personal productivity

5 Reasons Church Leaders Need to Unplug This Week (& 6 Ways to Do It!)

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What if this week you took the “unplug challenge” and invested an hour every day to focus on the important, not the urgent? What if rather than just letting your week happen to you … you pushed back and devoted an uninterrupted hour to your ministry each day? As I’ve met leaders who are making a huge impact in this world, one thing that sets them apart is they regularly set aside time when they aren’t responding to external stimulus. Here are some reasons I think it’s vitally important for you to unplug this week:

6 Tools & Tips for Finding the Time to Unplug This Week:

  • Make the Internet Inaccessible // Just set how long you want to block the internet and click “Start.” Until that timer expires, you will be unable to access the net … even if you restart your computer or delete the application. [Mac] [PC]
  • Curb Your Social Media Time // Earlier this summer I met someone with one of the most responsive social media presences … with tens of thousands of followers. He does it all on only 30 minutes of social media time every day. Be honest: Do you really need to check in with that latest BuzzFeed list on Facebook? Use a tool like Anti-Social to recover that time.
  • Get Up Earlier // I love early mornings. It feels like free time before the world is up. There is an hour there for you to unplug … trust me. Leo Babauta’s article on The Most Successful Techniques for Rising Early might be helpful.
  • Stop Watching TV // Your mom was right, watching too much TV turns your head to mush. The average American watches 5 hours of TV a day. I know you don’t watch that much … but you probably watch some. What if you watched none this week?
  • Say No to Something // What is someone asking you to do this week that you can say no to, which would give you the time to unplug?
  • Stop Reading This Post // Really … go unplug already.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for this article Rich. It’s the little kick I needed to begin the gradual shift to waking earlier and being more productive. I’ve begun cutting out more tv and simply listening to music at night, so now it’s time to get to bed earlier.

    1. Great stuff … I know if I watch TV at night I am up so much later … and then it’s hard to get going in the morning … it’s a viscous cycle! 😉

      Thanks for dropping by.

      – Rich

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Rich Birch
Rich Birch is one of the early multi-site church pioneers in North America. He led the charge in helping The Meeting House in Toronto to become the leading multi-site church in Canada with over 5,000+ people in 18 locations. In addition, he served on the leadership team of Connexus Church in Ontario, a North Point Community Church Strategic Partner. He has also been a part of the lead team at Liquid Church - a 5 location multisite church serving the Manhattan facing suburbs of New Jersey. Liquid is known for it’s innovative approach to outreach and community impact. Rich is passionate about helping churches reach more people, more quickly through excellent execution.His latest book Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church is an Amazon bestseller and is design to help your church reach more people in your community.