Weekends are busy season for ministers. This weekend I have: a leadership training, an hour of cutting veggies for a Thanksgiving outreach to veterans, preaching on Sundays and a board meeting after Sunday service.

For myself, preparing for a weekend like this one starts on Thursday (which is the official beginning of my work week). It requires plenty of prayer, lots of review of material and a careful refusal to allow distractions that inevitable try to fill the empty cracks of time leading up to and between the events of the weekend.

I find if I let myself get dragged into things I shouldn’t be involved in on Thursdays and Fridays I can kiss my effectiveness on Saturdays and Sundays good bye. If I let myself get involved in distractions on busy weekends I find myself running on fumes by Monday and Tuesday.

How do you avoid distractions?