Here is my monthly report on projects, goals, and the lessons I’m learning along the way.
My 2020 Goals
Professional Goals:
100% / Double the number of members of The Religion Teacher (December 2017 to present) (+8%)
392,718/1,000,000 words for kids (A part of my #1millionwordsforkids goal) (+11,244 words)
551/600 Resources (Videos/Worksheets) for Members of The Religion Teacher (+0 resources)
Personal Goals:
50/75 Books read (+3 books)
30/73 Books of the Bible read from beginning to end (+0 books read)
95/100 30-minute workouts (+7 workouts)
How I Spent My Time in September 2020
I track every minute of time I spend working on projects using an app called Toggl (here is why). Here is a list of the top ten projects I spent the most time on last month:
- 22:37 – The Religion Teacher Email & Customer Service
- 17:22 – The Religion Teacher September Membership Launch
- 17:22 – Prepare the Way: Advent and Christmas Bible Stories for Kids
- 8:37 – Morning Preview
- 8:38 – Daily Review
- 7:53 – Revising The Religion Teacher’s Lectio Divina Worksheets
- 7:11 – Weekly Review
- 3:54 – The Religion Teacher Videos
- 3:10 – October Speaking Events
- 2:39 – The Religion Teacher Newsletter
Total Time: 115:58 Hours
September 2020 Highlights & Lessons Learned
Goal accomplished.
Every September I create a series of emails along with some bonus offers to encourage religious educators in their work with young people. It is the biggest month of the year for The Religion Teacher and the website’s mission.
This year I focused on the obvious: COVID-19 and the things we can learn and do differently in religious education going forward.
The result: I finally reached a goal I set in December 2017 of doubling the number of members of The Religion Teacher. It took almost three years instead of one, but we got there.
To be honest, hitting the goal was great, but life continued as normal. There was no trophy or confetti. I still have all the responsibilities I had before as a creator, author, husband, and dad.
I still have so much more I want to do with the website to help teachers and students. I’m excited about the projects ahead. It is a relief to hit the goal, but the mission and the work hasn’t changed.
The Last Bible Breaks Book
Although I didn’t expect this at the beginning of the year, the series of Bible stories for kids books has been the biggest focus of my writing in 2020. This month I finally finished writing the last planned book in the series. I started the year with a collection of stories for Lent and I’m ending with a collection for Advent and Christmas.
I learned a lot about writing, editing, AMS Ads, and publishing with these books. I’m glad to get them out there and see how they can help families and teachers creatively teach some of our most important Bible stories to kids.
Revising the Lectio Divina Worksheets
The Religion Teacher’s Lectio Divina Worksheets have been among my most popular downloads for years. They were the inspiration for the hundreds of worksheets that are available to members of The Religion Teacher.
I’ve developed a worksheet style in the last few years and these needed an upgrade to fit with the design I have been using on more recent creations. I’m happy with the way they turned out and glad to get them into the hands and desks of new members of The Religion Teacher as a bonus for joining last month.
