Friday, August 31, 2012

ORGANIZATION


The Lord has been working in my life in the area of organization.  Now, if you have known me for any length of time, you know that this is one of my weaknesses.  By the grace of God, I have been maturing in this area of organization, and desire to continue this growth.


1 Corinthians 14:40 tells us to do things decently and in order.  This is in regards to how we worship, which should be in every aspect of life!  I must admit I love change, spontaneous living, and “what do I feel like doing now?” kind of living.  However, the danger of this kind of lifestyle is the lack of any measurable growth in one’s life, non-productivity, and worst of all,
 a potential of not doing things decently and in order!


So, here are some things I have learned, am in the process of learning, and some things I have put into place to help me organize my life…of course, I would be extremely interested in learning from those of you who have this organizational thing down.


For my To Do list, I use an android product called Taskos To Do.  I love the way I can organize all my tasks by priority and category. It is very simple minded for guys like me.  You can also edit your categories. For instance, I added a category called “Pastor's List”.  This is the list my Pastor (and my boss)  gives me directly out of his mouth.  I can sort by category and select “Pastor's List”, and all the items he asked of me specifically are listed, helping me keep my boss happy!  Give this app a shot if you need a good “to do list” organizer.


For my time management, I break every aspect of my life down.  For instance, I have three categories at work; Worship Arts, Buildings and Grounds, and Singles Ministry.  Within these I have subcategories.  An example of a sub-category in Worship Arts is “music scheduling” where I schedule Sunday services, singers, etc.  

All my categories are then scheduled throughout my week.  I do what my Pastor (and boss) taught me to do…give a day of the week to a category.  For instance, Tuesday is my Worship Arts day.  I try to devote that day to all my Worship Arts activities.  Of course, flexibility is a must as you well know! And it is impossible to do all the things I need to do on just Tuesday; but at least I have a focused plan to complete my responsibilities in an orderly way!


I started doing something recently that has helped me see where my time is being wasted.  I started a work journal log.  This is a simple log I made from an excel sheet.  I date the top of the page, and write what I did, and any notes that I might want to jot down.  This helps me look back at the week and see what I actually got accomplished, and how I might be wasting my time.  This has really helped me!


There are a ton of things out there to help manage and organize time and resources.  I have things for financial expense tracking, and others, but don’t want to bore you with details; just want to get the conversation started.  I am being dealt with strongly in my conscience about becoming better organized and being a better steward to my Lord!  


How are some ways you maintain organization in your life?  I would love to see some comments on this subject!  Let’s grow together!


For HIS Glory,

Nate

4 comments:

  1. I love a schedule. I love them so much that I have the problem of not being flexible enough to change. I like to know about everything in advance or I plan on not doing it.

    This fall I was overwhelmed with the things I had to do. I had taken on a part time job which I could do from home. What a blessing! Then I found I wasn't doing it because I was home with my family and wanted to spend time with them. Even though my wife and I both knew I needed to do it, it was hard to fit in with our life.

    So, we scheduled. We have a set dinner time. We have a time for family devotions, and a time for me to work. I have a spreadsheet divided into about every hour from 5am to 11pm. I have each part of my day scheduled. (A large chunk of that says "work" and I'm still trying to figure out how to efficiently schedule that part of my life for this school year.) I have some free time scheduled in because that is always needed. I tried to schedule some things for longer than they should take to give extra lee-way in other areas. (Example: Pick up toys with kids)

    If something early in our evening gets off, then the rest of our night is hard to follow through with. Certain things don't get done, and lately that has been my evening exercise. I can't justify skipping anything else, including sleep. I believe sleep is something God wants us to have as we need to.

    I've tried many different todo list apps with lots of features or none. I don't end up using them. I do use my Google Calendar a lot. I have a big calendar at work on my wall that I use for macro planning. My wife and I have our phones synced so our calendars are the same. So, if she adds a dinner appointment or weekend event I can see it there and we don't double book things. That has been a huge help to us in the bigger picture.

    I've also found that even though there are things I want to do, I just can't do it. I can't get up and pray for an hour. I can't do that because I will fall asleep. No matter how much zeal I have, it won't work. So, I schedule my prayer later. I've found that if I use a loud familiar ringtone (Star Wars) I wake up faster and easier. I know now that if I do some good exercises in the morning it wakes me up more. After these things I can pay enough attention to listen to the Bible in the car, and then after that I can pray. If I sleep in, I'm robbing God of His time. If I spend too long getting around I'm robbing God of His time. There are always bad nights where the kids are up and everything is messed up. But those are the days I just have to adapt and do the best I can.

    I found I have to evaluate everything I do and determine if it is really worth my time even if it isn't bad, or is "good." I used to listen to the radio. I found I can use that time so much better if I pray/memorize/meditate/listen to the Bible. I didn't need the radio, and I do need the other. So the radio was out. I used to do crosswords all last year. I was learning and it was good for me. This year I have no time and so I don't do them. I wish I could. It was 10-40 minutes but I don't have it anymore.

    I have one night of recreation a week which I am constantly reevaluating. I believe it is fine right now, but if God wants it gone then I need to be ready to give it up.

    I think I may have written more than you, so I hope there was something useful in here.

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  2. Good topic! Thanks for posting! I'm reading a fantastic book by Gordon MacDonald right now called "Ordering Your Private World." It is all about how an outwardly ordered life flows from an inwardly ordered life--the private life before God. I'm only halfway through the book, so I've got the 'why' down, but looking forward to learning about living a more disciplined life that counts for less hay and stubble than I currently have on account--and more treasure!

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  3. Thanks for the thoughts David and Marti! I use to block all my time by hour, and it never worked for me. I give props to those of you who can!! With that in mind, I heard something that stuck with me..."for every hour scheduled only 50 minutes should be the activity, with a ten minute buffer for flexibility time, or recoup/refocus". Thought that was good advice.

    Marti, looking forward to hearing more about the book!

    nate

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  4. My Mom was big into scheduling and it influenced me to make schedules for myself as early as age 8. Establishing priorities is a must. As Christians, we have to decide what is profitable or worth while for eternity. I sadly have given up at the hour by hour planning, but I do make those to-do lists and usually get aggressive at tackling them all in one day. Then, I feel I've earned a rest, ha. Human nature--we have to stay on top of it or it will drag us down to our worst. God wants our best and He will reward our efforts with fruitfulness and inner peace.

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