Some non-obvious reasons reasons you feel busier than ever

 

Some timely advice from Carey Nieuwhof....

I'm guessing you probably feel busier than ever.

Almost every leader I talk to does.

Dealing with an overwhelming, never-ending list of responsibilities was a problem long before the global disruption of 2020-2021. The disruption made it even more complicated and intense.

The pandemic introduced a strange paradox into our lives. As Adam Grant points out in this widely-circulated article, the pandemic gave us more time as the world shut down, but left us feeling overwhelmed, dealing with grief and this feeling he identifies as 'languishing'.

Often I find if I can identify whyI'm feeling a certain way, it can help alleviate the problem.

After all, it's hard to solve a problem you don't understand.

Naming a problem is the first step toward fixing it.

So, here's the question: why do you feel so busy?

Here are some non-obvious reasons.

1. The crisis destroyed your methods

The first thing to die in a crisis is your methods. The mission continues, but the methods got destroyed.

• You couldn't open for in-person gatherings.
• Suddenly you're leading a remote team.
• You're not just a parent, you're now a teacher.
• Live events suddenly became a thing of the past.

And even as things reopen, it's not the same. Live events are still wobbly. Some people are raring to go, others are more reticent.

Pre-pandemic, most of us had rhythms and methods that, while perhaps not ideal, gave us a sense of security and predictability.

Even if they weren't perfect, you knew what to do.

The pandemic blew those methods up overnight.

The pain of the moment we're in is that it's not what it was and isn't yet what it will be.

The in-between creates chaos that's beyond your control.

2. Your mind doesn't really turn off anymore

Adding to the chaos is that the future is still unknown and uncertain.

Of course, it's always been that way (does anyone really know the future?) But in a more stable period, there was a predictability to life and leadership that's just absent now.

The unknownness of tomorrow forces leaders into a state of constant mental chaos, asking questions for which there are no clear answers and having to change plans regularly.

The mental load you carry as a result means it's hard to turn off your brain or get away from the crisis.

Even if you're not working as many hours as you were a year ago, your mind is always working. And when your mind is always working, you're working.

3. Your home and pocket are also your office

The working from home shift disrupted the boundaries between work and life in a profound way.

But long before the pandemic, your home and pocket were increasingly becoming your office anyway.

You used to go to the office, but thanks to technology, the office goes to you.

Between your laptop, tablet, and phone, work follows you everywhere.

If you're a knowledge worker, you know that your work is never really done anyway. When have you done enough customer service, team development, product improvement, pastoral care? Correct…never. These are all infinite games.

So your work is never really done.

Add to that the fact that you can now do your work anywhere, and you have a toxic cocktail indeed.

The ability to work from anywhere at any time leaves a lot of people feeling like they're never really on and never really off. You're taking breaks mid-day to make lunch for the kids or sweep the floor, and answering email at 10 p.m.

No wonder you feel like you're never done, because you aren't.

4. Inbound messages are at an all-time high

I'm old enough to remember when you had one inbox.

At first, it was snail mail, and maybe you got a few pieces of mail a day. Or not.

In the 90s, email arrived and added a new inbox. In 1996, I think I got about 4-10 emails a day. Rather manageable.

Last year I counted up my inboxes. I have 11. Between social media inboxes, text messages, and a few email accounts, I have over 11 different channels people can use to message me.

Which means pretty much every time I look at my phone, someone is messaging me.

The thing about technology is that messages are always sent at the convenience of the sender, not at the convenience of the recipient, which deepens the sense of overwhelm you have because there's rarely a time when someone isn't trying to get your attention or ask you about something.

For me, that's meant choosing a few inboxes in which I'll be active while ignoring others (I realize that's not for everyone).

It's also meant deciding that I won't always respond when the message comes in but instead when I'm ready and focused to respond.

Obviously, for a few people, I do respond right away.

Here's my rule: the depth of relationship should determine the depth and speed of your response.

What does that mean? It means my family, team, and perhaps very closest friends get a near-immediate response. Others get a response later when I'm out of my most productive zone or finished down time.

