There’s a blessing and a curse to the growth of Antioch. The blessing is obvious… more changed lives, a stronger community, and a deeper faith in God. The curse is less obvious… increased work, greater demands, and less time to think pray & dream.
As a result, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into time management. I’m quite a pragmatist, which means that I’m always trying to find a way to simplify work and increase my productivity.
These days, however, I’m finding myself in a new season. It’s no longer just figuring out how to spin all my plates, but deciding which plates I should let fall. The reality is that I just can’t do everything I feel like I need and want to do. Some things have to hit the ground.
I love this quote that I recently read: “If plates are going to drop, make sure it’s not the expensive ones.”
Here are the expensive plates that I’m trying to keep in the air.
- Family and kids
- Prayer and solitude
- Reading and writing
- Getting out of the office and sitting down with people at coffee or lunch
- Pursuing the vision of Antioch (the greater the maintenance the less leaders tend to lead and the more they need to prioritize the vision and the future)
- Creativity (the first thing to go when you’re overworked is creativity, which is why we keep it on our “to do” lists and in our meetings)
- Vacations and time away (this one is pretty hard for me… I have a hard time walking away, but I also realize how important it is)
