The Power of Doing it all

Two of the most challenging things about the ministry are how many hats you wear and how little control of which one you'll need to wear at any given moment.  So many productivity sites are geared to folks who know what their day will look like.  We're told to block out hours of time for particular tasks the night before so we have a good sense of the flow of our day.  But that doesn't take into account the emergency calls, last minute hospital visits, drop in chats, or even impromptu pastoral counseling sessions with our secretaries.  

As a person with ADD, my natural inclination in the face of such seemingly insurmountable planning obstacles is flit from one thing to another fairly rapidly.  The feeling that I might be interrupted never made me particularly uncomfortable, but did encourage my natural tendency never to settle down to any one thing for very long.  Why bother when as soon as I did, someone would probably call for advice or complaint?

Working with a coach has helped me to understand what is called "Start Up Cost", a diabolical topic I'll discuss in a future post.  But I've come to take seriously how difficult it is for me to begin a task.  To limit that cost on my energy, thought and effort, I began to use a technique called batching.  It is a game changer.

Batching doesn't require that you are able to block out your whole day in neat little chunks. However, if you find yourself with an expanse of time in your schedule, consider batching like things together.  For instance, I am much more efficient and effective when I plan a month of worship at a time instead of a week at a time.  Three months at a time is even better.  I am able to find a flow not only in how I'm writing, but in how the arc of the year is going to help establish a theme.  The work is so much quicker, but it is also deeper, more joyful, and more meaningful.  

I don't currently have a secretary, so I manage our social media.  Batching that work by creating and scheduling post publication several weeks ahead helps me to have better foresight about how they fit together, support upcoming events, or mark special occasions.  It keeps me in a creative mode that is a different skillset than when I'm writing sermons.  

Batching visitation helps me have a better mental map of where folks are, allows me to prepare for visits more easily with required communion and any seasonal gifts or literature, and to be in a less scattered mindset as I enter into relationship with folks who need me.  Phone calls are something that I struggle with.  Maybe it is a generational thing?  But if I batch them, it can feel like one long phone call, and it allows me to reward myself in a way that makes the stress more palatable, or to understand that I'm going to need to order take out for dinner because it was a "phone call day".  

Even if you don't have control over your day, you'll have some say in how you spend portions of it. Batching like tasks can make those moments more pleasurable and powerful.  In ministry, doing it all isn't a possibility, but doing it all at once is a great strategy.