Read an Excerpt
Time Management for the Christian Leader
Or How to Squeeze Blood from a Turnip
By Ken Willard Abingdon Press
Copyright © 2015 Ken Willard
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63088-426-0
CHAPTER 1
THE JOURNEY
Where are we going?
The priest replied to them, "Go in peace. The Lord is watching over you on this trip you've taken."
—Judges 18:6
It's all about you.
In 2002, Pastor Rick Warren wrote a very popular book called, The Purpose Driven Life that starts with the sentence, "It's not about you." While that is certainly true in the big picture, when we focus on the "why" component of managing our time God has given us, we do need to start with a little self-reflection.
When I look at a map of the exodus route the Israelites took from Egypt, the first thing that comes to mind is, "too bad no one had a GPS." Do you ever get the feeling you are wandering in the wilderness? The first phase of time management we are going to look at focuses on purpose.
• Why is it important for you to get the most from your time?
• What specific area of time management do you struggle with the most?
• Where would you like to spend more of your time if it were possible?
Only you can answer these questions. Is it important for you to maximize your time so you can spend more time with your family? With God? With your community? Are you struggling to keep up with all your commitments at work? Maybe you have reached the point in your career where you are tired of putting in over seventy hours a week and always feeling like you never get enough done. Whatever the reason, the true purpose of time management must be clear to you and important enough for you to realize that something must change. One of my favorite quotes is often attributed to Albert Einstein: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." The truth is that for us to get different results in our time management, we will have to change some behaviors. The rest of this book will give you some ideas and suggestions for how to do this, but it must start with you. So I ask again, why is it important for you to get the most from your time?
This purpose will become the catalyst for everything that follows. When you encounter struggles along the way, and I guarantee that you will, this purpose is what will enable you to get back on track.
In 1984, I was going to school at a local community college and decided to take a semester off to get married. That semester turned quickly into about twenty years. While I had always wanted to get a college degree, working full-time to support my family was more important, and I never could figure out a way to go back to school.
As our daughter got older and started looking at where to attend a college, the desire for my own degree became stronger. The ability to take classes online on my own schedule as I traveled also made this possible for the first time. The purpose of attaining a college degree changed from just something that I always wanted to do into a passion to match what our daughter was doing. It was that purpose that kept me going though many challenging days and courses.
Take a minute right now and read your life verse. If you do not have one particular Bible verse already identified, then look through the books of Proverbs, Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts until you find a verse that really jumps out at you. Then prayerfully and truthfully answer the questions on the Discussion Questions page. Do not worry about writing your responses out perfectly or even in complete sentences. This is only for you. Share with others only if you feel compelled to do so.
The key is that you understand why it is important for you to improve your time management skills at this time.
Now let's see how we can take that foundation of purpose and start building on it to ultimately reach our goals of increased productivity and more time for the areas which are most important to us.
Having a purpose is the difference between making a living and making a life.
—Tom Thiss
What Would You Do with an Extra Hour Every Day?
The Huffington Post conducted a survey of 1,000 adults and asked them what they would do with an extra hour. Here are the top five responses:
36%—Relax
27%—Sleep
27%—Spend time with family or friends
24%—Athletic activity/exercise
20%—Housework
"Only thirteen percent of respondents said they have enough time to accomplish the things that are important every day—a feeling so prevalent that researchers have taken to calling it 'time famine'" (Belkin, "HuffPost Poll").
Discussion Questions
Why is it important for you personally to get the most from your time?
What specific area of time management do you struggle with the most? Where are you challenged?
What areas of time management do you feel are currently strengths? What are you doing well that you'd like to grow?
Where would you like to spend more of your time if it were possible?
[] Family and friends
[] Reading and reflecting on scripture
[] Prayer—talking and listening to God
[] Exercise and athletic activities
[] Sleeping
[] Relaxing
[] Housework
[] Home repairs
[] Serving in the community
[] Work
[] Watching television
[] Serving at church
[] Something else
The truth is, we cannot manage the clock.... managing time is really about managing, even orchestrating, the occurrence of activities in our lives.
