Summary

Procrastination is the Church Leader’s deadly foe. It distracts us from doing God’s will. Here’s the best way I have found to beat it.

Set Big Goals for the Day

At the beginning of the day, set yourself the three most important things you need to work on that day. Michael Hyatt calls them the Daily Big 3. I record mine in my Full Focus Planner. Work on them until they are done and you will have completed your three most important tasks on your task list. How many days do you end up procrastinating and not completing three important tasks?

Schedule Time Blocks

Schedule time blocks, especially for your creative work like sermon and worship preparation. Put them in your calendar and ensure that you can’t be disturbed during those times. Giving yourself a set time to complete this work will help church leaders beat procrastination.

Set a Timer

Set a timer as a a reminder to work and rest. I use the Pomodoro technique through the Be Focused app for Mac, iPhone and iPad. I work for 25 minutes (I have the app set up to play a clock ticking noise to remind me it’s focused work time) and then rest for 5 minutes. It manages my energy and focus levels and stops me from procrastinating.

Get Off Your Chair and Move Around

Sometimes, all you need to do to avoid procrastinating is to get up from your chair and move around. I tend to do this in the 5 minutes at the end of a Pomodoro session (see above). But you may also need to change your scenery – get out of the office or study for a few minutes. Do some stretches, take a walk until your mindset has changed. It seems counterintuitive when you feel there’s so much to do but I can easily waste more time procrastinating than it takes to move around for a few minutes.

Procrastination often feels like a sin to me. If you’re a church leader that wants to beat procrastination too, use these tools and banish procrastination for ever.

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash