Tom Yeakley

Wise Words on Time Management

From Tom Yeakley
Leader Development, The Navigators

Have you ever had this experience: At the end of a typical day—one that was full and busy—you lay your head on the pillow at night and have a nagging sense that you did not fulfill what was most important?

It's easy to fill our days with reactive, responsive tasks—responding to e-mails, phone calls, and the latest crisis—rather than taking initiative on the strategic, long-term issues that only we can address. When coming to the end of our lives, we do not want to regret how we wasted or squandered the time that the Lord gave us.

Our time is a precious commodity given to us by God who expects us to invest our time wisely and not spend it frivolously. There is a stewardship aspect to time management—accountability to God who will one day ask us to report on how we invested it.

Time management is not about efficiency or effectiveness. It is all about honoring God by how we choose to fill our days. It is about doing our best for Him because He alone is worthy. It is saying "no" to good things in order that we might give ourselves to what is best. It is being filled with the Spirit, listening to His voice, and choosing His will as we fill up our daily schedule.

Everyone is given the same amount of time each day, but some are able to accomplish more than others. Some of this difference is due to design and circumstance, but some is due to better stewardship of time. There is both an art and a science to good time use. With experience, and perhaps some help from others, we can become better at how we invest our time.

Following God's priorities

Effective and efficient use of our time can increase our influence for Christ. Wise time use must be based upon God's priorities. Genesis 26:25 says, "Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well." This shows us how Isaac prioritized his life. Note that he first built an altar, focusing on his relationship with God. Next he pitched his tent—providing for the needs of his family. And finally his servants dug a well—providing water not only for his family but also for his flocks (his job).

We should mirror Isaac's priorities:

1. Our relationship with God
2. Our role in our family
3. Our responsibility toward our job or other duties

It's been said that if our priorities are in place—and we follow them—time management will take care of itself. If we really believe that our relationship with God is the most important thing in our life, we'll make time for Him before anything else. If we value our family above our job, we won't regularly stay late at the office or frequently miss important family events because of job conflicts.

That said, here are some simple, biblical guidelines to help mold our attitudes toward time.

First things first

If your priorities follow Isaac's example—God, family, job—how do your various activities support that outline? Look back over your schedule for the past week—did your activities reflect your priorities? What does your time use say is important to you?

A new resolution

You don't have to wait until January 1 to make a resolution. Examine how you spend your time and resolve to change one thing to bring your time use more in line with your priorities. You could—

• cut back (or eliminate) TV watching, surfing the internet, or chatting on Facebook and MySpace.
• reset your body clock to get up earlier (which may mean going to bed earlier).
• learn to start each day with a "to do" list.

Addition and subtraction

There are only so many hours in a day—24 to be exact. Think about what you'd really like to do with your time and see what needs to be added to or taken away from your schedule to make that happen.

1. Plan your time.

Our time is limited and quickly passes, never to be regained. In order to be a good steward of the time given to us, we want to pay attention to its use. "Numbering our days" is to plan and reflect on how our days are being spent.

2. Don't waste time.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Making wise use of our time, taking advantage of every opportunity, is a way we honor God. We want to be investing our time wisely, not just spending it!

3. Respect other people's time use.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).

Looking out for the best interests of others includes honoring their use of time. It means that I consider how I can serve them and their schedules, not just expect them to meet my needs and fit into my schedule.

4. We have enough time for what God wants.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

There is time enough to do all that God would have us to do. But there is never enough time to do all that we want to do. Thus, choosing what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to is a constant challenge. Choosing based upon our priorities will help us as we make these decisions.

5. Work by priorities and a "to do" list.

Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house< (Proverbs 24:27).

We want to finish our "outdoor work" first because it takes time for the crops to grow to maturity. There are time constraints on when a crop must be planted and then harvested. Creating a list of things to do and then prioritizing that list with a simple A, B, C priority grid will help us choose wisely.

6. Plan your time with a margin.

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way (Proverbs 19:2).

Work does expand to fill all available time. Tasks take much longer than we anticipate. There will always be interruptions and changes. Anticipate them and don't schedule so tightly that when God wants to change your plan it leads to frustration. Especially remember that people are never an interruption!

Time—it comes and it goes, never to be recaptured. May we plan our days and entrust our future to Him who holds the details in His hands. May we be led of the Spirit, free to follow Him and not entrapped by our plans, but seeing them as a tool for impact and influence for His glory. And may we help others become better stewards of this precious item as we journey together down our individual paths.

Tell us what you think

We'd love to hear what you think about the Wise Words article and the action items suggested. Here are a few questions to start the dialogue:

• If someone watched how you spent your time for one week, what would he or she be able to deduce about your values?
• How does your behavior show that you respect other people's time? Or not respect other people's time?
• What struck you most strongly as you read this article?

E-mail us below!