Wayne Hedlund

Category: PRODUCTIVITY

  • Time Management 101: The Weekly Schedule

    Time Management 101: The Weekly Schedule

    Over the years I’ve occasionally come across a person who prefers to rely on memory for upcoming events and appointments. I can only imagine that they either have an amazing memory, a very simple life or are in store for a rude awakening someday. If you have any level of responsibility over other people, whether that be at work or at home, then I highly recommend the weekly schedule. In fact, the more people in your life, the more important a weekly schedule becomes.

    The Weekly Schedule – Ugh. Personally, I would love to do many other things than work on my schedule each week. It’s work and it requires forethought and emotional energy. However, I have NEVER regretted it once I’m done. It falls into the category of things to do that won’t serve you now, but will reap great rewards later.

    Benefits of the Weekly Schedule:

    Peace of Mind.

    When you have scheduled your week really well, you will know that you won’t forget or miss anything important that week. You will prioritize your time based on the allotted hours you have available and can know that you’ve done your best.

    Maximized Creativity.

    When you choose to free your memory up from having to remember basic things, you increase your brain bandwidth so that you can focus on other things. Who wants to lie in bed at night and try to think up what the schedule is supposed to be tomorrow?

    Increased Productivity.

    Building your schedule each week will allow you to build the most appropriate hours into your week for the most important things, which means you’ll get the things done you really need to.

    A Balanced Lifestyle.

    If you build a great weekly schedule, then you will make sure you leave room for ALL the priorities in your life, rather than one or two. For instance, it’s harder for an honest person to schedule a work-week that excludes loved ones when you intentionally choose to schedule every aspect of your week.

    Stronger Relationships.

    Again, a good schedule will make sure your family, friends, direct reports, and colleagues get the attention they need. It’s nearly impossible to balance your relationships without the weekly schedule.

    POINTERS ON BUILDING YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE:

    Create a New Schedule Each Week.

    Yep. You heard me. Build a new schedule each week. No, wait. That probably doesn’t apply to everyone. Of course, if you’ve read this far, it probably still applies to you. The only reason I can see for NOT building a new schedule each week is if you don’t have kids or grand-kids, your job is exactly the same every day, and what you do each week is also exactly the same. I know a few empty nesters and retired folk who can just build a basic schedule and live with that. For the rest of us, we will need to rebuild our schedule each week.

    This is especially true for pastors. Most pastors have enough flexibility that they can modify their weekly schedule at will. I find that building my weekly schedule forces me to be faithful to my responsibilities at work while honoring my family time and personal life.

    Commit to a Certain Number of ‘Work/Ministry’ Hours Each Week.

    I want to be a little careful here. Full time ministry is a holy calling and a great privilege. However, too many times pastors and spiritual leaders sacrifice the holy calling to love and protect their family on the altar of church work. The fact is, for pastors, what’s ‘church’ for everyone else is ‘work’ for them. Hopefully, it’s a great joy and service to God when at ‘work’, but it is ‘work’ nonetheless.

    Every once in a while, I come across a pastor who does the opposite as well. They are paid a full time salary, but only put in 25 or 30 hours of ‘work/ministry’ on a given week. In the long run, this is dishonoring to the church, to the Lord, and eventually to your family. Unless you have specifically made arrangements to work part-time with your board, you should put in no less than 40 hours of work/ministry every week. If God has called you to full-time ministry, then He has called you to fulfill that role in every way you can.

    My target for each week is between 40 and 45 hours. Sometimes I may work over that, other times under; but I am faithful to those numbers. 

    Block Out Work Hours in Your Calendar.

    This may not be relevant to everyone, but it is to me. I block out the hours I intend to work each day of my week. This allows me to make sure I’m staying ‘in-bounds’ in terms of my committed hours and it also sends a clear message to everyone who has access to my calendar when I am at work and when I am not.

    Build Your Weekly Schedule Before Your Week Begins.

    I used to build my schedule on Monday mornings, when my week begins. I discovered that, by waiting until Monday, I missed scheduling out Monday. In fact, sometimes I wouldn’t even get to building my weekly schedule until the day was nearly over! So now I try to build my week on Friday or Saturday at the latest.

