Brief Overview

Pastoral The needs of the people we serve rarely fit easily inside of a tightly wound schedule. There is a level of flexibility that we must maintain in order to be with our people where they are, yet if we're not careful we will find ourselves only doing surface-level work with little time and energy to focus on our best work. On this episode, we help you find the right strategy to focus on your most significant work and maintain accessibility to your church.

Big Ideas:

• Distracted work is disappointing work. When you are distracted the quality of your work suffers. You were not made to multitask and focus deeply on your work. And while everything you do does not require a significant level of focus, eliminate distractions when you need to do deep work.

• Different people need different strategies. Schedule deep work in hourlong, half-day or full-day installments. Use another account on your computer. Create a work environment that helps you focus and avoid distractions.

• Great work manages distractions. Pay attention to the times of day and type of work when you feel frustrated by distractions. Use the ideas in this resource to develop and execute on a simple action plan. Don't try to create the perfect plan - just take the next step and give yourself permission to make progress!