—Warren "Trapper" Woods, CSP and William A. Guillory, PhD,
Tick Tock! Who Broke the Clock?
Plans fail with no counsel, but with many counselors they succeed.
—Proverbs 15:22
Teach us to number our days so we can have a wise heart.
—Psalm 90:12
CHAPTER 2
STRATEGIC PLANNING
What is most important to you ... and to God?
My plans aren't your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans.
—Isaiah 55:8-9
In consulting with many churches over the years, I have spent a lot of time focused on mission and vision. The sad truth is that too many churches have lost sight of their mission and have no clear vision for where God is calling them. Thus we end up with churches that are just going through the motions and fighting to survive.
A few years ago, a couple of friends and partners of mine, Dr. David Hyatt and Kay Kotan, and I wrote a workbook for churches called Strategic Ministry Planning. Much of that workbook was based on the works of Aubrey Malphurs, specifically his book Advanced Strategic Planning. In that workbook and in our workshops we help church leaders work through the areas of values, mission, vision, goals, and objectives. In this section we are going to take a look at the areas of mission and vision as they pertain to you on an individual basis. This is your opportunity to go up a few thousand feet and look at your life from a new perspective.
Mission is typically described as what an organization does. For example, in a Christian church the mission has been given to us: "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age" (Matt 28:19-20).
So churches that follow Jesus should be making disciples. How about you? How would you explain to someone you just met what you do? Would your answer vary depending on the context—at work versus at church—or maybe depending on who was asking?
Don't skip over this too quickly. While this may seem a little out of place at first, how you understand what you do is critical to everything that follows. You will certainly have more than one answer—most of us do. So take a few minutes to honestly answer the question:
What is it that you do?
How do you think others would describe what you do? Is it in agreement with what you wrote or is there a disconnect? How would your supervisor, your spouse, or your best friend describe what you do?
There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which of these is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Superego, or Self-Interest.
—Frederick Buechner
How much of your time each week is actually spent doing what you just described as your mission? What would it look like (and feel like) if you were able to increase that by 10 percent? For example, what if you said that you spend twenty hours a week focused on your mission. Imagine just moving that to twenty-two hours a week. Over the course of a year that is 104 hours! A small increase each week can easily add up to some significant time over a year or more. How might that impact your mission?
Let's take a look at how a small investment now can pay big dividends later.
He was the fifteenth of seventeen children, born the son of a poor candlemaker. He had little more than a year of formal schooling. He became an author and editor; scientist and inventor; statesman and diplomat. He was Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin was a great optimist, a visionary, a forward thinker. In his will, he left 1,000 pounds sterling each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia.
[He said,] "I wish to be useful even after my death, if possible, in forming and advancing other young men, that may be serviceable to their country in both of these towns."
He specified that the money was to be used to make low-interest loans for young apprentices. One hundred years after his death, after the money had grown considerable, only part could be disbursed. It was this money that helped to create The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia and The Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. His additional stipulation was that the remaining money couldn't be distributed for another 100 years. In 1990, 200 years after his death, the money was worth $6.5 million. What began with a fairly small sum turned into an immense monetary amount, capable of influencing the lives of countless individuals. And it all began because of one man's small philanthropic act. (Harvey and Sedas, The Power of 10% )
A pastor I was coaching once shared with me that she felt very clearly that her mission was to make disciples of Christ. In between two of our coaching sessions I asked her to track how and where she was spending her time for a few weeks. During our next coaching session she shared the results and was surprised at how little of her time each week she was able to connect to her mission to make disciples. There were of course some activities, tasks, meetings, and so on that could be stretched to say they were in some way connected. But she was the one who made the final decision as to the number of hours each week associated with her mission and the total number was upsetting to her.
During a few subsequent coaching sessions we were able to identify a couple of hours each week where she could eliminate, delegate, or adjust a few items in order to focus more time on her mission. Now this is important, she did not adjust her schedule to work more hours. Working more hours is not really the point and not a good time-management technique. The point is to find a way to spend more of your time on what is important. This is why understanding your mission is so critical.
