One of the great challenges of youth ministry is the juggling act that one has to perform to maintain the ministry. I mentioned in a previous post that because there are so many focuses, it’s important to know “what’s in the air” or what are all the different things that you’re having to handle.
I’m simply not smart enough to keep it all together in my head. In fact, I sometimes try to, only to find myself in a dizzying chaos of thoughts and unmet expectations, let alone those nagging feelings of, “what did I forget?” And so I’ve settled to have a constant list available to me that lets me record things that need to get done, or refer back to find out what to do next.
In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen advocates having an “inbox” or a place to dump all that stuff you’re trying to remember. It’s a single place that you trust that you can retrieve tasks from, or put tasks in. So your mind doesn’t have to stress out trying to remember stuff.
Most people just call this a task list. And whether it’s a moleskine, a phone app, or carrier pidgeon (ok maybe not that), task lists are a must for a youth worker.
- Task lists are a must because you’ve got too much to forget. One of the stereotypes of the common youth worker is that he’s woefully forgetful. Couple that with the fact that you already have too much to remember and you have a recipe for unmet expectations and heartache. At least having a task list gives you the chance to remember what you’re supposed to. What you do with it is another story altogether.
- Tasks lists are a must because without them you don’t even know what you don’t know. One thing that a list of all your outstanding tasks will do is help you feel the weight of what you’re having to do. Like nerves throughout a body, a full task list will help you remember what you must do in all your areas of responsibilities.
- Task lists are a must, but they’re not enough. If not knowing what’s going on is giving you a cloudy head, having an unorganized, fully-articulated list of everything you need to do can have an equally dizzying effect. Consider organizing by tasks related to particular roles or project.
For a resource on getting organized, Getting Things Done by David Allen very helpful.