Week 6

Week 6
February 16th, 2009

Interviewed: Pastor John Freed
When: February 16th, 2009 @ 9:30pm
Phone Interview

John Freed is a professional when it comes to time management. He actually holds seminars and staff meetings to train people in time management. His secret? The book, Getting Things Done. John says that his first two years of ministry consisted of bringing work home, working late hours into the night, and lying awake in bed worrying about all the things that still needed to get done. Since reading Getting Things Done, he can go home and leave church work at the church.
This is how he does it: Schedule Everything.

John looks at everything in life as a project that needs to be accomplished (much like homework in the world of academia). The shift from academia to real life is that in real life, you control your own projects! John will plan out everything to a tee. Meeting with his wife to go over vision making for the next youth group, it is scheduled. Meeting with the pastor to help fill the baptismal, it is scheduled. The key is to schedule every single task and break down each task into specifics and details. The more specific you are, the easier your life will be. As John puts it, 'Think before you have to think.' This is much more than a 'to-do' list, it is planning out steps.

Every Thursday John sets aside time to work on this filing project system. He plan out for the next day, week, month, and even the months to come. Each project he asks himself these questions to in order to adequately order and file them:
How long will this take? (3o minutes or 2 hours?)
When is this going to happen?
The filing system truly requires you to think through everything. The best way to keep a balanced lifestyle is to plan your life out.


John's Advice to Church Staff Newbies :
1.If you are a natural procrastinator, like John (and myself), take away all the things that distract you and organize your life. John does not play music while he works, he does not keep pictures on his desk, and he only keeps bare essentials in his office. Another distraction to him is e-mail, so he plans out set times that he checks his e-mail and ensures that others know that as well. This is the exact message that is in each of his e-mails:

2.When a church first hires you on, take two weeks to actually unpack your things. Just use the bare minimum for two weeks and work hard on whatever it is you need to get done. After the two weeks is up, figure out what you need for your office. You will find that you will not need much. This will save you time when unpacking because a lot of the stuff you have packed to move in are things you truly do not need. Find ways to best organize your office (desks, chairs, bookcase, etc.) that will help you work most efficiently.