how to get monday morning off the ground

Pastors expend lots of energy on Sundays.  They end the day worn out physically, mentally and emotionally.  Some would say, "Then go to bed early!"  However, that is easier said than done.  We are often too tired and keyed up to go to bed.  Often times we are so relieved to have the day's pressure off of our shoulders that we kind of give ourselves late Sunday evening as a reward to do some things we have been wanting to do.  Often it is to lay back and enjoy a few programs on television.

The next thing we know, the alarm clock is going off.  It is time to get up and start the week at the church office all over again.  You might want to consider going in an hour later to begin your day.  Psychologically you are rewarding yourself for a day full of good work the day before. 

Here are some things you might try to get Monday off to a better start:

Begin by anticipating your Monday morning on Friday afternoon.  Fight the temptation to race away from a messy desk.  Clean up your desk and leave yourself a to-do-list to make Monday morning a little more tolerable.

Begin with prayer.  If you have not had your quiet time at home or elsewhere, take care of the phones so you can pray and read your Bible.  All of Monday will be better once you have done those things. 

Start some soothing music

playing in the background.  If you don't have a stereo at the office, any computer with speakers will do.  Go to a website that lets you set and play exactly the genre of music that helps you relax during your day.

The work you do on Monday toward preparing Bible studies and sermons is decided according to your own individual preferences.  The key here is to get a routine going and once you find something that works well for you, stick to it.

Monday can be used to:

• Read and deal with the mail and any leftover administrative tasks from last week on your to-do- list.

• Go over Sunday's order of events and make notes of any adjustments toward next week while things are still fresh in your mind.  Do some personal evaluation.  How could you do a better job next Sunday?

• Devote your Monday morning to making decisions about and preparing next Sunday evening's message.  This way, you do not leave Sunday evening until the very last and end up at your church's office on Sunday afternoon.  No fun!

• Spend the entire morning in Bible study for next Sunday mornings message.  Make a very broad outline of the Bible text to be used.  Write out the purpose of the message in one or two sentences.  Read the text again and again.  Begin to gather resources.

• Some like to meet with staff members on Monday to assure everyone is on the same page and headed in the same direction.  You might want to be sure that Mondays are good for everyone and not just you.

• If all of the above is too heavy for you on Monday's use the time to read those magazines and that book you have been wanting to read.  Whatever yo choose to do, make the time work for you!
• Take the day off!  That might be the best thing you can do for yourself and your church.  If that is what you need Monday is as good a day as any.  Now for the famous line I have heard several times.  Pastor One: Bob, why don't you take Monday's off?  Pastor Two: I don't want to feel this bad on my own time!

 

Comments

[Donny Proctor]

Very good information. I do Monday Morning quarterbacking on Sunday Services. That is my main purpose on Monday mornings. My next priority is to at least get on paper the topics and people in place for next Sunday. This is without pressure but when it gets dones releives a lot of pressure through out the week.

Thanks Jimmy for this resource. I am going to enjoy throgh the coming days.