Tonight I am sitting in our basement watching a movie, catching up on email, working on a new KidzMatter resource, and writing a blog post. Oh, there’s one more thing I’m doing: thinking about tomorrow morning. I love Sundays. Sunday is the only day that I can’t wait for the alarm clock to ring at 6:15.
Tomorrow morning I’ll arrive at the church and do what I love - making sure we have enough nursery workers and that all the teachers show up. Oh wait, that’s the part I don’t like. The part I love is leading kid’s church at the 8:15 and 10:45 services.
Here’s my Saturday night thought. Hundreds of parents will place their trust in me tomorrow. They will work hard to get their kids to kid’s church on time with their little Bibles in hand. Our bus workers spent hours today visiting their bus routes so the buses will be filled with kids who will hear about Jesus. My pastor has trusted me to faithfully teach the principles and precepts of God’s Word to the most impressionable part of the church - our kids.
Since hundreds of parents are counting on me, since my bus workers have worked so hard today, and since my pastor has placed his trust in me - I must do my best. I’ve got to give it my all!
7. Get creative with your family time. I try to take a family member with me every chance I get. I also try to combine my family time with something else. I go walking with Julie, cycling with Julie and Whitney, tennis with Yancy and Julie, movies with my son-in-law and shopping with them all. Call them when you can just to say hi.
6. Decide what can be postponed or eliminated. This step goes back to priorities. You are the only one that can determine what’s urgent and what can wait.
Don’t just look at the task look at the time you have and the time involved.
Learn to say no! This is a key skill required to simplify life. I’ve also learned that a big part of saying yes to urgent and important matters means you MUST say no to less urgent or unimportant things. When time is short I look to managing me first, then others and manage things last.
5. Do more than one thing at a time. I try to always make the most of waiting, commute times, and meals. All 3 of these are great times for study, meetings, and people development, time to return messages and emails and to make assignments as well as plan. Take something to read with you where ever you go. I even use a hands free phone so I can type and check emails while I talk.
4. Use time saving tools. Every job goes smoother when you use the right tools. Here are the tools I rely on to help me keep my life simpler: Cellular phones, (pda phone is the best of both worlds, and yes I want an iphone.) a timer, thank God for Radio Shack! I use it to stay on time and end meetings, phone calls and sermons at the time I have allotted. I also use a service at Jott.com. My most valuable tool is my calendar. You can’t manage time without a day planning system. I use a PDA because I had reached a place where my calendar system was a time waster. How did you know that, Jim? Because I have developed a habit that saves my bacon on a regular basis, I account for my time daily as I spend it. Another wonderful tool is voice mail. It can eliminate some memos and even a meeting. A tip to remember is when you can leave details instead of needing a call back. Next is a tool that is where my master calendar is kept is my computer. I use a laptop because it helps me keep life simple everywhere. (Have you seen the new thin macbook?) By having a computer with me everywhere I am it helps me meet deadlines, network and brainstorm with others, do things once rather than constantly redo. I depend on a computer so much I have a spare just in case I need it. Other tools I use include email groups and drafts so things I say over and over I can send without retyping and those people I send to a lot I make a group.
The problem with email is knowing when to talk and not type, it’s all about keeping life simple. I’m also a big fan of two other tools blogging and websites. Both can be huge assets in communicating with key leaders, workers and parents.
3. Delegate to others those things that they can do for you even if it’s short term.
When you’re out of time use someone else’s. There are times I need to delegate something long term there are times I do it for a season. Make a list of everything you are doing that someone else can do. I hear you saying “but they can do it as well as me.” I know, I’ve been there. This is why you use checklist and job descriptions as well as special assignments to get them to do it your way. If you have not identified where you need help and what you need to stop doing you’ll just keep doing what you’ve always done and have the same results.
2. Keep your priorities in order. As I said above this is a daily choice. The order of your priorities may be different at different times; this is where your leadership must become intentional. My favorite scripture in the whole wide world is Proverbs 28:2 “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order. Maintaining order is the missing element in becoming a super leader.
1. Set your priorities! You can’t keep priorities if you don’t have priorities. If you can’t name your priorities by number at gunpoint then they are not how you order your life.
Arrange your events, tasks and duties by your priorities. My first 3 never change. My relationship with Christ, my relationship with my family, and my pastor’s problems. All other priorities in my life can change daily. I must be willing to make their choices on a daily basis. Could you make a list right now of your top 10 priorities?
We must choose to keep life simple! It’s our choice when things get crazy.
Sometimes our responsibilities and the pressures of life affect us in a negative way.
We see this in the story of Mary and her sister Martha. Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” We all are face with this choice so to help me keep my crazy world on track here are 18 steps I use to keep life simple when things are crazy.
I can’t believe that next week our editorial team meets to plan the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of K! Magazine. It seems like yesterday that we had our first meeting to talk about the Jan/Feb 2008 Inaugural Issue of the magazine.
It’s been a great year. People always ask me, “How do you do it all?” The answer is simply this. God has given us a great team. We have an awesome staff at KidzMatter, a creative team of editors and artists, advertisers who are supportive and believe in our mission, and lots of others.
I’d like to hear from you! Don’t write a book, but leave a comment on this blog post about what you like about K! Magazine and what we could do to make it even better going into 2009. Each comment will be shared in our next editors meeting. So, will you help us right now? Tell us what you like and what we could do to be better. Thanks!