    Observe the Sabbath Day by Keeping it Holy.

    I know I’m preaching to the choir, but sometimes us pastors are good at preaching and forget it applies to us too. I know I do! Build at least one full day off into your schedule. I won’t tell you what to do on that day, just stay away from church emails and your office!

    Schedule Your Life, Not Your Work.

    The best way to ensure we don’t go home and become a couch potato is to schedule what will happen when you get home. Make sure you set aside time for your spouse and kids, for rest and recreation, for friends, and for your health. I’ll be honest, this is hard for most of us (and me). I think we often enjoy the ‘spontaneity’ of just coming home with little planned. The problem is that little planned can easily turns into hours of nothing.

    Big Rocks First.

    I think you know what I mean. You figure out what is most important for you to accomplish that week (it likely changes week to week) and schedule the appropriate time in. Hint: look at least three or four weeks out when you put in your big rocks. You may discover that there is something coming up that you know you’ll need to work on now that you should schedule time for. I’ll talk more about project management and advanced planning another time.

    Eat The Frog.

    Perhaps you haven’t heard the analogy yet from author Brian Tracy’s book “Eat That Frog“. The principle goes like this: If you had to eat a frog as part of your day, when should you eat it? Answer: first thing, get it over with. Take care of whatever you have facing you and dread doing early in the week.

    Follow Your Plan.

    Obviously, your time is wasted if you build a schedule and then just do whatever you feel like doing anyway. The point of the weekly schedule is to keep you on target.

    Advanced Weekly Planning:

    These next few ideas are not for the newbie. If you can successfully build and follow a weekly schedule, then consider taking it to the next level.

    Build Your Ideal Week.

    This is something I learned from Michael Hyatt right HERE and have utilized at various times in my life successfully. The idea is that you block out what you want every day to look like in a perfect world, and then build your weekly schedule based on that ideal.

    Identify Your Ideal Blocks.

    You have blocks of activity that you know you HAVE to accomplish each week in order to survive. If you are a pastor, you should figure out how many hours you really should block out for sermon prep. If you are a worship leader, same thing. You should also identify how much time you should block out each week for ‘Admin’ time – that’s time to return calls, handle emails, etc.

    Treat Blocked Time Like Meetings.

    You know those blocks of time are critical to your week and will ensure you don’t go overtime or compromise something important you have planned. So be very intentional about keeping your blocked time for things like admin, sermon prep, event prep, etc. Sometimes people will ask me if they can meet with me during a time I’ve blocked out; often my response is simply, “Sorry, I already have things I need to work on during that time. Let’s setup a time to discuss it tomorrow or next week.”

    Block Out Flex Time.

    No schedule is perfect. Leave room every day for flex time. That way, perhaps you’ll be able to make the occasional trip to the bathroom and call your spouse!

    Consider Creating Themes to Your Days or Hours.

    Again, I learned this from Michael Hyatt right HERE. What I like about this idea is that this principle should allow you to focus better by minimizing the constant need to multi-task each day.

    Schedule Two or More Weeks Out.

    I don’t always do this, but when I do, I love it. It forces me to think more long term and shows me what my limitations are in terms of time available for people and meetings. If I over-schedule in meetings one week, I can intentionally make up for lost time the following week.

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    What do you think? What else could you add to your weekly schedule to maximize your productivity?

  • How do you waste time at work?

    I ran across this great infographic about how we tend to waste our time at work. What do you think? Does the shoe fit?

  • A Field Guide to Procrastinators

    I love this infographic. The shoe fits, in several places, for all of us.

    Before you give it a gander, let me remind you of the upcoming ‘Getting Things Done’ webinar I will be hosting next month. Don’t procrastinate! Register today!

    field_guide_to_procrastinators_20px

  • The Perils of Multitasking

    MultiTaskingToday is a good day at my desk. It is empty of everything except one piece of paper on my left that holds information I need to put into my OneNote, one book on my right I might pick up and browse a little later, my coffee and my computer keyboard, mouse & monitor. My phone is on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and my cell phone is turned off. I have one application open on my computer – my browser, allowing me to type this post.

