⛪️ Practical Church: How to create an ideal workweek
💡 1 SOLUTION FOR EFFECTIVE MINISTRY
Here’s a framework to help you create your ideal workweek.
Following last week’s Practical Church podcast episode on 4 Ways To Create Your Ideal Workweek, I had a number of you reach out and ask if I have a template that I use.
While I don’t have a template per say, let me share with you my process and an image to get you started.
I use Google Calendar for my personal calendar and set repeatedly weekly calendar events for all the things I do at the same time every week. So when I am filling out the rest of my calendar each week, I am not starting from scratch. I just add additional things to what I already have set.
Below is an example of what my days typically look like on the first part of my day. These are for days Monday - Thursday.
You’ll notice that most of my time before lunch is already accounted for. The afternoons I leave free for meetings and tasks that don’t require as much focus. There are a few calendar events that occur every other week (or with non-weekly regularity, so I removed those from this calendar example).
This calendar allows me to ensure the things that are important and require me to be at my best, happen when I am at my best. It also keeps my afternoons open an flexible for meetings (I use Calendly to schedule meetings and link my Google calendar to it).
At the end of every workday, I also go ahead and fill in the remaining open spots on my calendar for the next day so I don’t spend any time wondering day-of what I should be doing next.
Of course, there are times when I have to move things around in the morning as well. When that happens, I simply move the affected calendar event to a different spot on my calendar, thus ensuring it still gets done.
Pro-tip: You’ll notice that email is missing from almost my entire morning schedule (except for Thursday). If you want to get more done, don’t check or do any email until after you get more important work done first.
💬 2 HELPFUL QUOTES
I. J.D. Greear on prayer:
“God sometimes answers our prayers by giving us what we would have asked for had we known what He knows.”
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II. Tim Keller, also on prayer:
“It is hard to stay angry at someone if you are praying for them. It is also hard to stay angry unless you feel superior, and it is hard to feel superior if you are praying for them, since in prayer you approach God as a forgiven sinner.”
🎙 THIS WEEK ON THE PODCAST
I share 5 reasons why you feel overwhelmed in ministry, how to better sermon prep, and how to create new disciplines. To submit a question for a future podcast episode, click here.
💯 1 PRACTICAL RESOURCE FOR MINISTRY
Sunday Social for social media posts/graphics.
There are many online subscriptions churches can use to help with social media content. At New City, we have previously used Sunday Social and found they are a great (and affordable!) starting point for churches looking for more social media content to help them post more consistently.
💪 1 CHALLENGE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY
What is one thing you can accomplish this week that would make this week a success?
P.S. When was meat first mentioned in the Bible?
When Noah took ham into the ark.
