Back from the Dead: Time Management 101
Wow, it’s been more than a week and no posts. That’s not too good. Sometimes there seems to be so much that needs to be done, you try and plan, say that you’ll do this and that, but by the end of the day you look back and see that you have not really accomplished much. But you feel as tired as if you climbed flagstaff house with your bare hands.
So that’s my story, I planned to do loads of things last week, including posting, but alas it was lost in the mire of day to day drudgery. Well NO LONGER! Today I’m going to talk about time management, and hope that I learn from it as well.
What is it about time that is so strange? When you are doing something interesting (like watching a movie, eating, talking to friends) time seems to move like a cheetah. Literally speeding. But then, when it comes to the mundane stuff like work, chores or other activities that require any type of repetitive procedures time seems to magically transform itself into a snail … that has fallen asleep.
Yeah so enough beating about the bush, it’s time to cut it down for good. I think I’ll start with some biblical perspectives on time first and then get to some day to day applications afterwards.
Ephesians 5:15-16
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
This is pretty straight forward I think. God is telling us that time management is very important, and that basically if you are smart you will practice time management, because if you don’t you’ll probably just end up wasting it on useless and sometimes detrimental things.
2 Peter 3:8
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Another thing is that God does not see time as we do. Due to the fact that he is eternal, the importance is on “what” happens, more than “when” it happens. For example, Jesus Christ died for my sins a long time before my ancestors even sniffed the world. The fact is that it has happened, and that’s that. Taking it into consideration we might want to prioritize the things we do, to ensure that the essentials are done first.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace
What again should I say? In your life, if you need to do something you can find the time to do it. Period. After all, the Word says that there is time for every activity. So I think we should stop giving the excuse that “I don’t have time for …” and start strategizing on how to get it done, as long as it is important …
Exodus 18:1-27
17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
You can’t do everything yourself. Sometime you will need a helping hand or you’ll find yourself bogged down by the stress involved with it. Even Moses was having trouble and was advised to delegate his authority to others and concentrate on the more pressing activities. The moral of the story? Do what is important to you most (or what is important in general), if you can delegate your other tasks to other people, do it.
Wow, that’s a lot of info and only four passages. But practically what can we do to effectively manage our time. I mean we have tried so many times (well at least I have) and it’s not been working too well. So what will make this time different?
1.
First up, we need to recognize God. He is God over everything, including time. Take a minute to talk to Him about your time. If push comes to shove ask him to deliver “time” into your hands. Abi “ask and you shall receive” make the most of it, I just did.
2.
Have a “master plan” or a vision. You need to know what you want for your life. Otherwise how would you decide what is important and what isn’t? you can check my earlier post on “Pursuing your Vision” for help over there.
3.
Thirdly, I find that writing things down concretizes things. My head is as volatile as boiling water, I forget details easily, writing things down has helped me immensely. It also serves as a reference, and when you make a checklist, you can always go back to it and see what is left to be done. Oh and don’t write on pieces of paper, write in a book. Pieces of paper get lost. In fact I lose almost every one.
4.
This is going to sound funny. But keep fit. Really, no joke, fitness helps the body and brain to work optimally and thus increases the efficiency of the things you do … hence better time management! So next time you lift weights (guys) or powder your face (girls) recognize that doing that will help you help yourself in more ways than you thought!
5.
Controlling the way you sleep. Do you know that if you sleep 8 hours a day, by the end of your life you would have spent ONE THIRD of it snoring? Serious waa. But the length of your sleep is not as important as the efficacy of it. If you can sleep for 10 hours, but when you wake up you are ready for anything and can work the whole day efficiently, don’t reduce the time you sleep. But if you just sleep for sleeping’s sake, taking an hour or two out of it to do some important things could go a long way to increasing the things you can accomplish in a day.
6.
Making use of “dead time”. If you drive daily in Ghana, you have approximately 1 to 4 hours of dead time each day. Dead time is time that is spent “in-between” other things. For example, driving to work takes me about an hour. What have I accomplished in that hour? Nothing, besides just arriving at work. Making good use of dead time would help you immensely. You could get an audio bible and listen to it whilst you drive. You could make all your “social” telephone calls during dead time. There are so many things you can do whilst waiting for a bus, or eating lunch, or between classes. Think.
Well I think this is my longest post ever. I was thinking about writing more but the ideas are not forming up too well, I think I need food.
But it’s all good. Hopefully I will be able to take my own medicine and ensure I get all the work I need to get done, done, as well as posting on the blog.
Adios!
Oh and the Shoemaker is ready ….
Some people just have head. They were born with head, they will grow in head, and they will probably die, cheating the world of head that they should have distributed with others. (for all of you with bad minds, may God bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and give you peace …)
