The Weekly Tracker: An important productivity tool

One of the blessings in my early leadership days was that I got my youth ministry start with Ft. Wayne Area Youth for Christ. At the time it was one of the largest chapters in the US and I would still argue that the 27 staff members I served with during those eight years comprised one of the most talented teams of youth workers I’ve seen.

The real blessing for me was the supervisory structure during the first three years in youth ministry (more on this another time).  Each week my supervisor and I would go to lunch at the Venice and go over my schedule for the coming week…. and review the prior week’s schedule.  Yes, I had to keep track of how I spent my week and the go over it with my supervisor.  And it was this accountability that coached me on how to be productive.

These appointments were positive, focused on helping me maximize my work time, make sure I was having family time, and yet helping me make sure I was doing what youth workers are supposed to do:  SPEND TIME WITH YOUTH. 

So, we used a Weekly Tracker that I would recommend to you. Keep track of what you do every half hour.  Be specific (“office” doesn’t show what you did in the office or if social media interrupted 15 of those minutes).

Then the following week look back and go over how you spent your time.  Figure out your most important work categories (the “big rocks”) and use those to group your work. Total up your hours (i.e. how much time spent with youth outside of the weekly program) and you’ll be surprised where your time was spent.

Most of us don’t do this kind of evaluation because we don’t want to know. 

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