Drooling Over Your Schedule

I was about to leave for work this morning when I noticed my son had drooled all over my shirt, thankfully being a youth minister all I had to do was find another t-shirt to wear…I’m fortunate that my job doesn’t require a suit and tie or this would have been more of a headache. But the drool incident still slowed me down on my way to work. 
But, I’m not going to complain because this is a part of life, life change is going to happen whether or not you are ready for it.  Seasons change, weather changes, work, school, our bodies, everything changes…well, except for the work schedule I have hanging in my office. 
I know I’ve talked about this subject before, and when I created my schedule it was very helpful; however, what happened is a series of changes that now makes my schedule slightly irrelevant.  What I didn’t do with my schedule is schedule in a time to work on adapting it to some of the changes going on in my life.  For example:

• I now have a child, I had myself coming in at 8:30am every morning, that can no longer happen.  
• My meetings have changed with ministers because their lives change, now I’ve found myself making more phone calls.  
• The demands of my job have changed, with summer approaching I need to spend more time researching and meeting and a little less time writing and delegating.  

My life has changed in so many simple and complex ways.  I’m reluctant to work on my schedule; however, I know it’s important because with no schedule I have no path or direction.  This time around what I need to do is:

1. Implement Flexibility – this will allow me to role with quick changes and short term rescheduling needs.  For example, if I plan to meet with someone 1/2 hour a week I should give myself 1 hour, just in case the meeting goes long.
2. Create Seasonal Schedules – this will allow me to see the road ahead.  If I have a schedule for when September hits (busiest time of the year for me), then I can see in August what adjustments I need to make, so that I’m not floored when my hours jump or workload becomes overwhelming.

What do you need to do to give your schedule direction?