Are You Managing Your Life or is Your Life Managing You?
If I had a dime for every time someone told me they had too much on their plate or that there wasn't enough time in the day to accomplish everything I would be able to retire by now. Well.... at least I would have a bunch of dimes anyway.
The last time I read it, the bible instructed man to take dominion over everything, not for everything to take dominion over man. It is called management. The art of scheduling, coordinating and effectively accomplishing things that need to be done in order for things to run smooth.
How well do you manage your time? Do you never seem to have enough at the end of the day? Are you stressed and tired all the time? Do you never have time for you, your family or even God anymore? How about fun? When was the last time you did something just for the fun of it?
The best way to get your time in order is to prioritize what you do in the importance it needs to be done and say NO to the things that don't fit. Put them on the calendar, tape them to your monitor, mirror or anywhere else you will see them and if you need to find someone to help hold you accountable.
Start with the following:
1.Schedule Time with God: This will prepare and equip you for the things the world will throw at you. Ignore this and you are setting yourself up for a bad day
2. Schedule time with your spouse if you are married. Get away a minimum of one evening a week and one weekend a quarter. This will help keep your marriage strong. If you skip this step, you may be scheduling an appointment with an attorney.
3. Schedule time with your children if you have them. Again, if they are that important to you, prove it. Love is time spent, not money spent. Skip this step and your time may be spent going to councilors or court appearances or worse yet the morgue!!!!
4. Schedule time with yourself. You need time to clear your mind and unwind. Pamper yourself, do something you enjoy. Take this time to analyze your life, dreams and goals. See if you are making progress and still headed in the right direction.
5. Schedule time to improve yourself. Knowledge is power. Reading, listening to educational and motivational Cd's. continuing education, online courses, all will help you grow. If you are not learning, you are not growing. Not as a spouse, an employee, a parent, nor spiritually. If you don't grow, neither will your relationships with God, your family or your bank account.
6. Clean Your Plate. If you are like most people, you are saying; "Yeah right! I would need an extra 2 days in the week to do those things." WRONG! God gave everyone 24 hours in a day and that is enough time to do everything we need to do PLUS have time left over for our desires as well. The most successful people ALWAYS make time for the things above. ALWAYS! Who said the kids had to be booked every evening of the week? Booking them for every extra activity doesn't make you a better parent. As a matter of fact, I know many instances where it hurts the children and their relationship with the parents. Who said you had to be at every function the church puts on? Who forced you to volunteer for so many things? Take some time to clean your plate. Learn how to say "No". Resign from so many positions, Allow the kids some time to breath and if you have to work 60 hours a week just to survive, maybe you should liquidate some of the debt you have so you can actually enjoy life for a change.
Bottom line folks; If someone came in to look and see how you were managing your life, how would they rate you?
You know what else? Someone is looking and they will one day ask you to explain what you did with the life he gave you. (Ouch!)
Related Tags: stress, success, motivation, time management, procrastination
Bob Wagner is an pastor, author and motivational speaker who just wants to help people through life. You can find more of his articles on his website: http://www.bobwagner.org He may also be reached for comment at bobwagner@bobwagner.org
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