Week 6 - Time Management Advice

Adam Fike
Tuesday 2/17

Interviewed – Pastor Mark Deisler on January 28, 2009

1. Boundaries
Pastor Mark takes every Friday off, and he protects this time at all costs. He advised me to pick a day during the week that I not do any work or ministry except in the case of an emergency. He said Saturday is often not a good day because there are often ministry events on Saturday. Pastor Mark also tries to protect evenings unless there are board meetings scheduled. He says his evening schedule varies greatly from week to week so it is hard to establish set boundaries in the evening. Pastor Mark told me it is important to establish these boundaries early in ministry, especially when raising kids. It is important to have that time set aside for family. He said that he was the solo pastor in his first church, and his office was at home. At that time, it was not as important to establish a day off because he could take breaks with his family every day.

2. Time Management Advice
1. Pastor Mark advised me to set time boundaries not only by taking a day off every week, but all across the board. This means limiting meeting times with people, counseling sessions, nursing home visits, etc.
2. He also explained to me how he organizes his time for the week. He said that on Monday, he will write everything he knows he has to do for the week on a pad of paper, and cross off things as he goes. This way, he doesn’t forget things and can prioritize his schedule by listing the big stuff first. Then, he looks at his week looking for big chunks of time he can set aside for studying and sermon preparation.