With so many details going into every Sunday, live production for churches is a weekend sprint. Let’s be honest, church services can be exhausting (as evidenced by your coma-like nap on Sunday afternoon). But, more than a sprint, it’s a marathon… with church services coming every Sunday at 9 am, it can be overwhelming knowing there’s a new service, a new set of details, coming in less than 167 hours. How do you manage the formidable tension?
You? You’re a smart cookie. You added Resi On Demand to your Resi account, greatly simplifying your Monday work. What previously took hours of editing, rendering, and uploading is now done in literal minutes, thanks to Resi. Church production team members like you are reclaiming a full workday using this new feature set. This begs the question, what do you do with that full workday back during the week? What do you do with all this free time?
Taking Back Monday: A Church Tech Director’s Guide to Saving Time
With this resource, you can take back time on Mondays and focus on what matters most—serving your ministry.
Download for free!
1.
Breathe. Take Time for You
First off, breathe.
Take some time for yourself. Burnout among church production staff is high. The marathon sprint we endure takes its toll. Monday mornings, take some “you” time. Go to Starbucks or a quiet place and get some coffee. Read through a YouVersion Bible Reading Plan. Calmly look over your upcoming week and develop a plan. Really. Don’t be reactionary! Instead, take the time to be predictive and proactive. The stresses of Sunday morning are incessant. The idea that “it’s better to burn out than rust out” is not healthy for you or the church if you’re physically, mentally, or spiritually dead. Up front, take time for you.
2.
Clean that Audio Visual Lighting (AVL) Closet
Every production person has this space. Maybe it’s the closet backstage. Or a rat’s nest of cabling just offstage. Or a collection of boxes, paperwork, and stickies on your desk. With that extra Monday time, take the time to get organized. We all have that messy area in our life that we want to organize but we ignore it. This is that moment to stop ignoring. It’s not a fun job. But it’s a necessary one. Who knows what treasures you’ll find inside that closet that hasn’t been organized in 5 years?
3.
Inbox at 0
Okay, this may be radical. You take pride in the fact that your inbox has 24,369 unread emails. But you don’t have to. Use some of your newfound Monday time to go through your inbox. Email applications have this cool feature called “Archive Mail” that’ll store older emails so they won’t take up space in your inbox.
Seriously, the average American smartphone user receives 46 push notifications per day on their smartphone. And we all know there’s nothing average about you, Mr/Mrs Power User. You probably get that many per hour! What if you took the time to unsubscribe from some email newsletters that are nothing but noise? What if you took the time to (and this may sound crazy) reply to some of those work emails? We know you’re a Discord user, and email is dying, but believe it or not, some people still use this archaic communication system called “E-mail” to communicate. Until email goes the way of smoke signals, be a team player, and don’t let emails just sit in your inbox.
4.
Take a Couple of Volunteers Out for Coffee
Maybe it’s coffee or breakfast/lunch during your reclaimed Monday. The reality is your ministry leans on these volunteers a lot. We need to care for these volunteers. We need to be involved in their lives.
Could you imagine if you systematically connected with each volunteer regularly in a non-stressful environment? Talk about the spouse? Kids? Job? Dreams? God? The more we show we care for volunteers, the more open they’ll be to receiving feedback from us and the healthier they will be while serving. As Production/Tech Directors, who by our nature are obsessed with details, we have to get to the place where we are involved in the lives of our volunteers other than ChMS invites. Be more than a “Sunday Boss” in the lives of your volunteers.
5.
Read a Book (That Has Nothing To Do With AVL)
Extend your capacity beyond AVL and spend some time reading through a Bible commentary, a leadership book, or even a marriage/relationship book. Take some time to be a well-rounded production person who’s mentally and spiritually healthy. Over the years, I’ve met plenty of production people in their 20s who, in their 30s and 40s, move beyond production to explore other areas of ministry. Surviving the gauntlet of production can set you up to succeed later, especially if you take the time to be well rounded, learning how you can function better inside and outside production circles. This is a great way to spend a Monday!
6.
Sit Down With Other Staff and Learn About Their Ministries
So often, we support other ministries within the church. Still, we don’t understand the why of what they’re doing, which limits our ability to communicate the why to our volunteers. An executive pastor friend, a former boss, told me, “We are all driven by our defaults. The leader is the one who can best understand and motivate those defaults.”
Simply put, if you take the time to understand the ministries you support, you build relational credibility to dialogue when issues or differences arise. Maybe you’ll find a “Paul,” a wise mentor with an experienced perspective on marriage, ministry, faith, life, work, and relationships.
7.
Mentor Who’s Next
As you’re reading this, you probably see a pattern. Most of these focus on self-development, which is crucial for anyone (often ignored under church production’s stresses). But let’s expand in another direction. More time on Monday allows you to find a “Timothy,” someone you can mentor. Maybe it’s one of your volunteers or a child of someone you’re working with. As a Church Production/Tech Director, you create incredible experiences and environments for people to worship God. Maybe some free time on Monday will allow you to pass some of that knowledge on to someone else.
Wow, this is a pretty extensive list here, right? Simplifying Monday’s workflow allows you to focus, plan, develop yourself, mentor, and be mentored by others! What an incredible opportunity. If you’ve taken advantage of Resi On Demand, what are you doing with the time you’ve gained? How are you using the time you’re gaining from Resi On Demand? If you’ve not yet signed up for Resi On Demand, imagine what you can do with the time you’d gain. Learn how to add On Demand to your account.
