The Secret Art of Batching
I know that this is not a secret, but I also know that it is an art. The single greatest thing that I have done in order to keep myself productive is to batch my tasks. Since I started doing this, I’ve learned more about why it works and have even seen ideas like the pomodoro technique that refine the idea, but batching is just something I started doing because it made sense. Let me explain it to you a little (please keep in mind that I am not an expert in this by any means and I will share some expert links at the end of the post).
Batching is, quite simply, working on batches of similar tasks. For example, rather than open up my curriculum website once a week and downloading the upcoming curriculum, I download the whole month’s curriculum at once. I even try to edit as much of the month as possible in one sitting. I use batching in my secular job all the time as well. I even do it at home.
When Kenny Conley announced that he would be doing his Illuminate Conference in Birmingham, I was thrilled because that’s just about 3 hours from me, and I could take my volunteers to this conference that was geared specifically for them. And Illuminate-Birmingham did not disappoint. Here’s some of the thoughts that Jim Wideman shared in the opening session on Time Management.
Six AM waking up in the morning, gotta get dressed, gotta go to church. Gotta have my ‘bux, getting on a roll, Checking everything, the time is going. Tickin’ on and on, I’m the one rushing. I just don’t have the time to, stop. Service is a bust, when will it end? 
You can do it all….just not all at once.
Time. It is one of the most powerful four-letter words in the world, and one of the most scarce in the volunteer’s world. I have learned one of the best ways to find more time is to take some of the time you do have and plan ahead.
I’m a bi-vocational pastor. I do receive a little compensation for my work done at the church, but I still need to work full time outside the church to make it work. As any of you who are bivo or volunteer know, that means you can shave 40 hours per week right off of the top of what I am able to get done for the church. Plus, when I do get home from work, the last thing I want to do is work. I want to be with my family, be entertained, or maybe even hang out with friends.
As volunteers and bi-vocational children’s ministers, one of the things we all struggle with is finding enough time to get everything done. I know that one place I used to waste a lot of my time was commuting back and forth to work. Then I decided that that didn’t have to be wasted time. There are plenty of ways you can redeem your drive time and get things accomplished all at the same time. Before we get to that though, here are some things I have seen people doing while driving which I would not suggest you try:
Just like Troy in “High School Musical” I sometimes am challenged to keep my head in the game. I have trouble concentrating at work when I have so much going on in Summit Kidz. I had to learn to be intentional in managing my time at work.
