Pastor burnout has become an epidemic. While political division and a global pandemic have exacerbated the issue, the fact of the matter is that way too many pastors have been burning out for way too long.
While there are any number of things that can contribute to burnout, highly ranked among them is the fact that many pastors are constantly overextending themselves.
Whether they are saddled by the expectations of their congregation, or simply expect too much of themselves, most pastors know what it’s like to manage an unmanageable workload.
If a pastor does it for too long, he’s likely to run aground.
It doesn’t have to be this way. But a life of healthy balance doesn’t just happen. You have to choose it, and you have to continue choosing it by the choices you make on a regular basis.
Here are five things pastors can do to keep from overextending and exhausting themselves.
1. Be Strict About Your Day Off.
This sounds so simple, and it has been repeated ad nauseam, but if you want to last over the long haul, you have to incorporate rhythms of rest into your weekly schedule.
Pastor, if you don’t have a set day off during the week, you need to set one. Some pastors like to take Monday off, because they are exhausted from preaching and leading church services on Sunday. Others like to take Friday off, because they rest more easily when their work for the week is already completed.
In either case, do not violate the sanctity of your day off except for the rarest of occasions or most dire of emergencies. Do not answer your phone. Do not check your email or Slack messages. Take the day off. Relax. Spend time with your spouse. Do something that fills you back up.
One way to keep yourself from being tempted to do work on your day off is to invest in a hobby. It could be art, sports, craftsman-like projects, or anything else that you find interesting. When you have something that you look forward to doing with your time off, you will find that it’s easier not to work when you should be resting.
2. Set More Reasonable Expectations for What You Can Do in a Day (or Week).
If you’re anything like me, you wake up in the morning feeling as though the day is full of possibilities. Once your coffee kicks in, you begin visualizing everything that you’re going to get done before dinnertime.
The problem is that your coffee eventually wears off, certain tasks take longer than you expected, and you don’t have as much energy and focus as you did earlier in the day. And so your list goes unfinished, which you feel badly about. Otherwise, you work late, which makes you exhausted.
