to cast vision and remind them about the importance of their commitment. Make it social; however, make it educational at the same time.

Communicate, Communicate and Communicate: Despite your schedule keep the communication air waves open. Maybe it’s sending your leaders a postcard while on vacation or checking in with teens via Facebook/Twitter. Let parents know some of the tweaks and changes happening over the summer. Give teens a chance to check back in, when they are in town. Let them know that you are still thinking about them.

Summer might be your break and it might be a time for serious planning. Regardless of how you use it, make sure you approach it wisely. Do not forget about your audience while you recover from a full year of ministry. No matter your take on the summer make sure you have a strategy as the weather turns warmer.

How do you avoid summertime blues?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

1 View Comments April 30, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts Slow Down Your Ministry

Ran into a former student the other day and had to blink twice when they told me that they were graduating college. This is not the first teen in my ministry to go through college, it was just one of those moments when you wonder, “Where has the time gone?” We all experience that, life in general moves quickly. As Matthew Broderick’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off so cleverly states:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it.”

When you hit that reality it’s easy to get discouraged because you might feel like opportunities have been blown or missed. The pace of your ministry might feel like it’s unbearable and you begin to question whether or not you are really getting anything accomplished. If you feel that way then chances are you need to SLOW DOWN. And you can do that by:

Managing A Schedule: You might not feel like you have enough time in the day because you don’t manage your hours well. A schedule is for tracking your time just like a budget is for money. Budget out your work day and breaks. Track the time you are spending in certain areas of your ministry. When you can track your pace you can slow it down.

Observe Silence: Too much noise will increase the pace you have at work. Make sure your environments allow you to slow down. It might be turning off music or the Internet. It could mean finding a quiet place to write or adjusting the lights in your office. Eliminate distractions so that you can concentrate on God’s calling for you.

Simplifying Your Ministry: The more complex something becomes the more overwhelming you will feel. Look at your ministry and instead of asking, “What are we not doing?” flip it and ask, “What do we need to stop doing?” Simple can be more effective than complex because you won’t be overwhelmed, instead you’ll be more focused.

Putting Time With God First: Life gets crazy when you try and take control. Quiet time with God is something you teach your teens; however, it’s something you have to remember to do yourself. Even if you feel like you have a million things to do, you need to put God first and let Him give you the grace you need to get through it. He’s the one who will and can slow down your days.

Slowing down your work pace helps you not only manage your ministry well, but build appreciation for where God is blessing you. It gives you a chance to observe how He is impacting you, the ministry and His Kingdom. So, SLOW DOWN.

Do you feel like you need to slow down? If so what area?

Add Comment April 9, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts The Battle To Rest

A few years back I was training for my third marathon. The regimen leading up to the big race was grueling. I had to change my eating, sleeping, and exercise habits. Sacrifices in family, personal and even professional life were made. Keeping my training schedule were a priority. Finally, it got to be a little too much. I just remember refusing to run one day and then taking a break from the training for an entire 10 days. When I resumed training I had never felt better. The rest was well needed.

Youth ministry is a lot like preparing for a marathon. The days, the weeks and seasons can be grueling. Sacrifices are made and in the end you can hit a wall much like you do in running. Unfortunately, taking a break isn’t so easy because you need your job. While you might be able to take a step back (even away permanently) from a race you need to take the proper steps for REST.

REST as a youth minister means:

Enjoying time with family.
Spending time with God.
Falling back in love with your calling.

There is no question there is more rest can bring; however, being able to find it is a totally different issue. In order to find rest you need to:

Schedule It In: Sounds funny to schedule in rest; however, by putting in breaks you give yourself margin. During busy seasons you’ll use up that margin; however, when the pace truly slows down you will be able to take advantage of the “extra” time you’ve given yourself.

Say “No”: There is a fear that by saying, “No.” you are telling people not to trust you. In reality you are embracing your limitations which is good. If you are overworked and have too much on your plate not only will you sacrifice the things you enjoy, but resent what it is you are doing. Find people to hold you accountable to saying this helpful word.

Build Trust In Your Team: You need a team around you who will step up when you need to take a step back. This allows you to do the things that refresh and rejuvenate you. To truly trust your team you need to work on situations where you let them take on leadership, and ownership of the youth ministry. It’s ok if they fail and mess up, if you show them love and direction in return. A team you can trust is one that will help you rest.

Again, youth ministry can have a grueling pace. If it’s not approached with margin and limitations you’ll find yourself consistently burned out. Unfortunately, gaining rest isn’t as simple as laying your head down on a pillow, you need to take necessary steps. A youth minister who can rest, is one that can go the distance.

What steps do you take to find rest? What sabotages your efforts?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

3 View Comments February 19, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts How To Grind It Out

There are those days in youth ministry where it feels like you are running through mud. They are slow, there is no significant progress and the only thing moving is your blood pressure rising from the frustration you feel. I can’t tell you when these days will come, they just seem to emerge and when they do they are awful. So what do you do when ministry is mud?

YOU GRIND IT OUT

That means having a plan that is going to help you move forward, no matter how hard it is to be creative or productive. To develop that plan means:

Setting A Firm Schedule: A framework to your day will make sure you aren’t wearing yourself out. That means start time and stop times. Breaks and times when you just sit back and learn. During the times that you schedule for writing, creating and developing you may notice little fruit; however, having the framework will make sure you aren’t dwelling too long in the frustration they might bring.

Fuel And Rest Up: Just like an athlete when the days get hard you need to make sure your energy level is at it’s highest. That means not staying up later, eating right and taking care of your body. Sometimes the writer’s block that you feel is because you are tired or not feeling well. It’s at these times when it’s important for you to focus on your health and not your productivity.