The depth of relationship should determine the depth and speed of your response.

5. Too much task-switching

Cal Newport argues, persuasively in my view, that ourminds were not designed to switch constantly between tasks.

Constantly checking email, toggling between Slack and the project you're working on, and pausing to answer texts and take phone calls distracts you to the point where you can't really focus enough to accomplish deep work.

Or as Cal Newport put it, "Slack built the right tool for the wrong way to work' (he explains why here).

I know on days where I'm toggling many things, I can often put in eight or ten hours and feel like I've accomplished nothing at all.

The antidote to constant task-switching is to create deep periods of uninterrupted focus in your work.

Your brain needs to focus to produce quality work and, ultimately, a good quantity of work over time.

For me, that means almost all notifications have been off on all my devices for years, and I have hours of time-blocked space most days with no or very few interruptions.

6. You've forgotten that busyness is a choice

This is a hard one for me, but the truth is that busyness is a choice.

You're as busy as you want to be. No more, no less.

Most days this is hard to remember. The vortex of busyness draws you in deeply and regularly.

A few days ago I was on my front porch early in the morning while the sun rose and I listened to the birds. They weren't rushed at all. Nor were the trees, or the grass. Or the sky.

The chaos I feel is, for the most part, internally generated.

I'm as busy as I want to be.

So are you.

As a leader, 7 ways to earn trust

 A timely reminder!  Originally posted by  Ron Edmondson

People follow people they trust. And there are ways to earn trust as a leader.

I’ve found trust develops over time and experience – as we witness trustworthy behavior. Honestly, as a leader, I’ve felt a delicate tension in maintaining trust. People look for a leader to be strong, independent and confident. Yet, we trust people who are approachable, inclusive and humble.

Jesus is the perfect model of this type of trusted leader.

How do we combine those traits to be trusted leaders?

1. Display confidence, but never cockiness. People will trust a competent leader, but one who is arrogant will be dismissed quickly.
2. Follow through, which means you never over-commit. When a leader does what they say they will, people gain trust. When the leader always bails on responsibility – when they have a new idea every day, but nothing ever comes to reality – people begin to doubt everything the leader says.
3. Put trust in others, so you’ll have an opportunity for them to put trust in you. Trust is a mutually exclusive commodity. People won’t extend you trust they don’t feel they receive from you. This means you must not be controlling, micro-managing, or negative towards every new idea they bring to the table. It means you must empower, delegate, and give authority to people.
4. Extend grace but be firm in some non-negotiables. I have written previously about the non-negotiable things for me in leadership – things such as responsiveness and mutual-respect – and I share them often with our team. We should have some standards which are not open to discussion. Those should usually be issues of character, vision or values. But, we need to allow people the freedom make their own way, including the freedom to fail, make mistakes, and be assured we will forgive them if needed.
5. Try to be knowledgeable and aware by constantly learning but realize you don’t know everything and you’ll know far more with a team. People trust a teachable leader. They are leery of a leader who knows it all – or pretends they do. We must ask questions, allow others on our team to teach us at times, continually seek wisdom and develop individually, just as we expect those we are trying to lead to do.
6. Exhibit humility but have courage to do the hard things. A trusted leader is humble enough to share recognition, but diligent to do the things everyone expects of the leader – such as lead through the hard seasons, remain calm in crisis, and encourage others when they need hope.
7. Value people more than you value progress. This is especially difficult for driven leaders. We want success and this often is measured in numbers. But, people trust people they know genuinely care for them. We must see people as individuals, get to know them, and genuinely love the people we are trying to love – considering their interests even ahead of our own.

5 Reasons You Have No Time

 

A great post by Mac Lake!

