The Key is to Quit

“If you must work long hours and nights for six weeks, it may mean some unusual business project came up.  Everyone can understand that. But if you work long hours and nights for six months, then you’ve made a crucial decision about what you value most in life.” Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker, Every Man’s Marriage p. 153

THESIS: With all work, there comes a tipping point where to continue with your current task is to succumbs to the Law of Diminishing Return and you increasingly become unproductive (you’re wasting time).

As a Church Leader I have had to learn to put limits on myself – schedule a set amount of time for each particular task and then quit and move on, and also, to set a time in the evening when my work day is over.

Sermon Preparation:

Give your mornings to the Lord (W.A. Criswell)

• Do not wake your “Monkey brain!” (do not look at your phone, notifications, emails, mail, anything!  Live in a vacuum for three hours.)

• One hour for devotions
• One hour for sermon preparation
• One hour for the most important task of the day

What to do with your daily hour:

• Monday: Prepare your thesis (what you are going to speak about)
• Tuesday: Prepare your mission (why it matters)
• Wednesday: Prepare your vision (what quantifiable and measurable thing has to happen for you to win)
• Thursday: Prepare your outline (Your game plan for winning)
• Friday: Sabbath (Study for the fun of it – “study forward”)
• Saturday: Populate your outline with explanation and illustrations and prepare your PowerPoint.
• Sunday: Review, review, review – before and after.

The ONE THING for today: With all work, there comes a tipping point where to continue with your current task is to succumb to the Law of Diminishing Return and you increasingly become unproductive (you’re wasting time).