This is just a short blog post to remind you to enjoy the little things.
It helps keep you sane, helps keep you focused.
Whether it’s that smell of a fresh brewed cup of coffee, a piece of a routine you enjoy, hearing someone laugh etc.
Today my little thing was the weather, driving with the windows down, shorts and flip flops, and getting a little sun burn on my arm.
Rule # 32 Enjoy the little things.
otherwise you might truly go nuts.
I am trying to come up with some regular blog posts to do weekly when I have nothing else to talk about. Tuesdays are for tips of the trade.
The yes/no rule.
I’m not going to say that I’m an expert here but developing the skill of saying yes and no in the tech and media field is a wise choice to make. So many people think because you’re a Christian that it’s ok for them to walk all over you, and that you must say yes. It is also a common thought that because you’re in a ‘service’ roll or a ministry roll that you must say yes to every little thing. While you should try and accommodate people as much as possible you also have to be careful that you set boundaries.
I watch a lot of people just say yes to everything. They run around trying to please absolutely everyone. In turn they end up burning themselves on both ends and hating life afterward. These are also the people who look down upon you if you’re a naysayer, like you’ve commited some carnal sin because you have limits. If you’re a yes-man please be careful of crapping on others because they’re not like you (it goes both ways of course).
Then there are those who say no to much. These people end up never getting asked to do anything because they won’t ever do it. They get a bad rap because nothing is ever possible, and if you do end up goading them into accomplishing something they do nothing but complain about it, and then end product is usually sub par. No is a good word to learn for the yes sayers, but those naysayers need to add a little positivity to their vocab or else no one will want to work with you.
I learned a little bit of something from the Original Star Trek series and Scotty the engineer. Always give someone a longer time frame than it will take to accomplish something and then finish it really qick. That way you end up the hero, you didn’t say no (its more like you met half way) and you worked a miracle.
So don’t burn yourself out, and don’t anger people consistently.
*edit*
You also need to be careful of the spirit in which you say yes or no. Because you can say yes in such a way that still communicates no and vice versa.
What do you struggle with more often than not? Saying yes to much? saying no more than you should?
How many of you creatives, techies and other types of church communications people live by this rule?
Alright..all two of you.
Most of us have to throw this in the recycle bin out of necessity not out of want. Unfortunately somewhere back in the 50’s it became ingrained in all church training that the more words, information, events, hooplah we cram into whatever we do some how makes it better. Oh no there is an empty space in our bulletin. Instead of letting it breath or making font bigger lets throw in something about church member Larry having his colonoscopy done last month. Praise God he was ok afterward. Seriously? I could have lived without that information.
White space can be a friend, whether it’s on your stage, in your bulletin or in some other design or form of communication. We have to live in a world where most people don’t understand this concept so it’s our sworn duty to try and work it in where we can. It can also simplify our lives quite a bit. Yeah I could go out and purchase a couple new video cards and figure out a way to properly incorperate it so we do some cool seamless video from one computer, but why not just use separate machines to drive already existing hardware. This cut the need for any kind of production budget and while it takes a more hands on approach will give us the flexibility we need and a whole lot simpler…I don’t have to run extra video lines or work around software issues.
Not everyone needs an invitation to your sunday school (*shudders at the term*) classes BBQ next weekend so don’t put a flyer in the bulletin for it. If you can keep your sermon series name short, do it, it becomes more memorable and easier to grab onto. Does your graphic have a lot happening? don’t know where your eye should focus, make it less busy. To much distraction on stage? Cut down on some of your staging elements. Bout to bust your budget? Trim the fat…no reason, especially today, to be to spendy. That way when you need it for something that counts later, it’s not as hard to go and ask for it!
So I guess the take away is, if someone is going to stop paying attention after the first three words of whatever you’re doing, simplify.
