Getting Things Done (GTD)

”The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting with the first one.“ - Mark Twain

Mr.Twain was definitely before his time when it came to getting things done. I'm sure we've all been in the same place, overwhelmed with "stuff" and thinking that working harder, faster and longer was going to get more done. In my life, that style of productivity has only led to more stress. So, here at Church Staff 101, I'm going to walk through a breakthrough (for me at least) method of getting things done. I've borrowed some ideas from the book of the same name by Mr. David Allen along with a brilliant web article titled, Getting Things Done in 60 Seconds.

I came across the idea of GTD through the website, Lifehacker. I was intrigued and started doing some research along with purchasing the book. GTD was an interesting read. The overall concepts of the book were appealing to me, it was the methodology that slowed me done. It was then I found the website article. These two pieces enabled me to put into place my system of GTD; a system I've been using for almost eight months and has improved my productivity with lowering my stress load.



Yep, that's it. This pic is actually my desktop pic. I know, "Dork!" But it's a great reminder of what I need to do.

Stuff - is all the stuff I need to get done. Everything I can think of, lists I already have, new ideas, etc...
Inbox - I do use my Entourage (Mac version of Outlook) inbox as the central place for all to do items. Emails sent to me, emails I've sent to myself and Jotts all park themselves in my inbox. I do empty my inbox daily by sending all items into one of six folders; projects, someday, this month, this week, today, waiting on someone and trash.
Is it actionable - I ask this for every item every day and depending on the answer, I'm routed to the next step. I have found the "two minute rule" to be a lifesaver. I really had no idea how quickly I could work through stuff realizing if I could get it done in two minutes, then I needed to just do it.
Projects - I categorize to do items into subfolders here. For instance, a VBS item gets placed in a VBS folder here if it's not actionable right now.
Delegate it - I am blessed to have an awesome team around me. Casey and Brandon are easy to delegate to because I know they'll get it done.
Calendar - this is a future post, but Google Calendar is the BOMB!

And lastly, here's a six step plan to help you set up your own GTD.

6 Steps to GTD

• Read the book. You can purchase it right on this website. Read the parts that will apply to you.
• Online research. Google search "getting things done." Check out the article Getting Things Done in 60 Seconds.
• Implement your system.
• Stick to the rules. Determine to follow your rules.
• Don’t beat yourself up if you slip. We all slip up, no problem, just get back in the groove. Also, ask yourself why you slipped up. Maybe you need to tweak your system because it's not fitting you.
• Plan how you’re going to spend your extra time.

”Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.“ - Jean de la Bruysre

Wayne Geer

What People Want From Work

As I was researching for a post, I came across this great article, What People Want From Work.

Here's the opening paragraph:

Motivation Success
Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something we obtain from work impacts our morale and motivation and the quality of our lives. Here is the most recent thinking about what people want from work.

Click here to jump to the site, take a few minutes and read this insightful article by Susan M. Heathfield. And pass it on to your co-workers, it's good!

Wayne

God Moving

Check out my post, God Moving, at the Children's Ministry 101 blog. It's good stuff.

Wayne

Been Fishing Lately?

The heat is being turned up. You know your time is short at the position you're in and now it's about time you started looking for a new church. You didn't need to look before because everything was going well. But it's getting to be the bottom of the eighth inning and you're thinking the game's about over so you better find your resume and start sending it out.

WRONG!

In probably the most controversial post yet on Church Staff 101, we going to talk about what Stephen Pollan calls "fishing." The author of a number of excellent books, Mr. Pollan put words to thoughts I had floating around in my brain. The book was "Fire Your Boss" and the idea that resonated with me was, in light of today's market place, we all need to be fishing.

Fishing is not a new career choice. It's continuously working your network, building relationships, checking the employment sites, sending your resume out so that you always have a possible job to move to when you're in need.

"You're crazy Wayne! How could you be so disloyal?!"

Hold on to your knickers there. Think about how many times you've heard of other staff members being let go and they weren't ready to leave. How about those folks who were struggling at their job, but had to wait, maybe an excruciatingly long time, before they could move to something better. I have personally seen both scenarios in my last two positions. This creates a huge amount of stress; stress that could have been less had the individuals been fishing.

To me it seems wise in today's job arena. Church's, like secular jobs, want us to be loyal, to stick with them through thick and thin. It shows that we're made of "good stuff." Today's church is not the General Electric of the 1950's where folks started and ended their job life at the same company. Look around, there's a lot of transition taking place, we (I know I'm generalizing here) are not wired to stay put for 30 years. And of course knowing the "grass is not always greener" it's still necessary to fish, because the grass may not be pristine, but it's possibly more lush than where you're working.

Are you ok? Still breathing? Stopped calling me names?

Think about it. Read the book. Pray about wisdom.