Become A Learner: You could simply be out of ideas. Taking the time you would usually write and create and devote it to reading, watching podcasts or meeting with other youth workers. Listening to others and reading their thoughts will sometimes kickstart the productivity engine. Just make sure anything that develops you write down.

Spend Time In Prayer: When you are in a void of ideas it’s easy to feel disconnected. The best way to reignite this connection is to talk with God. I find that quiet time in scripture calms me down and takes away the frustration that I may feel when it comes to a writer’s block, lack of ideas or a hard day at work.

Youth ministry is just like any industry where you’ll find moments where you just need to grind it out. Do not stress, just go to a plan that will help you move forward. Stay focused, put your head down and lean in. Remember these seasons are temporary.

What would you add to the plan?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

4 View Comments February 5, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: What’s your Rhythm?

7am: Wake up, read the paper, drive to work
9am: Start work
12pm: Lunch break with lunchtime workout
1pm: Back to work
3:15: Coffee Break
5pm: Home time
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Kids to bed and TV Watching
10pm: Bedtime

Is this what your routine looks like? Mine neither. As youth workers we often have some weird schedules. We are up late so we start in the office later. Some days are 12 hrs long while others wrap up in a just a few, because we just came in for a meeting.

No matter what your day looks like to be effective you need to find a rhythm. Music sucks without it and so will you. What does having a Rhythm look like?

I don’t believe that every day has to look the same, in fact if it did that would be rather boring. However, I strongly believe in finding what times of day I am productive in and when am I least productive.

About a year ago I sat in on a seminar Doug Fields was leading at a conference and he was challenging people about living a balanced life. One of the things he talked about was finding your productive times and using them well. For some people that time is morning, for me it’s mid afternoon. So that’s when I focus on getting things done. I would strongly encourage you to do the same find this time yourself.

In order to figure out our productive times and how to fill them we need to look at two things:

Priorities: For me this looks like the time I spend with God for personal time and for work it is writing talks and strategizing. If it’s the most important thing to me shouldn’t it be what I am giving the best of my time and brain power
When do I have maximum brain capacity: This took some searching and messing around with the order I did things during the day. I tried writing at the beginning of my day, the middle and the end. I’ve tried starting off my day with God and ending my day with God.

Through this investigation I figured out how to make my life at home and work more effective. While my day looks nothing like what I wrote above it does have some consistency. I slot my Bible reading and message writing for mid-afternoon. I often have a snack and drink before I do this. When others are hitting that wall or slowing down, I find I can break away and really focus on God.

Now some people may be wondering what I am going to do in my less productive times, and for them I answer the things that take less brain power. I find looking for graphics, updating Facebook or twitter to require less from me so I do them during this time.

So what is your Rhythm? If you have found it, have you put your priorities in place? Are you honoring God with your time and your efforts? I want to challenge you to mix up your day and see if there is a way to make better use of it. We are never perfect but we can strive to be better.

Kyle Corbin has been serving youth as a volunteer or pastor for over 10 years. He is currently the youth pastor at the Bridge Church in North Vancouver B.C. You can follow his blog at: kylecorbin.blogspot.com or Twitter: @CorbinKyle

Add Comment December 16, 2012

Chris WesleyMore Posts Clear Your Calendar

It’s the end of the year and for many of us the days are moving faster and the amount of work is multiplying at a neck breaking speed. In youth ministry you have those seasons that pull, push and beat you up. The ones where you wonder whether or not you can hold on for another round. You try to tell yourself, “This season will be over soon and then I will rest.” But the end never comes and the busyness continues on.

The solution to combating those busy seasons is by simply CLEARING YOUR CALENDAR. That’s right take an eraser, whiteout, samurai sword or hand grenade and blow that thing up. Actually, take a breather, refrain from using those measures and try these four steps instead:

STEP #1: Prioritize Your Week - Look at what you do and categorize them in the following ways:

Must-Do
Negotiable
Totally Unnecessary

If everything appears as a must do then sit down with a trusted friend or coworker and have them analyze your schedule with you. Let them ask why and whether something can be adjusted or eliminated. Put what’s important in your highly motivated times. Delegate and eliminate the unnecessary and watch your calendar breathe.

STEP #2: Frame Out Your Days – It might differ depending on the day; however, by marking down consistent start and end times into your schedule you will create a framework of discipline. The reason your day runs long is because there are no boundaries. With no boundaries chances are you are taking too many breaks because you do not feel the pressure of a deadline. By finding that you can work 40 hours in a week and still be effective is liberating. It allows you to have a life outside of youth ministry.

STEP #3: Build In ME Time - You might be incredible at scheduling your professional life; but, how are you at your personal? It sounds wrong to plan in quiet time, family time and even when you eat; however, if you find work bleeding into home life you need to take drastic measure. By building in ME time you’ll find your relationship with God and others drastically improve.

STEP #4: Revisit Consistently – Granted you can’t always plan a busy season; however, as you feel the pace of your schedule change take the time to look at your calendar. Repeat steps 1-3 and make the adjustments that are necessary to survive and thrive. Have someone you know analyze your calendar with you. Allow them to tell you where they see holes and areas of improvement.

While you can’t clear you calendar completely, you can take better control of when you need to do what you do. It’s not the most attractive discipline; however, by managing your time you enable yourself to grow as a leader and youth minister.

How do you guard your time?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

9 View Comments December 13, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: December Pace

This week’s poll is a question about the pace of December for your youth ministry. In talking with some visiting youth workers recently it seems like the month of December was one of the craziest months of the year – then in talking to another on the phone this week it sounded like for them it was super slow and a great change of pace. Those conversations inspired the poll question this week:

What is the pace of December like for you?

JG