OK, listeners. It’s time to get into the big stuff. Not the easy, entry-level time management, but the stuff of practitioners and productivity evangelists. This episode is about how to lose a work week and not lose your sanity. From time to time we all have to do it. The very fear of this is probably one of the reasons people in ministry don’t sabbath well. We are scared to be out of town because of all the work we might get behind on.

The List

Life Hacks of the Rich and Famous: Journl

I especially love the idea of rhythm and routine. It helps out tremendously when you are willing to delegate the tiny decisions to the same thing, habit or practice.

The New Habit Challenge: Make a Better To Do List: Rachel Gillett

This is a great blog post. Just making a to-do list isn’t enough. Here is how to make the list actually work for you. I really like the idea of knocking out what you absolutely hate — but then building the momentum to get through the day.

How To Lose a Week (and not lose it all)

1. Know what you do. This is where a routine of weekly reviews plus a great template practice comes in handy. You can easily look at what you are regularly getting done so you can plan out your attack.

2. What can you NOT do? Everyone has those tasks they think are absolutely essential. Let’s seriously think how many of those can’t get dropped or put off for the next week.

3. What can YOU not do? This is a perfect time to start delegating. Try to hand off a task to someone just to see how well it goes. You might be able to teach them something as well as teach yourself something.

4. What can you work ahead on? Having a production calendar and a preaching calendar are essential. When you know for a few weeks you are going out of town you can slowly work towards creating some time margin.

5. Can you squeeze in a little time while you are gone? What about an hour in the morning or missing a session of the conference? If you plan to give yourself a brief moment of time you can take care of the absolute essentials or put out any fires.

6. Plan your reentry. Think about what your first day might look like. Give yourself the space to actually accomplish what absolutely needs to get done that first day back.

Resources Mentioned:

The 4-Hour Work Week
The War of Art

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