How to Not Lose Time
Time management is all the rage. If you don’t believe me, just Google it and see how many hits come up. Steven Covey, the Franklin Covey Company, and countless other groups have shared how to manage time over the years. I believe that “time management” is really a misnomer. You can’t actually manage the amount of time you are given in a life. I would like to suggest that a better term than time management is time budgeting. How do you best allocate the finite time you have every day, every week, every month, and every year of your lifetime? The following areas are key to living a life in which your allocation of time reflects your assessment of what is important in life.
Understand your priorities.
We have talked about this many times before but we must continue to make sure that we understand our priorities. We need to make sure the important things are taken care of first. The most challenging aspect of this is process is not choosing between good and bad things, but choosing between good things. We must be intentional in choosing not only what is good, but what is best. It is these “best” things that should go on our calendar first. Once those are placed, then you put the other items on your calendar. If you follow this process, you will be able to make sure that the important things are taken care of in your time budgeting.
Take the long view.
While we always need to be cognizant of the finite amount of time we have on earth, we must also remember that part of “numbering our days” is taking the long view. It is realizing that we must not only plan for the coming days but for the coming months and years. As someone once said, “Life isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon.” I know that this is not easy for us as Adventists who believe in the soon return of Christ. We find ourselves saying, “Jesus is coming soon so I don’t to worry about (fill in the blank).” While I believe with all my heart in Christ’s imminent return, I also recognize the fact that I believed He would come long before now. So what do you do? I think this is good advice, “Live as if Jesus is going to come tomorrow but plan as if He isn’t going to come in your lifetime.” This mindset helps to keep you focused on the long view. Planning for the well-being of our families and children, but being ready to leave this sinful planet at any time.
Understand your rhythms.
I will admit that I am not a morning person. I would rather stay up late and sleep in. But because of my current responsibilities, I have to go to bed and get up earlier in the morning. As a result, it takes me a while to get going in the morning. I am much more attentive in the late morning and early afternoon than first thing in the morning. Therefore, if I have projects to do or meetings to attend, I try to hold them later in the morning. Some nights you will find me working long after the kids go to bed. Why? Because I understand my personal rhythms. As Seventh-day Adventists we recognize that God created us with certain rhythms to life. Every 7th day of the week, we are given the opportunity to rest and be reinvigorated. We take vacations every summer. Life itself has certain rhythms. So too, each of us have certain rhythms. Once we understand our personal rhythms we can be much better in budgeting our time.
Conversation
What are other tips that you have to help budget time?
Where do you struggle with budgeting your time?