Category: Time Management
How to Get a Ph.D While Working a Full-Time Job
I’m just completing my first semester in a seminary Ph.D program, which I began while keeping my full-time ministry job as Associate Pastor of my church. It’s not an easy task at all, and has more than its share of time management challenges. I wanted to share some of my thoughts and practices, and to [...]
Category: Academics, Time Management
Start the Semester Off Smart
The first week of seminary is over, and looming ahead are due dates for reading, papers and tests. You know this because you should have a syllabus for each class, which contains all the assignments you’ll need to complete this semester and their due dates. This is awesome. It’s a time management bonanza. If you [...]
Category: Featured, Time Management
Survival Skill # 1: Triage
Triage (`tree-ozh), from French, “to sort.” 1. A process for sorting injured people into groups based on their need for or likely benefit from immediate medical treatment. Triage is used in hospital emergency rooms, on battlefields, and at disaster sites when limited medical resources must be allocated. 2. A system used to allocate a scarce commodity, [...]
Category: Featured, Time Management
Seminary Syllabus Strategy #4: A Study Plan for Each Major Exam
Similar to creating a writing plan for papers, you should block out dedicated study time for major exams. If you do this now, at the beginning of the semester (and stick to your schedule), then you won’t be pinched to find time to study. It’s pretty simple: Reserve study blocks beginning about a week before [...]
Category: Academics, Featured, Time Management
Seminary Syllabus Strategy #3: A Writing Plan for Every Major Paper
Seminary will give you plenty of practice writing papers. By the time I graduated with my M.Div, I could easily write ten pages about nothing. (Some would allege that my sermons are exactly that…but I digress.) Writing papers on the scale that seminary requires can be daunting if you haven’t done it before. Ten page [...]
Category: Academics, Time Management
Seminary Syllabus Strategy #2: Start Reading Now
Seminary involves a LOT of reading. At the beginning of the semester, you typically have more open time. Seize it! Use it to read ahead now, and then when the first wave of papers is due, you won’t be so rushed. There may be some classes you can read ahead in more easily. Look over [...]
Category: Academics, Time Management
Seminary Syllabus Strategy #1: Get It In Your Calendar
The first week of seminary is over, and looming ahead are due dates for reading, papers and tests. You know this because you should have a syllabus for each class, which contains all the assignments you’ll need to complete this semester and their due dates. This is awesome. It’s a time management bonanza. If you [...]
Category: Academics, Featured, Time Management
Tips for a Productive Day at Seminary
Of all the subject areas we address here at SSG, one I’m really passionate about is time management. Here’s a baker’s dozen of my favorite tips for daily productivity. Get up early. Sleeping in is fun, but should be an occasional treat. Jesus’ example of early rising is worthy of imitation. (Trouble getting up early?) [...]
Category: Featured, Time Management
Your Seminary Isn’t Responsible For Your Education
Your seminary isn’t responsible for your education. You are. In the past week, I’ve had the chance to visit with a few current and just-graduated seminarians, and some of their observations have been strikingly similar: The seminary environment is too academic. The assigned readings are too long, and not really related to the subject matter. [...]
Category: Featured, Time Management
You’re a Victim of Triage (and upcoming posts!)
Regular readers of Seminary Survival Guide have noticed that my posting has been slow of late. My explanation is that I’ve been practicing what I preach. One key concept I believe it’s critical for Christian leaders to master is triage: knowing how to sort through a welter of urgent demands and determine what is truly [...]
Category: Time Management
