Time = Margin, Half, and Prayer

I was wondering what today's blog would be about today last night before I fell asleep. I did not have any answers until I woke up. Kevin and I were talking this morning and we were talking about our schedule for today. We got to laughing because I said "Kev, you don't have two minutes to rub together." And he said, "That's worse than not having two nickels to rub together." How true this is. So today we are talking "Time Management".

In my true compulsive nature for organization, I have notebooks with articles on topics that interest me. I now know why I needed to do this. I have consulted my notebook tab on "Time Management". So here it goes ladies.

First things first: The Spiritual

Most of us know that our days seem to go better when we start it out with prayer and some Bible devotion time. This is especially true if we have a busy day. I must admit I don't consistently start my day with quiet time with Jesus. I often get distracted with other things of interest. However, I am convicted this morning of my selfishness. While in the shower, I heard a radio host share about her devotion time this morning! It was 6:00 am! She starts her job at who knows what time being she is on the air at 5:30am. What? I am an early riser, because as my family knows I am in bed by 8:00pm and no later than 9:00pm on most nights. I get up at 4:30am with Kevin a lot of mornings, yet I struggle with consistent time asking Jesus to go before my day and walk beside me. Girlfriends, the truth is what is our priority? Is it sleep! I realize I don't have young children, a full time job outside of the home, and your busy life, but does that mean we can't build in some extra sleep time (cut a TV show out, stop a late night text, close the juicy novel, and (my challenge) turn off the computer). Going to bed 20 - 30 minutes earlier could allow you to wake up a few minutes earlier. Why don't you go ahead and have devotion and prayer before you go to bed committing tomorrow unto the Lord. Ok enough of the soap box. But hey ladies, seeking Him is the first step to good time management.

Building Margin

I have come to enjoy reading about health and nutrition. I find it more encouraging to read about keeping the body healthy as opposed to just focusing on losing weight. Now, true it is that I have to lose weight, so pray for me ladies. In my search for health info., I came across an article entitled Control Stress by Controlling Your Time: Building Margin into Your Life, by Dr. Don Colbert. Here are some of the his thoughts and tips.

When we become too busy, we lose our joy. As a result, people irritate us, and we often become frustrated, anxious, and critical. How can we break out of the trap of being too busy and practice keeping a healthy margin in our lives? Primarily by organizing our time and cutting out anything that is not in line with our top priorities. (Dr. Don Colbert)

Basic steps he recommends: (I did not include all the details -parenthesis are mine)

• Purchase an organizer/calendar (Anna suggests creating your own using - homemakingorganized.com, Digital-Women.com, Printablechecklists.com or Google "Household Notebook").
• Organize your desk at work and home. (Don't waste time looking for items to perform tasks).
  
• Buy a filing cabinet. (Easy retrieval of important documents)
• Organize your kitchen. (Check out Organized-Mom.com and/or organizedhome.com)
• Prevent bothersome phone calls. (Use caller id, answer machine, etc.)
• Declare a "media fast" one day a week. As a general rule, cut down on media time and spend more time being with people and creating your own "fun times". (Try this to honor the Sabbath-Sat/Sun).
• Make the most of your waiting times. Always have a book or something else with you to fill this time with something positive and productive. (Magazines in offices can be filled with germs- bring a good book).
• Limit the amount of time you spend with negative, pessimistic people. They will not only sabotage your goals, but they will also drain your energy. (Maybe we need to evaluate if we are the negative person?)
• Refuse to be distracted if you are focused on a work project.
  
• Make a to-do list each evening before you go to bed. Then refuse to think about it until morning! Make sure you have a little margin for relaxation and unavoidable interruptions.
• Make meal times an experience by tasting, smelling and savoring every bite of food instead of "wolfing it down." A great deal of stress can be eliminated if a person will simply use mealtimes as opportunities to relax.
• Choose to be a good steward of your time, and as a part of your stewardship, build in a healthy margin of totally unscheduled time. These moments are likely to fuel your creativity and energy and defuse your stress level simultaneously. Remember your time is ultimately your most precious possession. How you spend it determines, in many ways, how you will spend eternity. Use it wisely. (His entire tip used here).

"Half" Time

Here are a few tips from an article entitled "Think Half!", by Professional Life Coach Kathy Gates at www.reallifecoach.com. The author states ...Think half! Yes, I know that I just said nobody likes a joy half finished, but this concept can work in a positive way as well as in a negative one.
For example:

1. Instead of eating a whole sandwich at lunch, try eating just half of it. Candy bar craving--how about half today, half tomorrow? Less calories, same satisfaction.
2. If you've got an invitation to chair a position you'd love to work on but just don't have the time, try half--offer to co-chair. Half the work, same fulfillment.
3. Instead of cleaning out the whole closet in one Saturday, just go for the shoes, or just one side, or just the shirts.
4. Instead of the whole basement, just half a wall. Next week the other half of the wall. Half the headaches, same result just a little further down the road.

Think half! The key to success with this technique is that it not become a start-stop technique. Commit to it, add a splash of consistency, and you've got yourself a plan that will work. Use it to help you feel like your finished what you started out to do, see progress, and that will give your the motivation to do it again and again.


Ladies this has been a long blog and I am sure you could of done a lot of things by now, but please know there are a lot of resources out there to help us organize our life so we can build time in our schedules to enjoy the proverbial "roses" along our way. What's your rose? I enjoy talking to my boys. It is a rare occasion, but to sit and give my undivided attention, while looking in their dark eyes, and studying their faces, there is nothing so sweet. I want margin so that when they are available they have all of me loving them!