Hey Friend - Most of us plan our day by the clock, but what if we started planning by energy instead? In the last email, I shared about understanding our energies and how they get filled or drained. Today, I want to build on it and talk about how we can use the 3D framework to take advantage of the best times of the day to do specific ministry tasks. I believe doing the right thing at the wrong time can negate our best work. When I'm funky in my ministry productivity, energy is the first place I look. We aren't 100% ready to go 100% of the time. We have high times and low times of energy. Let’s call it the energy curve. Grab a piece of paper and keep track of a few things over the next week. When are you the most alert and excited? When are you indifferent or bored? When are you foggy? Track it for a week. Note when you are experiencing these feelings. Are they happening at the same time of day? That’s the beginning of understanding the energy curve. We can also go a step beyond the day. We have certain days of the week with different feelings. I’ve learned that any sort of major, creative work needs to get done at the front end of the week. It doesn’t happen well on Thursday. That is a major shift for me. I used to write sermons on Thursdays. Not anymore. When I'm preaching or doing big creative work, I do it on Mondays and Tuesdays. So let’s apply that energy curve to your ministry week. Schedule sermon work and other deep work tasks at the best times of the day for your energy (Carey Nieuwhof calls this the green zone). If you read the last email and made your 3D lists, this is also prime-time for some of those developing tasks. For me, afternoons are always a wash. I try to schedule for the tasks I am indifferent about, or need some attention, but not too much thought. In the 3D framework, this is when I like to work on "dealing tasks". I also schedule certain types of meetings at this time. So when are you at your worst? Foggy, too tired to concentrate, that sort of feeling? This time matters. Lately, this is when I schedule a bit of reading time, or a phone conversation I know won’t be too intense. As far as the week is concerned, almost all day on Thursday, I am in this space. So I make sure I’ve got stuff waiting on me at that won’t be critical for me to be at my best. Energy curves are a secret tool that many folks don’t understand how to leverage. It's not just about protecting your good energy. It's also about knowing what you can expect from yourself throughout the day. Healthy ministry through strategic productivity isn’t about more hours in the day - its about developing better timing and expectations of ourselves. So let me ask you this question. What’s one high-value task you can protect during your best time of the day? I’ll be back in the next email to share why I am a big fan of certain assessments to understand my approach to awareness and the work of ministry. Chad PS - I'm doing a flash sale on my course Becoming Productive this weekend. It's 30% off it's normal price, just for email subscribers. You can get it at the discounted price here. |
I steward Productive Pastor, a podcast and community of ministry leaders focused on how productivity and strategic ministry in the average church. I write about practical approaches to ministry productivity. I also write emails about church stability/development and my own theological musics in our current social moment.
After 20 years of working at a church, I have seen countless approaches to my own ministry productivity. Now, I am in an admin role and boots on the ground since I work within the denominational system. I've been thinking through some shifts over the past month, and I realize these are applicable to a broader spectrum. Especially if you are stepping into a staff-sized church of a few hundred people. I am low-key curious about how this would have affected my last full-time ministry gig when I...
I had a conversation last year with a family member that is making its way into nearly all conversations with the churches I work with. My brother-in-law’s Grandmother is a regular part of our family. We see her at least weekly. I enjoy it because I have no one left in my family of her generation. She is 87 and is a ball. Last year, we were talking about how she felt the world was becoming crazy (because it is) and she kept referencing how no one is part of church anymore (she isn’t wrong)....
Hey Friend - How's your spring been? Let's just say I've been busy. I'll tell you more about my super not-so-secret project I cooked up at the last minute around 6 weeks ago at the end of the email. But let's talk about CliftonStrengths. Many of us are familiar with Strengths. It used to be called Strength Finders...and funny enough, Gallup has even started changing the language to refer to them as talents, because the tool is so much more than simply learning what you might be good at. I...