In the next few months, our youth ministry will be gearing up for the end of the year, as well as planning for the events, programs, series, and other details for 2012. I’m excited about the prospect of hashing these details out now, so that we have a framework in the upcoming year for what we’re doing and the direction we’re going. Here are three thoughts I have about planning.
- Planning prevents pain. One of the clear benefits of doing preliminary planning and scheduling is that it will prevent a good deal of pain in the end. I’ve experienced this on several occasions, where had I planned further in advance, I’d have had more time to adjust when details go awry. Planning keeps us from presumption that we’ll have time later to plan, when oftentimes we do not.
- Planning lets you be intentional. Since we’re planning a year in advance, we can be more focused on the topics we will cover in our meetings, the values or principles that we will emphasize as a youth ministry and ultimately allows us to be more directed in how we proclaim the Gospel in our various programs.
- Planning takes energy, but so does not planning. One of my tendencies is to put off planning because I don’t want to take the creative energy to think things through. But if I’m honest with myself, I think I would have to say that not planning often takes as much or more energy in cramming or maneuvering through snags that I didn’t, well, plan for. Planning is energy well-invested.
How do you go about planning ahead?
I too am guilty of delaying decisions. Until I realized how procrastination was such a contributor to anxiety.
Whatever the carrot is find a way to stay ahead.
Josh,
Procrastination is a killer. I’ve thankfully had people come and give me constructive criticism regarding it. But it’s still challenging for me to execute when the amount of details seem overwhelming.
I’d love to hear what you do to stay ahead of the curve.
Eddy
for me its about developing a rhythm for the week and having set time to do certain things