Today’s guest blog comes to us from Matt Perman for Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Matt is former director of strategy at Desiring God and is author of the new book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way.

I know a pastor whose congregation expected him to treat his email like the phone, constantly monitoring it and responding immediately whenever something new showed up in his inbox.

That is a recipe for burnout. Having to constantly switch gears and be pulled from one thing to another can be exhausting. It becomes almost impossible to work any project to completion and gain a sense of momentum.

We all know we need to be accessible, and it’s easy to get behind in our work. It can be refreshing to know that the essence of real productivity is not remaining perfectly on top of things or having things fully under control at all times. But the essence of productivity is to know the most important things and how to get things back on track when they are out of control.

This is a matter of productivity resiliency. Productivity challenges and seasons of overload can happen to the best of us. The pastor is best served by having a system in place that minimizes the chances of this happening and allows you to quickly get back on top of things when it does.

Here are five principles for building resilience into your weekly workflow.

1. Give an hour each morning to processing email and other new input

2. Remain flexible throughout the day

3. Devote a full uninterrupted day each week to sermon prep

4. Do a weekly review

5. Take the time to catch up when things do zoom out of control

To keep things from building up more often than they really should, remember the importance of delegating. If something needs to be done, but doesn’t have to be done by you, delegate it. By email, this can be done by forwarding the email with some background. Or, if you have an assistant, you might drop it into your folder of discussion items for the next time you meet.

This means you’ll need to find someone who can help with periods of overload. A leader shares the work. Without finding help, you will often find yourself stuck.

To read the entire article, click here.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. – Effective delegation is one of those key skills that every pastor must learn…over and over and over. (Unfortunately it’s one that they don’t teach you in seminary.)

Continue your delegation education! Go deeper from a pastor’s perspective by picking up my resource, Secrets to Effective Delegation, where I share the exact process that I use. This ties in with who you are as a pastor: we are to equip others. Click here to learn more and pick up your copy today.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.