Rich Kao

Pastors have to work hard.  Thankfully, my upbringing (what was modeled to me by my parents), my work experience in the marketplace and my academic years conditioned and trained me to work hard.  I enjoy working hard, because I'm energized by it.

What do I do to be efficient and productive?  I've come to realize that my time management practices are not really time management habits, but energy management practices.  

Here's what I do and it may help you.

1st, my schedule and what I need to get done is dictated by two things:  deadlines and lists.   These are what set my boundaries.  I have a list of what needs to get done, and I know by when.  To keep these lists, I use post-it notes, my PDA, entourage, napkins, business cards, and scraps pieces of paper.  Then every 3-4 days, I aggregate them onto a central written list.  I guess I have the ability to keep track of where all the pieces of information are.  Here's why I use so many ways to keep notes (as opposed to one catch-all for everything) -- my days and activities are too varied to always carry one form of information trap.  I can't always be near my computer, I can't always have a note pad with me, I can't always use my cell phone/PDA; people give me info rather than me interviewing them for it; and it's more natural at times to get information in the flow of the moment; e.g. someone writes a new phone number on their business card.

2nd, I sort my to do list by what will energize me or de-energize me while keeping in my head the big picture of all the deadlines I need to meet.  I don't actually "sort" or "rank" my list as some time management guru's tell you to do; I actually just pick off the things on my list based on the flow of my day, my mood, and what is fun for me so it'll set me up emotionally for intensive tasks on the list. 

Here's my current to do list and how I process each item:

    > change hotel reservation for family vacation (will take some telephone time, waiting, talking, wait till kids not around so won't be interrupted)

    > book airline ticket to Chapel Hill; will be officiating a wedding; do it online, again when have 15 minutes of uninterrupted time.

    > finish preparing talking points for leadership retreat tomorrow.  Will finish it tonight when kids are in bed, but will be thinking about it through today until tonight; may jot key thoughts down on scrap pieces of paper.  Will finalize thoughts in a word document, print and staple agenda for tomorrow.  Printing and stapling is putzy, but mindless and helps me relax and wind down for the evening.

    >  get paint quote (not looking forward to this; need to call multiple places to arrange appts to see the house); do it when have 30 minute block of time and no one around.

    > set up meeting with church member to go over testimony - call tomorrow during free time

    > ministry to the Lord (this is pastor speak); looking forward to this time of ministering to God; will do it tonight before I go to bed; wife may already be asleep; this is one of my favorite times of the day - no distractions by anyone, just peace and quiet and joy before the Lord.

    > frame out sermon thoughts for next few message; do this progressively this week (more breathing room this week as don't need to preach on Sunday)

>  Emails galore!  Respond immediately to those that don't require any forethought; flag those that need longer response and circle back with reply after drafting responses in my head; I may be juggling 5-6 e-mail responses in my head at any one time.  Key is going back to my "red flags" to make sure I complete my response to everyone.  I hate it when people don't respond to my e-mails, so I make it a point to respond to people as quickly as  I can.  If I can't get back soon, I e-mail them to manage their expectations as to when they can expect a response.

"Random" tasking leads to high energy level

If I were to follow the typical time management principles, I'd probably do my sermon notes first, prepare for my leadership retreat second, minister to the Lord third, and take care of the knick-knack stuff last.  But in fact that's not what I do - it doesn't work for my mental juices to just plow through them sequentially.  I need breathing room, thinking room, space to veg out, and then time to be focused and intense, so I work through the list "randomly" based on what's fun, what will energize me and thus get me fueled for the intensive tasks.  It's all about creating the right ebb and flow within the framework of discipline and responsibility (deadlines).  This is what allows me to feel "refreshed" and energized by my work!