    This is a veritable miracle. It’s a rare day that I am not overwhelmed with information, interruptions, emails, texts, calls, you name it. I can say with all honesty that, when I’m trying to multitask, I’m not as smart or productive as I could be. Neither are you. Check out this infographic laying out some startling findings.

    perils-of-multitasking-inforgraphic

     

  • Everybody Say ‘asana’!

    I sort of consider myself a productivity nut, meaning I like to learn about and find new/better ways to be more productive. Last year I discovered an online task management system that was helping me manage my to do’s, projects, etc. (www.nozbe.com) It had been working well for me, but there’s also a decent learning curve, making it hard for someone who’s not a nut like me to figure it out – this is especially true because for it to be truly useful you had to understand how to use tags properly.

    Well, a few weeks ago, my friend, Bob Kniley (another nut), told me he thought he had found a new online task management system (with a great price – FREE) and suggested I check it out. I fell in love with it within 10 minutes of reviewing it. I have now transferred all of my tasks to asana.

    What makes it a very effective system is the fact that:

    • It’s very user friendly (easy to learn for the non-nuts).
    • It allows for layered tasks (nut language for, ‘it lets you have a big category of tasks, with a ton of projects in that category, and a ton of tasks for each project, with as many steps as needed for each task’).
    • It emails you your upcoming, due, or overdue tasks if you want it to.
    • It lets you email tasks into your task list from your mail client without going to the site.
    • It allows you to collaborate by assigning tasks to other people – and it’ll keep you informed of their progress if you want it to.
    • Did I mention it’s free (note – it’s free if you have less than 30 people included in any given workspace).

    I recommend you check it out! You’ve got nothing to lose and perhaps a lot to gain!

  • The Science of Productivity

    I ran across this great video the other day. Since I’m a productivity nut, I just had to share it. Enjoy.

    [su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/lHfjvYzr-3g” width=”320″ height=”200″]

  • Why People Don’t Do


    thoughts-that-stop-creativity-entrepreneur

  • Procrastination Inception

    procrastinationI ran across this great little video about the science of procrastination on churchm.ag the other day and just had to spread the wealth. Great stuff. Enjoy!

     

    photo credit: splitbrain via photopin cc

  • Time Management 101: Get Meeting Happy

     

    I have a recommendation for you. FILL UP YOUR CALENDAR WITH MEETINGS! That’s right. I believe this can be a very powerful tool to help you stay focused, use your time wisely and get things done. Since I’m sure you don’t want to be stuck in any more meetings than I do, I guess I better explain myself. The point of this basic time management principle isn’t to get more busy, but LESS busy, by ensuring you schedule out your week and days in advance.

    Here are the different kinds of meetings you should fill your calendar with:

    • Team Meetings.
      A team meeting is any meeting that includes more than two people. It’s important you connect with the team(s) you work with. That doesn’t mean you should be in team meetings all day, every day. Limit team meetings as much as possible so that you have the time/energy in your week to process and get done what you’ve been dreaming and talking about in team meetings. I also recommend you clarify the type of team meetings you participate in. I lay out the three basic kinds of meetings in the post: The Seats of the Bus.
    • One on One Meetings.
      One on One meetings include any meeting between just you and one other person. If you manage people (staff or volunteers) you should be holding 1on1 meetings with various people in order to encourage, evaluate, and equip them for ongoing ministry. If you have a boss (or direct report), hopefully you are invited to similar meetings with him or her (if not, I encourage you to setup a 1on1 with them to talk about it). Finally, 1on1 meetings will include counselling sessions, lunch appointments, time with key staff to connect or troubleshoot problems, etc. Check out Tactical Tip: Moving to Eye Level.
    • Self-Appointments.
      The rest of your calendar should be filled in with self-appointments. These are blocks of time that you have dedicated to getting things done. Most people don’t fill their calendar in with self-appointment time. As a result, the tyranny of the urgent rules the day. Long term projects, study time, prayer time, and admin time get squeezed in wherever it will fit in – and often it doesn’t fit in. I recommend you protect self-appointments like you would 1on1 and team meetings. That doesn’t mean you become legalistic about it, just protective. For example, you might create a weekly self appointment on Mondays for 1-2 hour slot that is specifically set aside for reading or study; or perhaps a 5 hour chunk for sermon prep on Tuesdays. You could slot off a 2 hour chunk on a Thursday to work on a long term project or something that is coming up later this month. I often create self-appointments prior to 1on1 and team meetings so I can prepare for them properly.
    Additional Suggestions:
    Here are a few more random suggestions in regards to filling your calendar with meetings.
    • Schedule ‘Off Time’ Too.
      It’s just an idea, consider scheduling what your off hours (that means hours you don’t work – for those of you who keep hours like that) look like too? This is where you would include the obvious, like Doctor appointments and kids games. But it could also include specific time with the whole family or individual family members, down time, TV time, exercise, and more.
    • Block Flexible Hours.
      If you are a pastor, you know that any given week you need to be available to meet with people, even if those meetings aren’t setup today. Block the hours and days you will be available for 1on1 meetings. If you don’t have meetings during that block of time, work on other things. The key is to keep most of your meetings within those blocked times and protect the rest of your week’s self-appointments.

