My task list is a million miles long and often find myself stuck. With a flooded inbox, too many people to meet with and tasks to complete, what does a work week look like? I don’t have to arrive at the church offices at 8AM. I have many meetings at my local coffee shop. Sometimes if I really need to get something done, I’ll turn my phone on airplane mode and work from my home office. Though these realities are true, the majority of my office time is spent in the church office at my desk. My desk is about 15 feet long.

This is the Next Gen desk. On a typical work day I can be found at this desk not alone but with everyone else that contributes to birth-high school. This is a shared work space with the team I belong to, and it works. Recently, I gave a church tour to two other youth pastors. I showed them my office space and our desk. There reactions were somewhat the same as mine when it was first mentioned to me, I was skeptical. I never thought I would get my task list accomplished or goals met. The truth is, sitting at a team desk has made things easier for me.

In my previous church I had a large office all to myself… many other staff had this set up. You would see others at lunch, or through a scheduled meeting. Sure, it’s nice to have a door to shut… I really do miss that sometimes being in an open area but the productivity of our team is much more than I think it would be. What could take hours to unfold in an email thread is decided upon and figured out in mere moments because everyone is at the desk. Even my boss sits at the desk.

Our team is accomplishing more than it ever has. I give some of that credit to the desk. Think outside your desk, what kind of working habits do you need to break or approach differently.