I always seem to make time for what is important in my life. As a younger man I watched a lot of sports on TV, because sports was important to me. I hung-out with the students I worked with because the ego-boost they gave me was important to me.
As I grew older, I realized that because there is only so much time in my day, and I was crowding out things that ought to be important with things that I considered important.
I couldn't do it all. There simply wasn't enough time. I realized that I was inadvertently prioritizing my life, spending the most time on what I considered most important, and spending the least amount of time on what I considered least important.
If looking at your bank statement spending is a good way to judge your priorities, perhaps we ought to also look at our calendars to judge our priorities. Or if we don't schedule everything, keep an hourly log of what we do everyday for a week. (An employer I worked for recommended I do that with my work days, so I could see what activities were the most productive for me.) The results may be surprising.
Once we do an honest evaluation of how we spend our time, here are some questions to ask ourselves:
I also spend time in meetings and behind-the-scenes work, because the people I work with and the ministry that I am involved in is important to me. I spend time in India, because the Indian people are important to me. Toward the end of her life, I spent more and more time with my Mom (which involved a four-hour drive, each way to visit her) because my Mom was important to me.
Evaluate, prioritize, make changes. It will require honesty and boldness, but oh so worth it. Lead Well!
If you like this post, you can re-post it, ‘share’ it on your Facebook status, ‘Tweet’ it, or forward it to your friends. Follow me on Twitter @bigcloudmusic if you find me interesting. Subscribe to this Blog if you’d like at the top right of the page.
I couldn't do it all. There simply wasn't enough time. I realized that I was inadvertently prioritizing my life, spending the most time on what I considered most important, and spending the least amount of time on what I considered least important.
If looking at your bank statement spending is a good way to judge your priorities, perhaps we ought to also look at our calendars to judge our priorities. Or if we don't schedule everything, keep an hourly log of what we do everyday for a week. (An employer I worked for recommended I do that with my work days, so I could see what activities were the most productive for me.) The results may be surprising.
Once we do an honest evaluation of how we spend our time, here are some questions to ask ourselves:
- What do we need to move up the ladder in time-spent to prove it is a higher priority with us?
- What do we have to move down the ladder in time-spent to prove it is a lower priority with us?
- Is there anything that we need to begin to spend time doing, because it needs to be a priority with us?
- Is there anything we need to eliminate because of its diminished priority to us?
I also spend time in meetings and behind-the-scenes work, because the people I work with and the ministry that I am involved in is important to me. I spend time in India, because the Indian people are important to me. Toward the end of her life, I spent more and more time with my Mom (which involved a four-hour drive, each way to visit her) because my Mom was important to me.
Evaluate, prioritize, make changes. It will require honesty and boldness, but oh so worth it. Lead Well!
If you like this post, you can re-post it, ‘share’ it on your Facebook status, ‘Tweet’ it, or forward it to your friends. Follow me on Twitter @bigcloudmusic if you find me interesting. Subscribe to this Blog if you’d like at the top right of the page.
No comments:
Post a Comment