  • Time Management 101: Margin – A Matter of Priorities

     

    I wonder what you would change in your schedule if you found out you could spend personal, 1on1 time with Bill Hybels for the next four weeks? What would you decide you could afford to ‘let go’ for a while?

    • The weekly lunch or breakfast appointment?
      Perhaps you would arrange to meet with them monthly instead.
    • A block of time set aside for counselling?
      Maybe a church elder could meet with them, or you could refer them to a professional.
    • A Bible Study or weekly church event that you lead?
      You may possibly cancel it or find someone else to lead it.
    • An upcoming special event that you know will heavily tax you this month?
      Perhaps you will cancel it or delegate it to others.
    Wow. You just freed up 2-4 hours every week for several weeks in a row! That’s what I call ‘margin’. It’s ‘flex’ time that is specifically set aside to focus on Quadrant 2 Activities – the things that are Important, but not necessarily Urgent (click here to learn more about the priority matrix.) What if you knew you had at least 2-3 hours every single week that was solely dedicated to thinking, praying and planning? What if you had time to think and focus on the various problems that you generally ignore each week, but wish you didn’t have to?

    Here’s the problem: Most of us don’t prioritize ‘margin’. We read books, watch seminars and go to conferences that remind us that we should set time aside in our weekly schedule to dream, plan, problem-solve and pray, but rarely do we actually set that time aside. The ‘Tyranny of the Urgent’ keeps us off balance. Our ministries stay unfocused. We have become semi-comfortable with being overwhelmed and overworked.

    Margin isn’t something that shows up in our calendars all by itself. It’s planned. It’s prioritized. It’s meticulously protected; but you DO HAVE WHAT IT TAKES to build margin into your life. You just need one key ingredient and it’s yours for the taking: You need to change your priorities. 

    Somehow, you’ve convinced yourself that everything you’re doing this week and next week and the weeks after are more important than several hours of strategic planning and prayer. I know they aren’t more important. Note: I didn’t say the things you do aren’t important, I said they aren’t AS important.

    Don’t believe me? Let’s participate in a short exercise to find out. Let’s pretend for a moment that a great and respected pastor or leader called you out of the blue this week and told you that he or she would be willing to meet with you, privately, once a week for the next month for a few hours. Perhaps it would be someone like Bill Hybels, Robert Morris, or Beth Moore. Think of the person you would absolutely love to spend time with for a while. You know where this is going . . . would you be able to reorganize your life and schedule to accommodate them? 

    If you answered ‘yes’ then you just proved my point. The fact is that you may actually get MORE out of a few hours of focused planning and prayer each week for the specifics of your ministry than you would in meeting with these highly respected and seasoned leaders!

    Steal 15 minutes from your schedule RIGHT NOW to build margin into your schedule. Cancel, reschedule, shift and reorganize whatever you need to. I know you won’t regret it.