Time Management

Contributed by Elinor Wine


Time- What do we do with it; Where does it go? Time is a quantity that is often hard to manage. We are responsible for what we do with the time we are given here on earth. We are stewards over how we spend our time.

Some techniques to manage our time are the following:
1) It is wise have a notebook, planner or other device that you keep all your notes and to do lists in. Have only one. This way, you have all your various commitments and tasks together which helps prevent overlap, duplication or lost information. This is true for both church commitments as well as work or personal items.
2) To minimize being overwhelmed by the information we are bombarded with daily such as emails, texts, voice mail, or regular mail the 4 D’s can help. For EACH piece of information you encounter, decide whether to:
* Discard it – decide right then whether this is worth your time. If it is not, throw it away. If it is, then either:
* Delegate it- make a note about who this information should be delegated to and make a time to have a conversation with that person
*Decide when – make a similar note about when you want to act on/study this information in greater detail or
* Do it-take time to handle the information right then and get it off your plate
3) Realize that each person has a natural rhythm that their bodies follow. Some people are morning people; others evening; others night. Regardless of when you do your best work, know that it is natural to have times during the day when our energy is highest and other times when it is lower. Do the harder tasks of your day when your peak energy is highest – when your energy lags, take care of the more mundane tasks like email, phone calls, etc. My own experience is that if I do the “hardest” jobs first, I don’t have them hanging over my head and I am able to enjoy the rest of the day free from the stress of those tasks.

When we manage our time effectively, we become better masters of ourselves. I am certain the Lord would be pleased with that outcome.