Keagan Henman, unsplash.com
All across the country, many regions are starting to loosen restrictions on church gatherings, so those of us in technical ministry are shifting our focus back to the world of producing live events.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Over the past few months, our routines have been uprooted entirely, with midweek meetings, volunteer trainings, and weekend workflows all falling victim to lockdowns and quarantines.
However, as things begin to “open up,” we are now reentering a reality where these things are being phased back in.
Unfortunately, after having gone nearly three months in an alternate reality, many of us have had to adopt new habits and abandon older ones to adjust to surviving with different expectations.
So, here comes the tension: I might need to still keep doing some of these new work things (at least for a season), but I have to juggle that with all of the “old” responsibilities that just got shelved for a of couple months.
How do I keep my sanity? How do I stay healthy and keep from getting run ragged or overworked?
There’s tremendous value in trying to rebuild some of our routines, since we tend to be creatures of habit that thrive (more often than not) when there’s some semblance of structure and predictability.
Where do we need to focus to rebuilding healthy routines and set ourselves up for long-term success?
1. Personal lives
We can’t be healthy as employees if we're not first healthy as people.
For me personally, since my workflow and expectations have changed over the last few months, my schedule has changed also. I’m staying up later than I normally had been, and to offset that, it helps that I haven’t had to be involved in as many early morning activities (like getting my kids ready for school).
... my spouse or kids may have gotten really accustomed to me being more present or engaged than normal over the last few months. If that will soon be changing because I’m going “back to work,” I can’t just drop my family cold turkey.
Perhaps some of us have had to do something similar, like working a different schedule on nights or weekends because of editing sermons for playback, or remixing a worship set before it goes online. It can be easier to make some of those adjustments when our regular workday has gotten upended, especially if our Sundays aren’t as demanding as they used to be.
But if I don’t intentionally refocus on prioritizing my sleep and morning routines, I’m just setting myself up for exhaustion or burnout as my workload increases.
I need to have the self-awareness and discipline to get myself back into healthy patterns before exhaustion forces me to do it. Perhaps I can’t keep staying up late to watch TV and unwind. I probably won’t have the luxury to stay up late to edit something and still be on my “A-game” for an early-morning meeting tomorrow.
Another consideration, my spouse or kids may have gotten really accustomed to me being more present or engaged than normal over the last few months. If that will soon be changing because I’m going “back to work,” I can’t just drop my family cold turkey. I need to do plenty of communicating to set expectations for my daily and weekly schedules.
In addition, I may now need to embrace how much I should be prioritizing family time with my kids each week, or having a date night with my spouse. This may be the time to go ahead and put those things on the calendar so they can be priority items I work to protect and schedule around, so I don’t start accidentally neglecting my family when my “normal” work life resumes.
2. Relational life
Nearly all of our professional relationships over the last three months have been whittled down to phone calls, FaceTime, and Zoom.
Even though I’m more introverted by nature, I have realized how much I need face-to-face personal interaction with other people. I miss being able to go to lunch with people.
Sometimes there’s definitely a level of convenience in keeping conversations virtualized or distanced. But it’s not what we need. God created us to be relational, and I believe that we all need regular healthy interaction in order to be the best version of ourselves.
Nearly all of our professional relationships over the last three months have been whittled down to phone calls, FaceTime, and Zoom.
So, my hope is that all of us realize the connections that we’ve missed over these last several weeks and work to build those back into our lives as a priority part of our work week.
Maybe it’s regular interaction with our volunteers. Maybe it’s a meet-up with techs from other churches in town. Maybe it’s a group meeting with other staffers to plan or debrief weekend services. Maybe it’s been regular planning meetings with team leaders to discuss ministry vision or future events, and we’ve all just been too busy to keep the connections.
Whatever the case may be, I hope we all learn how we shouldn’t take those things for granted, and instead need to prioritize and fight for that level of interaction.
Let’s not be so busy that we “give up the habit of meeting together” - Hebrews 10:25
Yes, some meetings can be boring or seem unnecessary. But sometimes you don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s been taken away. Sometimes we take things for granted until we learn how much we miss them once they’re gone.
Let’s work to prioritize relationships and make sure that they stay at the forefront of our “new normal.” Let’s build them as part of our weekly schedule that we protect, knowing how much we need to be around others in a healthy way. Let’s not be so busy that we “give up the habit of meeting together” (Heb. 10:25).
3. Spiritual life
Sometimes when crisis hits, we keep ourselves so busy trying to navigate the storm that we neglect our relationship with the One who has the power to calm the storm.
I know I’ve been in this boat before. I’ve had so much dumped on my plate that it just becomes my goal to make it through every day by the skin of my teeth, get a couple hours of sleep, and then go do it all over again. It’s more about surviving than thriving.
Or, I get so focused on the routine of church work (cranking out services or content) that I forget how to stop amidst all the busyness and have time to worship.
Sometimes when crisis hits, we keep ourselves so busy trying to navigate the storm that we neglect our relationship with the One who has the power to calm the storm.
Perhaps that’s where many of us have been since March. We’ve had so much on our plate and have stayed so busy that it almost feels like we don’t have time to maintain a healthy spiritual life. Or we were so used to worshipping while we served in a live service that without that routine, we never were really able to find another outlet to keep ourselves spiritually healthy.
Either way, we can only run on our own energy and effort for so long before we lose our ability to produce. Our ministry expression should be an overflow of what is happening inside us spiritually, and the ability and grace in which we serve should be a reflection of our relationship with God.
But again, sometimes in “crisis mode” we focus more on survival and forget about spiritual health.
We all need to know, though, that we can’t sustain a life in ministry without keeping our spiritual health at the top of our priority list.
Maybe we need to resume listening to worship music on our work commutes instead of to a coronavirus podcast.
Maybe we need to adjust our personal schedules so we're going to bed earlier, and getting out of bed sooner so we can have a few minutes of quiet time before we jump into the fray of reopening. Maybe we need to get back in the rhythm of watching a church service during lunch a couple of days a week. Maybe we need to resume listening to worship music on our work commutes instead of to a coronavirus podcast.
Regardless of the specifics, we need to be reminded that we'll get farther with God carrying us than we ever will running on our own.
Sometimes we all need to go back to the basics. Love God and make him the priority. Keep ourselves healthy. Emphasize healthy relationships with others who can help us grow.
When we build our lives and routines around these key items, we’ll remain on a foundation solid enough to withstand any workload or new demand.
