The below excerpt is from my book The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Time Management. 

Turning time management into a game can be fun and rewarding. Not only will doing so make these skills much easier to learn, but it will help you to internalize them, to integrate what you have learned into your daily life. Here are six tips that will help you have fun with this serious endeavor:

1. Change your way of thinking. You may think you are too busy for games–but the reality is that you’re too busy not to participate in the game of time management.
2. Challenge yourself. See whether you can accomplish certain activities more quickly as you incorporate the tips in this book. Chart your progress so you can know when you are moving forward. Compare multiple approaches to determine which are faster and more effective. When you hit upon a good way to do something, double down and try to do it even better.
3. Compete with others. Find other pastors who also want to better themselves and initiate some friendly competition. Try to outdo each other with your levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Too many pastors compete over issues like attendance and budgets. Let those go and start competing over something that can make your respective ministries healthier and more fruitful.
4. Expect setbacks. Progress comes with repletion and practice. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you are trying a new time management game and lose a round. Keep working at it. The improvement will come.
5. Celebrate progress. Time management involves a never-ending cycle of improvement. There isn’t a finish line; like the athlete continuously striving to break a pervious record, you can always do better. Don’t wait till you achieve some nebulous standard of perfection; instead, celebrate your incremental successes. Reward yourself for making progress in any area.
6. Get a cheering section. No sporting event would be complete without fans going crazy for their favorite team. Gather some people who will intentionally celebrate with you when you make even a small amount of progress. Their encouragement will go a long way.

– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman

The above excerpt is from pgs. 17-18 of The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Time Management. 

Time is your most important God-given resource no matter how hard you work, you can’t make a day last longer than twenty-four hours. By mastering a set of proven time-management principles, you can regain control of your life. It is possible to manage your time so that you can stay on top of the never-ending demands of being a pastor, nurture your congregation, spend quality time with your family, and take care of your physical and emotional needs. Become the pastor God has called you to be.

P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© 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.