For as long as I can remember, Wednesday has been my day off because the kids have had a half-day of school. And I've loved our routine. I drop the kids off at school. I work out. Lora and I spend the morning at a coffeehouse somewhere around town. We pick the kids up from school at 12:30. And then we hang out as a family the rest of the day.
This is officially my last Wednesday off. I switch to Mondays during the summer because I get a mini-weekend from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning. And then I have no idea what I'm going to do come the Fall because their half-day on Wednesdays is going away. I don't know whether to take off Mondays or Fridays. I'm leaning toward Monday because it's the furthest day from the weekend thus the least amount of stress. But I know lots of pastors take off on Fridays.
What is the best day for pastors to take off? And should it be more than one day?
This is officially my last Wednesday off. I switch to Mondays during the summer because I get a mini-weekend from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning. And then I have no idea what I'm going to do come the Fall because their half-day on Wednesdays is going away. I don't know whether to take off Mondays or Fridays. I'm leaning toward Monday because it's the furthest day from the weekend thus the least amount of stress. But I know lots of pastors take off on Fridays.
What is the best day for pastors to take off? And should it be more than one day?
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I love my Fridays because my daughter gets picked up from school by her mom AND dad and we spend the whole evening together without worrying about getting up early for school the next morning. Works for us! Hey, be sure to check out my question about writing in response to you post on summer reading, thanks much.
i switched to mondays last september. and i love taking mondays off. i am a bit brain dead on mondays anyway. i drop the kids off at school then spend a date day with my wife. then i get to pick the kids up and hang out with them on monday afternoons. i feel as though i lose some of a traditional weekend, so monday helps extend it.
I tried Fridays, but found that even if I got all my tasks done by then, other people were wrapping up their weeks and calling me with last minute questions. It became an unintentional work day. Mondays are a good reprieve, especially after the weekends with extra events.
no matter what day you take off some people won't care and some people will be upset you took that day off. so my grand solution is to take off sunday's. that way no one is pleased and everyone is upset. if you can't please them, then stop trying.
ok really, i personally think monday's are the best day off b/c it gives you a chance to recover a little bit from sunday.
I take Thursdays. We love it.
I take off Fridays just because I tend to get two days in a row that way from time to time as I work about half of our Saturdays. Monday sounds great though after a big weekend. I just can't imagine working on Fridays at this point.
I used to take Mondays off, but I struggled because I was still pretty drained from a full weekend of activities and preaching. I finally determined that I didn't want to feel that bad on my day off so I changed to Fridays!
We shut down everything except a receptionist and building caretaker on Mondays. If I had my choice though, I'd probably do the mundane office work on Mondays, and take off Fridays to refresh before hitting the weekend.
I love Fridays because it gives me a pseudo weekend. My college service doesn't start until 7pm on Sat night. So I have from Thurs - Sat PM off. Plus if I have to occasionally do church stuff on Sat its not a killer because I'm coming off of a full 24 hour break. If I had Monday off I'd be too tired from Sunday to enjoy it, and to anxious about the upcoming Tuesday to rest my mind. I love the refreshing before the weekend verses the recharge after the weekend. I also don't lose momentum after the weekend services. Not saying that anyone else who takes Mon off does.
I also used to take off on Monday, but it got interrupted too often. In a very real way the weekend worship services feel more like the beginning of my work week than the end, because I get approached by so many new tasks that often need attention before Tuesday. Also taking Friday off forces me not to procrastinate in my sermon prep and other things. Thursday has quickly become my most productive day, because I try very hard to finish up everything before Friday.
I always took Fridays because 1) it meant I was fresher for the weekend demands, and 2) most people assumed I was taking Monday off so I still had a light Monday!
Jud takes Friday because he can best rest once he has the message done. On Mondays his brain is already rolling for the next weekend. It works for us ... but you do what works for you! Enjoy!
I take Mondays off and love it. I try not to check my email from Saturday noon until Tuesday AM. That helps me focus the time teaching and off.
I direct a non-profit ministry now and my schedule is completely dependent on child care. However, when I was working in a church I liked Fridays. Tuesdays are often staff meetings in churches. I always felt that by the time the Tuesday meeting was FINALLY over my week was half over too. If I worked on Monday I felt like I had something done before the meeting, and I was more connected to the meeting. I wasn't preaching every week, so I don't know how I would feel about it if I had been.
I love fridays off! I'd rather spend my post sunday hangover day in the office than give it to my family
I love to take Fridays off. I am so amped up from Sundays that I want to get going on Mondays. By Fridays I am ready to rest, and ready to go on Sunday.
