A common frustration about seminary is all the balls you have to keep in the air at once. Seminary coursework alone can have you managing several multi-step projects with their own timelines and deadlines. Add to that your job, family commitments, and whatever ministry you’re serving in. It’s a lot to keep coordinated. In the [...]

Seminary Time Waster #3: Interruptions and Task Switching. The kind of study you are doing at seminary requires deliberate and sustained thinking—the kind which is impossible in high-interruption environments. You should aim in your study time for long, uninterrupted blocks of time. I’d recommend a minimum of 90 minutes. You should have enough time to [...]

We’re all very well acquainted with the problem of procrastination. Putting off things that we do not enjoy or are dreading is a very human temptation, but is completely self-destructive. Here are a few practical tips on overcoming procrastination. Some of these tips will work well for you, others won’t. Pick and choose as you [...]

Learning to say no is an important survival skill for ministry. People will ask you to do all sorts of things. because you’re nice. You’re in ministry! How could you say no? This will suck your life away if you’re not careful. We must defend our own borders. Of course, most of us in ministry [...]

In seminary, I was a grade-nerd. It started early in my academic career. I was in the gifted program from 3rd grade through high school. Once I discovered that I had academic gifts, I found I liked achieving well in that arena. And my parents never settled for less than I could do. In high [...]