Tag: schedule

  • Speaking Schedule so far this Fall

    I’m definitely not an “on the road all the time” speaker dude. But I do love teaching and training and I’m stoked to have a few opportunities coming this Fall.

    Here’s my next three:

    • WordCamp LA – September 10th, Loyola Marymount University – Tickets – If you’re a WordPress junkie you know WordCamp is the place the local community gathers to learn from one another. I’m leading a workshop on creating and maintaining an online presence for your brand.
    • National Youth Workers Convention San Diego – October 1st – 3rd, Town & Country Resort – Tickets – I’m doing a lot at NYWC! I’m leading a fishbowl discussion called, Expanding the Vision: Rethinking Volunteers. I’m teaching a workshop called, Creating an Online Ministry. And I have a few sessions in the interactive media area, Getting Started as a Blogger, Free and Awesome Communications Tools for Youth Workers, and How to Customize a Facebook Page.
    • National Youth Workers Convention Atlanta – November 18 – 21, Marriott Marquis – Tickets – Same sessions as San Diego.
    If you have a training event, retreat, or even want to bring me in for a day of consultation – Send me a note.  As a reader of my blog, you know I’m not limited to the topics I’m speaking on this Fall.

  • 5 things you CAN control

    Right before I went into full-time youth ministry one of my mentors shared this truth with me over coffee.

    Sometimes people are going to come to you and complain about the stupidest stuff you can imagine. Understand that when that happens, it isn’t you, it’s them. They likely have an area of their life that is completely out of control. And because they have no control over such an important area of their life they are going to try to take complete control of something they think they can control. It’s classic transference. Stop and pray with them. If they stomp off, pray for them.

    That advice helped me a ton. (And for you, maybe the light just went off!)

    In truth, a life of a leader also often spins out of control. Agendas are in play way above their understanding. Parent demands don’t make any sense. The level of leadership they need in their church is often outside of their experience level.

    They are just grasping for anything they CAN control in a life of ministry full of things they can’t control.

    As I interact with people sometimes their anger level reveals a great amount of hurt. The more they hurt they more angry they become with me about nothing. Seriously, I’ve had people yell at me because they can’t figure out how to reset a password. Or because their credit card was declined. (Because they put in the wrong address.)

    All that to say– a life in ministry is full of things you can’t control.

    But here are 5 things you CAN control.

    1. Attitude – You might not be able to chose the agenda, but you can always chose your attitude.
    2. Behavior – Ever heard that actions speak louder than words? It’s true.
    3. Tone – Not just what you say, how you say it.
    4. Mind – What you put into your mind to learn, and what you allow to dwell in your mind, that’s up to you.
    5. Schedule – How you structure your day and how you manage your time, that’s largely up to you.

  • Warp Speed!

    warp-speed

    That’s how I feel about the next 90 days. This week starts the first of three National Youth Worker Conventions. For me, it’s a huge honor to be able to go to the three U.S. conventions and to play such a cool role. On site I am in charge of capturing the story of the convention for our internet audience, snapping a couple thousand pictures, filling a years worth of blog content, co-leading a seminar on social media and video, plus a whole littany of other normal stuff the whole staff does on site.

    What this really means is that this is my busy season. Between now and the end of the year I’ll be gone about a week a month for work. Of course, while I’m gone doesn’t mean that regular work doesn’t get done, it just backlogs. And I stil need to use a weeks vacation in there. So the pattern is go away for about a week. Rest HARD on the travel day. Push through as much work as possible. Rest HARD some more. Get everything together to go back on the road. Repeat.

    The point of this post isn’t to lament about the next 3 months of my life. Not at all. Trust me, I consider this insanity to be a blessing. I am thankful to God for the opportunity. The point of this post is to think about the question, “How do you find sanity when your life hits warp speed?”

    Here’s how I do it. I’d love to hear how others go through similar times.

    1. Embrace some insanity. This might be super unhealthy, but when I’m on site at a convention, I focus on what needs to be done. If these trips were a sport I want to make sure I leave it all on the field.With thousands of attendees coming I want to do whatever I can to make their experience awesome.

    2. Schedule rest when on the road. The attitude of #1 above will kill you if you aren’t disciplined. Last year, I was so wide-eyed about the whole thing that I barely slept, said yes to everything, and allowed my schedule to get out of control. This year I’ve blocked out times for meals, rest, and “me time.” I’m an introvert– this is for my sanity and everyone else’s safety.

    3. Schedule rest when at home. I’ve gotten better about not working on weekends, I need to keep that pattern going through this busy time. I also need to look at holes in my schedule and stay home to work a bit during the week, leave early when possible, stuff like that.

    4. Do fun stuff with the kids. My travel stuff is hard on the kids. Sure, they don’t express it. But I can tell when I come back that it hasn’t been easy without me. I’m cooking up some evil plans to spend time with them.

    5. Accept that some stuff won’t get done on time. As much as it drives me insane to know that I need to do that, I just need to decide which things get done on time and which things are less important and get pushed off until later.

    6. Take notes. My mind swells with ideas/thoughts/reflections during these times. This year, I’m going to capture so much more with Evernote on my iPhone.