“How do you get it all done?”

For the last several years anyway, I’ve been running the Longer Haul website, creating courses for the website, managing an email list (join the others already on it here), creating, recording, editing the Longer Haul Youth Ministry Podcast, being husband to my wife, dad to my four kiddos, taking 12+ hours of class per semester trying to finish a degree (now THAT is this never-ending struggle), and oh, I am a full-time Student Pastor overseeing middle school, high school, and college ministries.

Whew!  Honestly, I get overwhelmed just reading that myself.  The never-ending struggle for productivity is VERY real in my life.

So, quite often I get asked just how exactly I get it all done.  Well, to be honest, I don’t always…

But most of the time I do.  How?  There are several answers to this.  Some are more helpful than others.  I will start with the one that may not be super helpful and then breakdown more specifically how I (attempt) to win the never-ending struggle for productivity.

I just do

See?  I told you I would start with a one that would not be super helpful.  It just seems though that in life that we just find ways to get everything done that we really see as important.  You just get it done.

That isn’t to say that everything we do is important.  Which leads me to my next point.

I say no

In order for me to remotely accomplish all that I need to I have to say no to other things that are a lesser priority.  To be honest, I don’t always do well with this, but I do try.

The struggle here for me isn’t necessarily saying no to things, but rather saying no to the correct things and not neglecting the things that really do matter.  Being able to focus on the things that I really feel I have to get done definitely means saying no to thing that may be good, but aren’t necessary.

I see value in discipline

This has become more and more true as I have gotten older and more experienced in ministry.  I used to see discipline as an excruciating task.  I saw it as something that would keep me from being “creative” and “spontaneous.”  In reality it kept me from any manner of productivity and accomplishing anything.

The truth is, that the more disciplined I have been with my life, the more creative and spontaneous I have been able to be.  Seeking to be disciplined in my life allows me to be intentional with my time, get more accomplished, and free up time that I can do more creative things.

I have used early mornings to get stuff done

I know, I know.  You may be saying, “But Jody, I’m just not a morning person.”

I get that.  In fact, it is what I said until a few years ago.  Then I had a friend challenge me on this.  He graciously asked, “Aren’t you able to get up early and be productive at camp?”  “What about when traveling, don’t you adjust to the time difference then too?”

Uh…yeah.

“Then maybe it is just that you’re not really trying.”

Uh…

So I started trying.  Before long I was up and going.  Now, listen, rolling over and actually getting out of the bed.  That is the struggle.  Once I’m up though, I’m up and actually accomplishing things.

For me this has proved to be great.  The mornings are quiet (one of the rare times in my house things are quiet) so I can focus on what I need to get done.

You see what I found was that I wasn’t a morning person because I was staying up late.  It is pretty hard to wake up early when you stay up late.  It took some time, but I was able to retrain my body so to speak to be up early.

I’ve always liked being up early.  It is the whole getting up early that I hated (still hate).

To be sure, there are times when you may be more productive and your life may demand other things from you.  If you work nights and are a volunteer or bi-vocational youth worker, then your early mornings are going to likely serve a different purpose.  For you, evenings may work better.

The point is this really, don’t make excuses.  You can’t add more time to the day, but you can redeem some of the time you’re losing.

Getting up–being up rather–early and getting things knocked out first thing, help me enormously when it comes to my productivity throughout the rest of the day.

As someone much wiser than me once said, “It is often the start that stops us.”

I have established routines

Again, for years I saw routine as monotonous and boring.  Doing the same thing every…single…day seemed like punishment.

I’ve never been the guy who can sit in my office all day.  I still have to get up and “go exploring” away from my desk a bit during the day.  It usually is something as simple as walking around the church for a few minutes or–most likely–making another cup of coffee, because coffee is a real problem for me.

Establishing routines though doesn’t mean doing the same thing everyday.  For me it means beginning things the same way each day.  The consistent pattern of this has proved to be invaluable to me when I have been my most productive.

For example, once I started getting up early I established a routine.  I wake up, make myself get out of the bed, and come downstairs.  I turn on all of the lights downstairs.  This immediately helps me begin to wake up.

Next, I begin to heat the water for my Chemex coffee maker and lay out all that I need to brew the coffee.  While that is happening I drink a glass of water.  I had read that we wake up somewhat dehydrated in the mornings.  Drinking water rehydrates me, allowing the blood vessels to open and let the blood flow better and making the caffeine from the coffee more effective (it is all about the coffee).

Once the coffee is made and I grab something for breakfast, I sit down at my computer and can begin working.

This routine has helped me SO much.  In an odd and unexpected way it seems to kick my brain into work mode.  Without the routine I will struggle to get going regardless of what time I wake up.

There are though a few other things that have really helped me with productivity, and that takes me to my next point.

I use tools that help keep me on track

I’m a huge tool junkie.  I’m always looking for tools to help me be more effective.  You can click Here to get the 5 top tools I use To manage my Youth Ministry.  There are other tools I use though as well.  Some of these specifically help me with productivity.

One huge tool if you will that is a part of the routine previously mentioned is a Spotify playlist.  As soon I turn on the computer I open Spotify and play the same playlist.  I have a few different playlists that I will use throughout the year.  For the most part, though I try to stick with the same one for a few months at a time.

A few things with the playlist to keep in mind.  It needs to be music you won’t sing to or be distracted by while listening.  Listening to the same songs helps with this, but most of my playlists for this are made up of classical music.  I find it helps me concentrate and I seem to actually remember things a bit better (the research must be right).

The music more than anything seems to really kick my brain into work mode.  Sounds weird I know, but it works.

I also love and use a tool called coffitivity.  It adds the ambiance of background sounds to the music.  These are sounds from coffee shops (don’t judge me), the lunchroom, and the campus.  It blocks out other noise and just seems again to help me concentrate.

I have at times used an app called Concentrate! Timer to help me stay on task throughout the day.  It basically  helps by setting a timer for time to focus on work and then a timer for a break.  It is really helpful when working on a project that will take a long time to complete, but I often use it just to keep me on pace throughout the day.

Sharing a calendar with my wife has also be HUGE.  We use iCal since we both have iPhones and Macs, but you could just as easily use Google Calendar as well.

If you’ve been around The Longer Haul for a while you’ll know I’m a GINORMOUS fan of Evernote, and Brett Kelly’s Evernote Essentials.  I honestly could not accomplish anything without Evernote.  It literally holds everything in it.

In addition to Evernote, I use (hoard) Moleskine journals along with Zebra pens and pencils–and you thought coffee was my problem.

I’m also a visual learner and thinker.  So I love a good dry erase board.  The bigger the better.  I’m always making lists on it, brainstorming, drawing “stuff,” and just about anything else I can find it helpful for.  I will then often take a picture of it and save it in Evernote of course.

One final tool I will throw out, although I don’t personally use this to be transparent is a Chrome extension called Feedblocker.  If you struggle with wasting time on Facebook, then Feedblocker may be a real help for you.  It basically does exactly what it says, it blocks your newsfeed.  This will keep you from getting sucked down the rabbit hole of seeing what everyone had for an appetizer, why their kids are cooler than yours, and how amazing their vacation is.

Well there you have it.  A rundown of how I at least try to get it all done.  Some days I do better than others, but these things have been extremely helpful for me.  I’ve also put together a quick cheat sheet of these productivity tools for you.

Click here to grab your productivity tool cheat sheet.

One last thing, I’d love to hear what kinds of things help you with your productivity.