Top 5 Fishing Exercises

1. Read the book, "Fire Your Boss." Uh, probably one to read at home.
2. Polish up the resume. Check out Must Do's to Get a Job - Part 2.
3. Check out job websites. I think the best is ChurchStaffing.com
4. If something looks good, send out your personal marketing kit/resume. You can always say "no thanks" to a job offer.
5. Network. It's always good to know other people. It's all about relationships.
6. STAY WHERE YOU'RE AT IF YOU'RE HAPPY! But keep on fishing.
   

So, have you been fishing lately?

Wayne

Jott Update

This just in from Jott.com:

"We’ve been working hard on the official release of the Google Calendar Jott Link, and we’re happy to announce it’s finally here. Why is this cool? Because you can now create a Google Calendar event in a single step, from anywhere, simply using your voice. Just call Jott, say “Google Calendar”, and then the time of the event and what it’s about….and you’re done. We’ll take your voice, convert it to text, and insert it into your calendar for you. “Meet Cathy at 9 am next Thursday” is no longer a to do that needs another step, it’s something that’s recorded in your Calendar."

I'm really excited about this new release for the Google Calendar Jott Link. I've seen other work-arounds to get Jott to send an event to my Google calendar, but this route is much easier.

I posted about Jott a while back (Jott). It's a great way to not have to take notes or try to remember items, just use your cell phone.

Wayne

Turning 40

Turning 40 quotes:
“Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.”
“Forty isn't old, if you're a tree”
“At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment.”

Yep, that’s right, yesterday I turned 40. Woo hoo! I took the day off, spent it with my precious family and ate a lot. It was good to be the birthday king.

My lovely wife and I were talking about history yesterday; the historical account of my turning 30. I had forgotten how traumatic it was for me. I did not take it well. But interestingly, entering a new decade yesterday was a great day. No fuss, no stress, no hand wringing and no trauma. I stumbled upon a “turning 40” blog today and I got to tell you, either those folks are not doing well or I’m the most well adjusted human on earth.

I would imagine it has something to do with my love for God having grown, my love for my wife having grown and my love for my children having grown. I don’t get warm fuzzies very often (my wife can verify), but that last sentence brings them.

At 40 I realize, maybe more than ever, what’s truly important.

Have an awesome day today!

Wayne

Must Do's to Get a Job - Part 2

Quotes found on resumes:

• You are privileged to receive my resume.
• Graduated in the top 66% of my class.
• Excellent memory; strong math aptitude; excellent memory; effective management skills; and very good at math.
• Accomplishments: Completed 11 years of high school.
• Education: B.A. in Loberal Arts.

If most often the first impression a potential employer has of a new hire is the resume, then the folks above are NOT going to get a job.

In Church Staff 101's Must Do's to Get a Job - Part 2, we'll spend some time talking about your resume, bio and other information to have in your marketing brochure. Yes, "marketing brochure", because as you look for a position for the first or fifth time, it's all about marketing yourself; allowing the potential church or ministry to get a feel for who you are and what you are about.

Personal branding is becoming a more important topic these days. We are bombarded with advertisements constantly, it's about time each of us take a hard look at how we are advertising ourselves. An insightful website to check out is A Brand You World. They produced a personal branding summit in early November and you're able to download mp3's of their very interesting teleseminars. One I would download and listen to is, Brand Your Resume, Bio or CV: Trends and Tips.

I love Stephen Pollan's take on resumes. "Resumes are human-resources screening devices rather than applicant promotional devices. Their main function is to provide a HR person with information he or she can use to cut down the number of potential candidates so interviewing doesn't take so long." If at the least a resume is an HR screening device, it's still imperative to put together the very best resume you can.

I just did a Google search for "resume help" and came back with over 15,000,000 hits. Needless to say, there's a lot of sites that can help you with your resume. A couple of sites I believe you should check out are Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume and
ChurchStaffing.com .

Ten Easy Ways... is written by Katherine Hansen and gives ten great and insightful must do's for your resume. The ChurchStaffing website allows you to check on job openings, post your resume, have your resume "tuned" and they will even write it for you, what a deal.

If I could just throw one more resume to do, it would be dont hav ani spellling errers! Please use spell check AND have someone else, maybe a couple of people, read over your resume to check for any errors.

An interesting new addition to your marketing brochure is the bio. Two sites that will help you craft your bio are Resume/Bio Tips and How to Write an Executive Bio. Check them both out.

And lastly, here's a list of some extra items to think about:

• DVD of you in action. Please take some time to do the best job you can of producing this piece of info.
• Blogs. If you author a blog, add it to your marketing brochure.
• Social networks. Add links to your myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn bios and sites.
• References. Add a list of references with up to date contact info.
• Everything looking nice, NOT over the top. You don't need a 3D, pop-up, music playing marketing brochure. Just make sure everything looks clean and neat.

Tell me what you think. What tools have you used to market yourself successfully? What hasn't worked?

Wayne