Can't Keep Up? 5 Ways to Simplify Student Ministry

In today’s climate of youth ministry the pace and workload of the average youth worker seems to be ramping up and the number of overworked and burned out pastors is almost unbelievable. With so many demands, programs, events, and people to please (or pastor), it seems like the only choice is for the youth worker to work harder.

But working harder doesn’t usually mean that you are working smarter. In fact, working harder is typically the onramp to a road of burnout, frustration, or pride. Simply, youth workers must learn the rules of efficiency and productivity in order to keep pace with the vocational side of their calling.

RockShox Pump Track Challenge - Crankworx 2012, Whistler BC

Work Smarter, Not Harder

1. Write a Yearly Plan

With the rate of change found in today’s youth culture, writing a 5-year plan is nearly useless. A plan crafted even two or three years ago is at best a cultural dinosaur and at worst, working against you. However, there is definite benefit in getting away for a few days to pray, dream, and strategize into the coming years’ focus and how it will look and feel. Writing a yearly plan and then working that plan will save you a ton of anxiety and will build your leadership credibility. Trying to organize & inspire your students, volunteers, and parents while having no idea what the next month or two holds is frustrating to everyone involved.

A good plan, actually, sets the stage for a youth worker to be prepared. Preparedness is far more significant and noteworthy than the plan itself allowing the youth worker to be ready and flexible – key performance indicators of a good plan. Trust me, it’s worth your time.     

2. Eliminate

Not every task that comes across the desk of a youth worker is worth doing. Or, if the task is worth doing, it doesn’t mean that the youth worker must do the task. This game is called Prioritizing and there are seven rules:

1. There are urgent items on your task list.
2. There are important items on your task list.
3. Know the difference.
4. Do what is important first.
5. Next, do what is urgent.
6. When you missed “urgent” because you did what was important, it is important to congratulate yourself. Urgent took care of itself.
7. Repeat.

To stay sharp and energized for the important tasks, eliminate lesser tasks from your schedule, thoughts, and energy.

3. Train Leaders & Delegate

There are two ways that pastors screw this up: one, by delegating a task and then micromanaging it and two, by delegating a task and then offering no guidance or parameters. Delegating is the smart money on most things if you do it right.

PS – You don’t have to only delegate to people. Delegating to technology is also a great option! The key here is automation: autoresponders, filters, and applications that help you batch.

4. Batch Tasks

Is it more efficient to respond to emails as you get them or to respond to emails in one sitting? Studies show that every interruption requires approximately 20 minutes of recovery time to return to the same level of concentration. This means that every tweet, email, phone call, or Facebook notification that grabs your attention slaps your efficiency in the face. Batching tasks allows one set up and tear down time, focused energy, and better output.

Practically, I respond to emails once per/day, I write 3-5 blog posts in one sitting, and I’ll stack a bunch of meetings on top of each other. The goal is to only do one task at a time and only when the task needs to be done.

5. Shorter Deadlines

If there are ten hours available to complete a task, guess how many hours the task will take? Ten. Guess how long it will take to do the same task if the available hours are five? Creating tighter deadlines forces the real work to get done with as much focus and learning as possible. In the world of industry and start-ups, this is called the minimum viable product. Guaranteed, those lingering projects will never finish if you don’t set a deadline.

As youth workers and church leaders the bulk of our ministry doesn’t happen behind a desk in some bunkered down office. Youth ministry happens with people – students, volunteers, and parents – and so we must create sustainable administrative structures that will free our time to do just that, spend time with people. 

Jeremy Postal is the director of Whistler School, a bible and discipleship school based out of beautiful Whistler, BC. He is passionate about building communities of restoration & creativity with Christ as the focus. You can also catch him regularly on his blog at www.jeremypostal.com or connect via Twitter @JeremyPostal.