MANAGING TIME - PART ONE

“Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and acceptably, not as the unwise and witless, but as sensible, intelligent people make the very most of the time—buying up each opportunity-because the days are evil “(Ephesians 5:15-16—Amplified Bible).

Why would the Apostle Paul speak so forcibly, so clearly, about how we use our time? I think the answer is very straightforward and really quite simple.

Time is something all of us get in equal measure. No one gets anything more or less than a 60-second minute and a 60-minute hour. Try as hard as we can to change it, every day still has 24 hours in it; not a minute less and not a minute more.

The supply of time is inelastic and everyone gets the same amount, not in the length of years but with the given minutes and hours. The difference is that some learn to use time more efficiently than others and so it seems like they do get a longer day because they are able to get so much more done. But they don't get any more time than any of the rest of us; they have just learned how to use what time they have with efficiency.

I sometimes find that when I teach on time management, there is a negative reaction among some who feel that it brings them into bondage and they do not want to be in bondage to time. However, nothing could be further from the truth in the way I approach time management. I want to be efficient in the use of my time so that I can get my work done quickly and completely. Then I have time to do the things that are fun for me…like spending time with my children or my granddaughter, enjoying a hobby, visiting with friends, or sometimes just doing nothing. Over the next couple of months we will look at some practical suggestions to help you manage your time in a more efficient manner. This is not designed to make you a slave to time but so enable you to get done everything so you can have plenty of time for yourself, to do the things you want to do.

Before we can go to managing time we need to understand where the time we have now is going by a process I call "recording time." There are several ways that you can accomplish this and I'll share one that works well for me. Take a blank sheet of 8 ½ x 11 paper (lined paper is even better). Across the top put tomorrow's date and down the left side, starting with the time your workday begins, put in the time (e.g. 9:00am) and then in a straight line down the left side, in 15-minute increments, line out your work day.

The next morning, beginning at 9:15, record in just one or two words how you spent the previous 15 minutes (made phone calls, read mail, wrote letters, worked on report, etc.). At 9:30 do the same, and so on throughout the day. At the end of the day, put the completed sheet in a folder and prepare a new sheet for the next day.

Do the above for at least five days and preferably for ten. At the end of the five- or ten-day period, take an hour and look to see where your time has been going. I think you will be surprised at some things on your list.

In the next article we will get into the practices of managing time. To do that effectively we must have the above information in hand, so let's not waste any time. Let's get started on this now!