In our ministry, we have Friday and Saturday mornings as unofficial off time. That's because we work an average of 3 nights a week. Plus we work pretty late on Saturdays because our youth service ends at 8pm. Our official day off is Monday. We usually take Friday to soak, pray or rest up before we minister on Saturday :D.
i think most of these people also take saturdays off?
my only day off is saturday. i typically won't work a full day on sunday, just church and maybe some email later. god worked 6 days, the israelites worked 6 days, and as a church planter i need to work 6 days a week!
i also think pastors should work more hours than most people: we ask our people to work 40+ hours at their job and then be in a small group and serve at the church, so i think a pastor should work 45, 50 or more hours a week, with 1 day off a week.
I love taking Friday. All for the same reasons mentioned here. Weekend, refresh before, and it just works. I used to take Tuesdays, not so much.
Mondays are the day off for our pastors.
I didn't read all of the comments above, but I take Fridays. I'm usually too energized on Mondays after the weekend to stop, and Friday is my wife's day off, so it works for us.
I love having Mondays off for the very reason you said...I get a mini weekend. I had Thursdays as my day off last summer, and I could never really relax. It was too close to the weekend.
Our individual personalities play into the best day off scenario.
Pastors who struggle with the Weekend hangover should probably not take Mondays off because they are more prone to struggling with depression that day. A lighter day to reflect on the past weekend and seek vision for the next could be perfect.
Those that can prep and leave it alone to breathe for a while might really love Fridays. The message is in the can and the tasks are either delegated or taken care of. With a Friday off, many pastors, as mentioned above, might actually squeeze together a Friday and a Saturday and enjoy a double header.
Either way, make it a weekday because then the lines at Costco, the movie theatres, the coffee shops, the ski slopes and the golf course are always much shorter.
Friday.
If you take off Monday then Sunday becomes you last day of the week and you are most in need of rest on the day you need energy the most.
Taking Friday off makes me better on Sunday which is the most important day.
Also we recap Sunday services on Monday and if we waited until Tuesday we would not be nearly as fresh.
Our senior pastor and worship leader take Monday's off after two days of prep and worship they're wiped out. Since I'm the small groups and admin guy I come in on Monday's - there's always something to deal with and Monday's allow me to get a jump on it before something becomes too big of a problem. I take Friday's and that allows me time to get away, do stuff around the house, and hang out with the lovely Mrs. Shipp before Saturday evening's worship and Bible study.
Recently our whole staff switched from Mondays off, to Fridays off.
We mainly did this because we created a atmosphere of procrastination. We have a Saturday service and we have 3 sites. The earlier people get things done the more confident we all are. Switching to Friday's off forces everyone to be accountable to getting things done earlier.
I never take Mondays off. I refuse to feel that poorly on my day off. My wife and kid deserve better.
I take Mondays off. When I was an assistant I took Fridays off for a while, and it worked OK at that point, however, when I became a solo pastor I realized that I am NOT a person who can get things done and then leave them alone, especially when it comes to Sunday sermons etc... so I can't take Fridays off without having work creep in and prevent any real relaxation time.
For a while now my wife and I have been able to take Mondays off together, and that has been good.
I'm a Friday off kind guy. Originally when I became a solo pastor I took Monday off, but I found I was still feeling the effects of Sunday on Monday, and it was making me very unproductive on my day off. Now I work on Monday, but I do mostly study and personally refreshing stuff (meaning very few meetings are on Monday). This has been working great the last 8 or so months I have been doing it. And now my Fridays are much more productive days off.
As a youth pastor, my husband ends up with a different day off each week. We roll with it and {sometimes} love the flexibility of it.
I have taken Fridays off since 1996. It is not ideal for every week, there are always exceptions. The perks are, Thursday night is Friday night and if there is nothing big on Saturday AM, then you get two nights of rest and hit it hard Saturday PM and Sunday AM. Lastly, stats show that follow up on Monday is the most effective, and recap of Sunday is most effective on Monday. I start my Sunday sermon prep on Monday when my secretary and Associate are off and I get the least interruptions in the morning. Hit it hard, recap, follow up, gear up. I am more prepared for Tuesday meeting day with Friday off too.
I take Friday's off. I feel too bad on Mondays for it to be my day off. After preaching multiple services on Sunday, I'd rather drag into the office and handle some routine stuff [even study] than try to take a day off when I'm going to be tired no matter what I do. A good nights sleep on Monday and fully charged on Tuesday!!
I have taken Fridays off for the past several years. Because it is at the end of the week everything that gets pushed gets pushed to Friday...and I end up working anyway. I have been considering making a change myself.
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