Now let's look at vision. In a local church we will often say that vision is where God is calling the church to go. We will use words like, "clear and compelling" and "challenging" as we help the leaders discern God's vision. All of this should work equally well for you and your life.
As you look down the pathway of your life, where do you feel God is calling you to go? Some people have a very clear vision for their life and can share it with others even at a very young age. Many of us are able to see more of God's work in our lives when we look in the rearview mirror and not as much from the front window. How about you? Do you have a clear and compelling vision from God for the rest of your life? No? Well that is okay too. Many people are in the same boat.
Let's narrow things down a bit. If you find yourself struggling too much with visualizing decades or your total life, how about visualizing the next few years? Again, don't skip through this too quickly. You may not get to hear God speaking to you in a burning bush, but you most likely have heard that still, small voice whispering in your ear. You may want to spend some time in prayer and meditation (listening more than talking) before you answer this question. That would be great.
Here are a few questions to ponder if you feel stuck before you answer the main vision question:
• What part of your job or ministry brings you the most pleasure?
• Where do you tend to see the most fruit from your efforts?
• If money were no longer an issue, what would you spend the rest of your life doing?
• Where do you tend to get the most compliments from others?
• What are you doing when time seems to fly?
• What draws other people to you?
• What do you tend to spend time teaching others?
• Where do you seem to have the most influence?
• If you could create your dream job, what would it be? What would be your job title?
Using all of this input, answer the following question as honestly and completely as possible. This will hopefully give you some direction for your personal vision.
Where do you feel God calling you in the next few years?
Now let's pull some of this together. When we talk about mission being what we do, how does that impact time management? The obvious answer is that doing a better job of managing our time will not mean much in the long run if we are not doing what we should be doing. This is not as much about jobs or roles at work as it is about us all doing what we were put on earth to do by our creator. Before we get too deep theologically, we just need to focus a little more on our whole lives and not just on time management at work or time management in any one situation. So the mission piece is meant to keep us focused on our overall picture and not just any one part. Try thinking about it this way: how would doing a better job of managing the time God gives you each week help you be more of what God created you for?
The vision component is intended to keep us focused on where God is calling us to go and not just on the day in front of us. Many times we focus on where we want to be in a year, or two, or more. That is great. We should certainly factor that into our long-range plans and use that as part of our overall time-management process. However, let's be sure to include God in there somewhere.
The clearer we are on our mission here on earth and on our vision for the next few years, the better our opportunities to get there using the planning process we will cover in the next chapter.
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
—Helen Keller
The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
—Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
Discussion Questions
How would you describe your personal mission?
How might your mission affect how you are spending your time each week?
What do you currently see as the vision for your life?
Discussion Questions
What steps, if any, do you need to take in order to move closer to that vision?
What excites you the most about the vision you feel God has for your life?
What scares you about this vision?
What is one small step you can take in the next thirty days toward this vision?
* * *
Most people don't aim too high and miss, they aim too low and hit.
—Bob Moawad
Prudent people see evil and hide; the simpleminded go right to it and get punished.
—Proverbs 27:12
The difference between wise people and naïve people is not what we see, but how we respond. Wise people act as if tomorrow is today.
—Mike Schreiner
Change everything, and everything will change!
—Mark Thienes and Brian Brockhoff, Gapology
CHAPTER 3
PERSONAL PLANNING
How can you best plan for your long-term.
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.
—Jeremiah 29:11
If we do not plan our time, then our time will plan us.
The concept of planning breaks down into three main areas: long-term, short-term, and daily. We are going to take a look at each of these areas along with the overall concept of planning tools in this chapter. Let's start with long-term planning.
Long-Term Planning
Long-term planning is typically more than three months out. Many churches and other organizations will concentrate on plans for a year at a time. Sometimes this is done on a school calendar or the organization's calendar, but most of the time this is done on a calendar year of January to December. When you are looking at doing some long-term planning for yourself, just pick a calendar time frame that works best for you.
In working with churches, we usually encourage them to limit their long-term planning to three to five big goals. It is best for individuals to do the same. What would you like to accomplish in the next six to twelve months?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Time Management for the Christian Leader by Ken Willard. Copyright © 2015 Ken Willard. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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