I'm a little hesitant to give you a copy of my schedule because I know that not every youth worker works full time in the church and I don't know how helpful this answer will be to all the youth workers who read the Q & A session of my web-site (but it's only up for a week, so if it doesn't apply, sorry. There's always a new question coming next week). Let me start with some general schedule practices that I take every week, then I'll give a general description of a normal week of my life.

How I prioritize my week is that I first spend time at the beginning of my first work day (late Monday night or early Tuesday morning) thinking through the next 7 days specifically and the next 30 days in general. As I look to the week ahead (Tuesday thru Sunday), I make note of all my meetings that I've scheduled the prior week and those I've planned during the weekend at church. After I note my meeting times, I look to my calendar to see what's due for the coming week (ie. my monthly parents' letter, my mission trip budget, etc...) and then I transfer those projects to the top of my task list. Then, I look to my accumulated task list (that carries over week after week) and see what's both vital to finish and realistic to complete.

Usually, I highlight the most important tasks and pencil them into my blocks of administrative time that I block out during a "normal" work week. Usually, I think I can do more during my blocks of time than I actually do. Then, I often feel guilty that I didn't do what I planned to do. It's a sick cycle, but I seem to fall into all the time. I rarely block out "interruptions" and they always seem to happen. Bottom line, I never get as much done as I think I should get done.

Long ago, I learned to break my task list into five categories; Pastor, Leader, Teacher, Developer, Administrator. These categories serve as a guide for my "to do" list. Instead of a long to do list, I give each day a few blocks of time and try to complete the tasks that are under one of my five categories. See below.

I might define the categories like this;

"Pastor time" is where I'm spending time with students, "Leader time" is when I'm with volunteers or potential leaders, "Teacher time" is when I'm preparing for one of my messages, "Developer time" is where I create, write, and dream. "Administrator time" is for the piles of stuff that I hate to do but must get done.

Here's a "general profile" for how I use my time during a "normal" week.

Monday: day off

Tuesday: church staff meeting, administrator time (piles of stuff I hate to do, but do anyway), leader time (meetings, reviews, coaching leaders, etc...), pastor time (students, campus, etc...)

Wednesday: teacher time (begin my message prep for the weekend), leader time, administrator time, pastor time (mid-week student program)

Thursday: Developer (this is where I'll work on a writing project/something I'm creating for our ministry), administrator time, leader time

Friday: teacher time, administrator time

Saturday: pastor time (Saturday night service)

Sunday: pastor time (Sunday morning services)

I hope this is helpful. For more detailed information about these five roles and the goals for each of the roles, you might refer to PDYM chapter 17 and appendix H.

There is no one way to manage your time, but I've learned that if I don't control my time, others will try to control it for me. And, the more planned I am, the more proactive I can be with managing projects, people, and a ministry that never ends.

http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-doug-s-thoughts.html