I came from a couple’s retreat a few weeks ago and got to spend some really good quality time with my wife discussing some things we need to do to strengthen our marriage. One of the take home lessons I got is the concept of logging on and logging off.
Pastoral work is tricky. It will never be a 9 to 5 job. As much as possible I try to confine my work for the ministry in a week to within the usual 45 hours work week. This includes meetings, sermon preparation, leadership development, discipleship, counseling and doing office stuff. The tricky part is that when I get home I tend to bring my work with me. The stress, pressures, and ministry ideas are still running in my mind even when I get home. Something bad happens to our family each time I experience this: my wife and kids gets DADDY’S leftover energy.
To some extent I have improved in a skill called: logging off. It means that the moment I step into our house, I’ve automatically logged off from work. No more thinking about church stuff, management, and people in church. I give and devote my undivided attention to my kids who usually wants me to play with them and my wife who wants to talk to me.
The secret to logging off is to have the discipline to log on first. What do I mean? When you go out of the house and step into your office or in the field – you should automatically log on. I give my very best in my workplace. I use my time in the office wisely. I prioritize what I need to do as a pastor. Work hard as if there is not tomorrow so that you could log off on time. A lot of pastors have a hard time logging off because they never really logged in.
EIC Note: This article is re-posted from Pt. Dennis Sy’s blog Clueless Church Planter
This really has to be learned. It took a nervous breakdown — with virtually 0 leftover energy — for me to start logging off. It also takes a lot of guts that some people are afraid to make. We are a nation of people who tend to believe that giving ourselves room to breathe immediately means we’re slacking off.
I went through the exact same thing. Instead of a nervous breakdown though it was a series of health issues which the doctor said was mainly because of my insane schedule and work load.