Time management is not my strength. Being timely is something I have to really work at. I have found that I can wake up at 3:00 a.m. and still run late to a 9:00 appointment. Why is that? Not working with time in mind. God has brought to my attention that I must work with time in mind.
I tend to throw myself into my tasks. If I’m writing, I’m doing just that. Naturally, I’m not writing and staying mindful of time. This is the problem. I must work with time in mind. This means, setting schedules and timelines for myself. We tend to work well with schedules that are set for us, but there comes a time when we must know the schedules we must set for ourselves.
What schedules do you need to set?
A lot of the frustration and stress that we experience in life is due to unset schedules. We fail to take the time to organize our lives, and only show up for work and our other mandatories. There are personal mandatories that we must focus on scheduling. What are yours? One of mine is writing. I must be intentional and diligent to allot time for writing. If I don’t, I will feel it, and so will those around me.
I’m not at my best without writing. Writing is a mandatory for me.
Once we begin to determine our mandatories, we must grow in determining the best time to schedule them, as well as how much time. This is another big one. It’s important to know how much time things will take. Knowing this will help you to plan accordingly and avoid the rush. Remember, the goal is to:
Work with time in mind.
This is such a continual process. It governs how we spend our days, when we go to bed, when we rise, and how we spend our time. When we work with time in mind, we’re able to live in a more balanced way. It also helps us to alleviate the rush.
Rushing causes stress.
When we work with time in mind, we’re able to think ahead about what needs to be done. Working with time in mind is essentially another aspect of planning. It’s planning + specific scheduling. I tend to plan and have to-do lists, but I don’t often take the next step of plugging it into my day. Failing to set specific times for tasks, causes me to move with an uneasiness throughout the day.
Knowing you need to do things, yet not knowing when you will, causes anxiety. Knowing you need to do things, as well as when you’ll plan to do them, provides a level of peace.
Working with time in mind puts us in a position of considering our to-do’s as it relates to our time. Taking into account both aspects will help us to properly plan and not overly plan. I can see how I’ve tended to max out and over plan my day, because I wasn’t accurately considering time. It is imperative for us to work with time in mind so we don’t overextend ourselves.
Working with time in mind will bless us in so many ways. It will help us to be more intentional, more timely, and more aware of what we are truly able to do. This awareness will lead us to being more present, more at ease, and more at peace. It is a continual process. Today, I encourage you to do what you can as it relates to working with time in mind. Start where you are and keep building.
With love,
