FIRST IN LAST OUT
P. E. D.( POST EVENT DISORDER) | Todd Elliott
Photo by Chad Kirchoff on Unsplash
I’ m sure this isn’ t an actual disease, but I have found the reality of it to be true in my own life. Leading up to a big event, I spend every spare moment thinking, planning, then executing the event. In the most recent case, Easter. After it is all over, the adrenaline is gone, the focus is missing, all that work is in a dumpster. my family has been continuing to live life, and I need to catch up. Unfortunately for them and for me, I am not good at thinking about this in advance.
For recovery to happen, it needs to be a part of the original plan; thought out and intentional.
for them, but as a leader, it speaks volumes about how much you value a person by making recovery a normal part of how things get done. Not only making it normal, but by creating a plan that says,“ During this run, take these days off, and when it is all over, you will take these days off.”
Hopefully, lives have been changed. Hopefully, all the work was worth the effort. But now what? It is time to get back to the everyday. How do I bounce back from expending most of myself on the event that just happened?
Build recovery into what is required to pull off the large event.
So often, we are focused on just getting to the finish line of the service being over. Maybe you move the finish line one step further to cover the load out. I would say that the end of the race needs to extend even further, taking into account the fact you have been working some pretty crazy hours to make the event happen.
I need to be better about how to recover from a big event. While I have been at rehearsals,
One of the difficult parts about taking time to recover is that I have been ignoring large chunks of my job in order to make the big event happen. Emails have piled up. Deadlines have passed on other projects. Other deadlines are looming. For me to be at my best, and for me to be able to give my all, I need to take time to recover. I don’ t necessarily have to make up all the extra time I put in over Easter, but I need to at least feel like a human being again. I am not doing anyone any favors by just pushing past this because there is work to be done.
If you lead people, help them by building recovery into their schedule.
I learned this lesson the hard way years ago, by not doing a good job of this. It is important for individuals to figure out how to make life work
There will always be more work to get done than there is time for, so do everyone a favor and recover.
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer, speaker, technical artist in the local church and the Founder & President of FILO, which stands for First In, Last Out. FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people, to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered. The more FILO-type people he met, the more convinced he was that these are things we all need. That’ s why FILO exists: to equip, encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves. Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church, he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective.
FILO’ s flagship event happens yearly and our FILO 2025 Conference just took place. Check out our Instagram for all of the Conference goodness and make plans to join us next year for FILO 2026.
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