Time Management (Part 3)

Those Who Start the Journey with you Seldom Finish with You

If you're anything like me you have an incredibly hard time telling people no or telling them something they do not want to hear. Because of this I often find myself "overbooking" my schedule to please people. In elementary school, middle school, high school, and even for some off college it seemed as if I had an infinite amount of time to spend with people, so I would hang out with as many people as I could as often as I could. As I continue in life's journey I am finding that the more you continue to grow in life the more important your time is and how you spend your time. You end up having to choose very intentionally who to spend time with and what you spend your time doing. Craig Groeschel had a great post on this.

i.e. Right now I am running a marathon, working 30 hours a week at church, I'm a full time college student, and go to Bible School. I have less time to spend with people now then I did when I was in high school and only had a 7 hour school day. When I get married, I'll need to spend a ton of time with my wife so my time will be even more limited...etc.

I often have people challenge me that I only spend time with "big dogs" or "people that can add value to me" and that bothered me incredibly. I would scream inside, "I only have so much time in a week, month, year, etc... and everyone wants my time and if I don't give it to them then I'm the bad guy... I CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY....AHHHHH."

I've discovered that it's a fact that:

• "You will go no further than the people you surround yourself with"
• "You show me your friends, and I'll show you your future"
• "You attract who you are, not who you want"
  

I guess what I am finding is this:

“People who have nothing to do usually want to spend their time with you!”

"Those Who Start the Journey with you Seldom Finish with You"

Friendships in life develop and are constantly changing as you go through seasons of life. I am convinced that "best friends" should be able to not see each other for years, and yet they'll get together and it will be like they've never left. Yet so many people make the assumption that it will always be like the "good old days" and they get upset when it's not. Unfortunately these people end up missing out on the journey because they refuse to go on and accept change. Even when you do give them time, they end up wasting it by complaining about how it isn't like the good old days (this drives me insane...Grow and Get a Life!)

I want to spend my time wisely with people who:

• Can constantly challenge me to dream, go after God, and change the world
• Are going somewhere in life and understand the value of time
• Are a blast to hang out with
  
• Don't spend 90% of their conversations complaining
• Will treat me the same even if they haven't seen me in years

If I spent time with everybody who wants my time... I'd burn out, would never have time alone, would never have devotions, and would never be effective in life. I love what Paul said:

"Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant."
-Galatians 1:10

If I am not intentional with how I spend my time and who I spend it with... I will miss out on so much of what God has for me...I'm here to please an audience of One!

Realize I am not talking about spending time with people who are hurting and need counseling and things of that nature... I am talking about my personal life.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

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Time Management (Part 2)

"It's not the hours you have left, but what you put into the hours that Count."

I'm just going to share with you how I spend my time throughout a day, a month, and a year. I won't be able to hit everything I do, but I hope it will add value to you.

I think it's extremely important we evaluate how we spend our time. I would encourage you to write down everything you do in 15-30 minute increments in a one week time period. So every 15-30 minutes you write down what you're doing. I think you'll find that the best of us waste hours. Hours, that if used correctly, could allow us to achieve so much more.

To evaluate how you're using that time, John Maxwell has a "3-R" Approach to evaluating your time management that I really enjoy:

• Required - what is it that I absolutely must do no matter what
• Return - is what I am doing going to give me a high return?
• Rewarding - we need to be doing things we enjoy and that have a purpose

If what you're doing isn't required of you, doesn't give you a high return, and isn't rewarding . . . you should cut it out of your daily agenda!

My Agenda

Here is a list of how I spend my time daily:

• Bubba Time - I am a morning person! I am most productive and creative in the mornings. so I block off 5 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. and only use that time for me! I have devo's blog, read the news, read blogs, do homework, journal, evaluate my life, etc. (this is so precious)

• "Secret Place" Time - I use this time to escape. For me it could be going for a run in the park and listening to worship music or a sermon, going to Sbux to read, watching a movie. Time where I'm away from the business of life and can "escape"
  

• Grind Time - These are times where I focus on things I have to do. i.e. School, Work

• Relational Time - These are times I attempt to get back to people through e-mail, phone calls, people I haven't talked to in a while, etc.
  