How many times a week do you find yourself saying, “I don’t have time?”  I don’t have time. Think about that statement. It’s not true. You do have 1440 units (minutes) of it every day.  Time management is a myth. You can’t manage time. It’s a fixed commodity. There’s only self-management: how I handle myself during the time God has allotted to me. So if I catch myself saying, “I don’t have time.” It’s an indictment of my integrity. Because it’s simply not true. When I say, “I don’t have time,” it’s an indication of one or more of the following mistakes. I failed to plan ahead I have not clarified my priorities I’m letting other people dictate how I use my time I’m falling victim to distractions I have not learned the skill of focus If we say, “I don’t have time,” lets at least be honest by finishing the sentence. “I don’t have time because…Fill in Mistake #1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.”

10 Commandments of Emotional Health During Stressful Times (Part 2)

 

Thanks Rick Warren for some great advice

Pastoral ministry is full of stress. The past year has been particularly stressful for many church leaders as the world has faced a global pandemic, racial unrest, and unique economic challenges. For many pastors, the world has turned upside down. Burnout has become rampant among church leaders.

But there’s hope. Last week I gave you the first five of 10 biblical actions—what I’m calling “10 commandments of emotional health”—that can help you recharge and refresh during any stressful season.

Last week I urged you to . . .

1. Show grace to yourself and others. (James 4:6)
2. Start and end each day refueling your soul. (James 1:21)  
3. Set and stick to a routine. (Ephesians 5:15-16) 
4. Reduce your media consumption. (Matthew 6:22-23) 
5. Schedule a daily time to connect with the people you love. (1 Thessalonians 5:11) 

Here are the next five actions you need to take to avoid burnout.

Share your feelings instead of stuffing them. (Galatians 6:2)

Feelings are meant to be felt—not stuffed. You have emotions during these stressful periods because you’re made in the image of God. They are neither good nor bad. They are simply emotions. 

Paul gives us a great example of sharing our feelings instead of stuffing them in 2 Corinthians 1:8, when he writes, “Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in Asia. We had great burdens there that were beyond our own strength. We even gave up hope of living” (NCV).

Pastor, if the greatest Christian next to Jesus could be open about his emotions, don’t you think you can as well?

Sharing your feelings leads to health. It’s crucial during a stressful time.

Seek advice before making major decisions. (Proverbs 15:22)

When you’re under stress, your brain power drops to lower levels. You’re never thinking your best when you’re under constant stress. You simply can’t access the smartest part of your brain during these tough periods. You’re much more likely to make bad decisions. That’s why it’s wise to check with others when you’re making major decisions while under stress. 

Proverbs 15:22 reminds us: “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (CSB).

Schedule renewal breaks throughout your day. (Isaiah 40:30-31)

Neuroscience is showing us that it’s much better to take multiple short breaks throughout the day rather than one long one. Your productivity will actually increase if you take five-minute breaks throughout your day. We don’t need a long time to recharge, but we need multiple breaks to recharge emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It isn’t much different than what you do with medicine. For example, you don’t usually take one large pill when you’re sick. Instead, you take smaller pills two or three times a day.

Figure out what renews and recharges you. Maybe it’s reading, gardening, or shooting hoops—and try to take several of these breaks daily.

Serve someone struggling more than you. (Proverbs 11:25)

No matter how much you’re struggling right now, someone always has it worse. For your own mental and emotional health, you need to get the attention off yourself and onto someone else’s pain. You need to give back and recognize that life doesn’t revolve around you.

Pastor, you’ll find many promises in Scripture about this. Proverbs 11:25 says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (NIV). When you serve others, God refreshes you.

Control what’s controllable, and trust God for the rest. (James 2:22)

God is active in your mental, spiritual, and emotional health. He wants you to make wise choices based on his guidance from the Bible and through prayer. And then, when you encounter something out of your control, you can surrender it to God and trust him to work it out for good.

It’s easy to go to extremes with this. For instance, you can say it’s all up to God and become passive to the point where you do nothing. On the other hand, you can act like God doesn’t play a part in your life and assume everything depends on you.

Find a balance that helps you recognize what’s in your control and then make wise decisions. You can’t control the circumstances of life, but you can choose how you will respond—and that will make all the difference. God is always there to help you make that choice.