Smarter not harder

26Sep08

My little brother went old school on me the other day and sent me a hand written letter. Along with all his encouragements he laid down the challenge - 'this year try and work smarter rather than working harder.' It's been a phrase I've been mulling through for a while.

Have you ever reached the moment where you feel totally stretched, overwhelmed and at full capacity? It's so often then that other exciting windows of opportunity open up. What do you do? Just limit yourself to where you've reached? No - you find other ways to make it work. Perhaps you need to let go of things you don't need to do anymore - find others to take that on. Maybe you need to priorities key responsibilities, friendships and commitments. Maybe you need to learn to do certain jobs faster. Could a one-hour meeting be done in half an hour? Could you be more decisive and efficient in responding to emails? What are the things at work that unnecessarily drain your time?

The musical phrase we use, 'less is more' is very pertinent here. So I'm trying to work out what it means for me. How do I spend my time to be most effective? What things do I need to let go of? Who am I training up to take things off me? How is the team I'm involved in functioning? All good questions to ask.

There's so much more I'd love to see happen in my life. To accomplish this I'm realising that it's not a matter of working harder, more a need to work smarter.

Thanks bro!

this is such a great encouragement to us all. don't simply spend more time....make better use of the time you already spend. good deal. thanks tim...errr....tim's brother.

www.jeramysossaman.com

sossaman

26Sep08

Good stuff tim. I think Oprah was talking about theis the other day. (Not that I have ever watched Oprah) lol.

IAIN

26Sep08

Hey Tim,

Well, you're not alone. I think life in general gets busier each year. I hope it's not that I'm slowing down so much that everything seems faster. LOL

Anyway, here is a great tip I received recently, that is helping both at work and at home:

Each day, focus 1) on your area of jurisdiction, and 2) on the top 3 issues in that area.

If you are able to make significant progress on only the top 3 issues, each day, you will be amazed at how much you accomplish in a very short time.

Hope this helps you as much as it has me. May God continue to bless you beyond your wildest imagination!

TroyP

27Sep08

This reminds me of a quote from pharmacy school days (from a tutor who was pretty hard to like but still left an impact on me!)

"Being effective means you get it right, being efficient means you get it right first time, all the time".

It's on a different theme, but shows how good it is to do something right without needlessly spilling blood, sweat and tears.

John 3.16 --> 1 Jn 3.16 This is love.

larry

27Sep08

Hey Tim,

nice blog and obviously, nice brother. I watched your concert with Kees Kraayenoord last thursday and had a great time, thanks!

how do you like the Netherlands so far? All the best in Schiedam tonight.

matt

If you like what you hear

Well than I'm glad that you heard it

Matthijn

27Sep08

Its a good one tim im just starting to use the spare time i get learning new songs e.t.c

little debs

27Sep08

Wow do you have trouble with that too??? (Hahahahaha)

Man can life get crazy or what!! i'd love to hear about some of your experiences in training people up to lead worship and to do some of the stuff we all end up doing when we take on the role as worship pastor / director.

Obviously training people not only empowers others and allows them to flourish in the gift and call God has for them but a byproduct is there are people who can help share the load. I have found it hard to let go as I'm a bit of a control freak, but being able to turn up and not have to do anything but be there is the best feeling.

How do you decide what are your leadership responsibilities verses what can be shared and delegated? Who do you look for to lead with in your setting? Do you have a rather prescribed training structure or is more organic and natural?

I'm currently studying the Essentials RED course through St.Stephen's Uni and I'm being inspired to get a bit more creative with using different worship languages within the corporate worship experience. With such a list of responsibilities how do you find time to get creative with prayer, scripture, space, and exploring church history? I find creativity gets squashed in the rush, how are we to ensure this is guarded?

Love your work!!!

donald

donaldgoodhall.wordpress.com

donaldgoodhall

14Nov08

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