• Reflection Time - At the end of my day I always try to take time to evaluate what I did that day to see if I used my time wisely or foolishly, see what I learned, and who I helped.
  

These all make up my days every day...

What are some times in your life? I'd love to hear about them!

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Time Management (Part 1)

“Time is the most valuable coin in life. You and you alone will choose how the coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let others spend it for you!”

Time is a funny thing... when you're younger it seems to take forever. A day seems like a week, a week like a month, a summer vacation like a year. As you grow older in life, time starts to fly by. It becomes something you wish you could freeze to enjoy, but regardless of your attempts, it just keeps on ticking. I've heard it said that, "Life is like toilet paper, the closer to the end you get, the faster it goes!" How true! However, I believe it to be a fact that:

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time”

John Maxwell has said that time management is an oxymoron. You can't manage time, you can only manage what you do with the time given to you. Everyone gets 24 hours in a day, nothing more, nothing less. It's what people do with that time that makes the difference. Do you ever wonder why some people in life can achieve so much and others are left clueless as to how they did it? They assume high achievers never have to pay bills, go shopping, run errands, etc.. The simple fact is that high achievers just know how to make their time count more than under achievers.

Over the next few days I want to talk about time, how I spend mine, how you spend yours, and who you should spend it with... have you ever noticed that: “People who have nothing to do usually want to spend their time with you!” We'll talk about this.

I'll leave you with this thought today:

“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life”

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Back When I Knew it All (Part 5)

"Man I Don't Know, Where the Time Goes, But it Sure Goes Fast"

I remember back when I knew it all, I thought I was immortal, thought I'd be in high school forever, and I thought I'd be friends with the people in high school until the day I die. I remember on my senior trip walking the beach with my boys and vowing that we'd be boys forever! Then we graduated, talk about a wake up call!

In Psalms, David asks God to teach him to number his days, to allow him to realize how short his life really is. In James, it says that our life is but a vapor, we're here and gone in the blink of an eye. I think everyone needs to live life with this perspective: That before we know it, we are going to stand before God and be accountable for our lives. John Maxwell has a quote that rocked my world in getting this perspective:

• "People will summarize your life in one sentence, pick it now."
  

I've gone to several funerals this year and purposefully listened to what people said about the person that passed. Often and sadly I would hear things like, "He or She was a nice person" or "They were so funny, man could they tell stories." I began thinking to myself... how sad. Their lives are summarized by telling a few jokes and being nice. God created us for a much higher purpose than that.

What is it God put in your heart to accomplish while you here? What sentence do you want people to summarize your life with? What will that dash in between 2 dates stand for on your tombstone?

I encourage you to pick the sentence you want people to summarize your life with and do everything you're can to pursue that purpose in your lifetime.

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The Perfect Day Off?

I had the day off yesterday and had a great time... it got me thinking. What does the perfect day off look like? Here are a few things that are included on my perfect day off:

• Starbucks - ok... so maybe this is an everyday treat... but I love the Bux!

• Reading - I love reading books and I could spend hours in Sbux, bookstores, and other places with my nose in books.

• Running - I think I am actually addicted to running now... it's my quiet place to get away and spend some time with God, worship, and listen to some sick sermons!

• Movies - I'm a huge movie buff... Going to the movies is one of my favorite things to do

• Gaming - I'm not a big gamer, but I go enjoy playing some Wii here and there... my next purchase...Super Mario Galaxy

• Hanging with friends - going to a park or playground and just hanging out always makes for a great time on my day off.

• Going out to eat - usually when I go out to eat it's after a long day of work or after church and it's late. On my day off I can really take my time and enjoy the people I'm with and grub until I can't move!
  

I'd like to hear from you... What do you do on your days off that you absolutely love?

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