over the summer :
• Overhaul a dysfunctional area of your ministry .
• Or bring structure and clear processes to an undeveloped ministry system .
• Or you can even take a good area of your ministry and level it up to great .
28 . START PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR ’ S SPECIAL PROJECTS . [ Future Prep ] What special project do you want to do this year ? Maybe it ’ s …
• Taking your leaders to a big conference .
• Or hosting your own training .
• Revamping your platform or lighting .
• Creating a series of intimate worship nights .
• Upgrading your audition & onboarding process .
• Developing an internship program .
• Anything that ’ s not part of your weekly or monthly routine could fall into this .
But here ’ s the problem . Most leaders wait until they want to start the project to start the project . Huh ?!
You have to put the work in up front for special projects that involve multiple people , budget approval , changes to existing policies or systems , or that require extensive labor , equipment , and materials .
So if you want to accomplish a big project in the first part of January , summer is the perfect time to start planning that project .
• Work backward to determine start dates and deadlines for stages of the project .
• Decide who you need on board and start getting buy-in now .
• Determine what promotion or communication needs to happen for this project to be successful .
Do this foundation-building now , and your vision for the project has a 1000 % better chance of becoming a reality . big , too expensive , or too time-consuming . What happens ? It gets pushed off for another year . Plan now .
29 . UPDATE YOUR TEAM POLICY GUIDE OR HANDBOOK . [ Ministry Growth / Future Prep / Embracing Summer Limitations ] I know , that sounds almost as much fun as watching trees grow .
But the slower pace of summer is a great time to tackle an important , but non-urgent project like creating or updating your team policies .
This summer project will do three things : 1 . It will free you up to tackle a passion project in the fall or winter .
2 . It will give your team clear expectations for serving in the ministry . If you don ’ t have clear expectations , you can ’ t hold people accountable for anything .
3 . It will help you qualify new team members . If they understand the policies and expectations BEFORE they join , they will either self-select out or onboard with a clear understanding of their role .
30 . WORK ONE HOUR LESS EVERY DAY ( ETHICALLY ). [ Embracing Summer Limitations / Rest / Restoration ] Find a way to get home earlier in the summer to spend time with your family and enjoy the summer months more .
But do it ethically .
Your church might be a “ butt-in-seat ” culture . That is , they equate “ time in the office ” with productivity and pay .
Now , even many of those churches practice relaxed office expectations in the summer . But if yours doesn ’ t , seek permission to come in earlier , or do some of your “ hours ” outside the office . quality is on par , it doesn ’ t matter how many hours you work . So …
• bust out your work ,
• take a shorter lunch ,
• schedule fewer meetings ,
• … and do whatever it takes to leave early .
And that leads us to number 31 :
31 . START PRACTICING PARKINSON ’ S LAW . [ Ministry Growth / Embracing Summer Limitations ] What is Parkinson ’ s law ? Applied to work and time management , it ’ s this : Work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion .
Here ’ s a great example . Ever gone online “ for a few minutes ” to search for new songs ?
Two hours later , you ’ ve listened to forty-eight songs and only have a list of three that you think could work .
There was no hard stop to that black hole project .
Another example is your weekly worship planning . It could take all afternoon if you let it . But if you set a timer for 75 minutes ( and set your phone and computer to “ do not disturb ”), you could likely plan all your songs , segues , and scriptures and have them into your planning app before the timer goes off .
Another way to leverage Parkinson ’ s law is to do your non-urgent , but important work early in your week .
Why ? Because your urgent work — the work for this Sunday — always finds a way to get done .
When you do a non-urgent project or task early in the week , you will still deliver as high a quality for Sunday with 75 % of your week as you did with 95 % of your week .
But , again , most leaders just wait till they want to start and later find out that the project is too
If you ’ re in a results-oriented situation , fantastic ! For you , as long as Sunday is planned and the
That ’ s Parkinson ’ s law . Work expands to fill the time you give it .
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