The Power of Time Management

Overview:

• Topic: Time Management
• Time: 15min
• Takeaway: It really comes down to stewarding your time by managing your energy and priorities!
• Try: Plan out your ideal year using the 9 Life Accounts (ME: 1. Spiritual, 2. Personal, 3. Physical, WE: 4. Marriage, 5. Core Family, 6. Extended Family, 7. Social, BE: 8. Professional, 9. Financial)

Intro:

No one likes to be wrong. No one likes to life in ignorance (most people I should say). But what if we are going about living in the wrong way? What if we are trying to manage something that is fixed? What if we are trying to move the immovable or control the uncontrollable? What if we are trying to grasp the wind or count the sand? That would be frustrating and lead to burnout real quick. What I am talking about here is this concept of time "management." Can you really manage time? There might be a better way to think about it. Read this article to find out how to a different view of time and how we "manage" it can lead to a different way of living!

What is Time Management?

Time management is a myth. There, I said it.... Can you really manage your time? No. We all have the same time every day = 24 hours. You can't manage your time, but you can steward it! Time Stewardship is the idea of putting to good work what has been given you. God has given each of us time on this world. We all have 24 hours each day, but we don't know when our last day will be. According to the verse in Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul (the author) encourages us (as Christians) to make the most of the time (aka: be good stewards). Here is the exact quote: "Therefore, be careful how you?walk, not?as unwise men but as wise,?making the most of your time, because?the days are evil." Jesus also encourages us to be faithful with what we have been given (Luke 16:10 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much"). How you steward small things is how you will steward big things. So to "manage" time means to be a faithful steward. Time is the most valuable resource we have. You can never get it back. It is always fading away. You never know when it will end for you. What will you do with the time given to you? How will you be a faithful steward? Consider two areas to focus on.

To be a faithful steward of the time given you, focus first on your energy! You can't manage time, but you can manage your energy! Reflect on these questions around energy: What gives you energy? What drains you of energy? What time of day are you most energized? When are you most tired? When do you produce your best work? When should you rarely do work? When you need energy, what do you do? What do you need to do to sustain that energy? How can you maximize your time when you have lots of good energy? Answer those questions and you will start down the path of faithful time stewardship. As you will find out, when you begin to manage your energy and effort you will be able to be more strategic on where you put it!

Speaking of where to put your efforts and energy, let's dive into the second area to consider for faithful time stewardship: priorities. Everything cannot be equally important. If it is, then nothing is important. There are certain things that are more important than others. When I say the word priority, it implies narrowing the focus to one. Ask yourself, what's my highest priority? What's the one thing I have to do today? Then use your energy to attack it with the triple V: vigor, vigilance, and vengeance! Be ruthless in accomplishing that task or activity with extreme focus and execution. Narrow your focus and you will enhance it (like a sniper riffle).

When you can learn to better manage your energy and your priorities, you can learn to attack each day with clarity, direction, and focus. You will know what you need to do, why you need to do it, and how to do it.

Why is Time Management important?

Why does all this talk about time and stewardship matter? It is very simple: purpose. You will live a life of greater purpose if you have the mindset and actions of a faithful time steward. It will allow you to live on purpose for a greater purpose. It is my firm belief as a follower of Christ that life is not about you. It's about others. It's about serving. It's about having impact. It's about striving for a greater purpose than yourself. It's about living in such a way that it enhances people around you. It's about leaving a legacy around things that truly matter: love, joy, peace, and grace. It's about loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself. Love God, love people. Get right in the vertical, then live right in the horizontal. If you want to live full and love deep - you must discover your purpose for being on this earth.

Without a mindset shift in how you steward the time that has been given you, this life will pass you by. You will go through the motions. Your time will come and you will have regret. Great example: being a father. If I don't steward my time faithfully with my son, he may grow up with just an "okay" relationship with me as his Dad. He may pass that along to his son and his son ect. Instead of empowering a legacy of purpose and inspiring deep connection and love, I gave him an "okay" example to follow. Who wants that? Not me! Instead, what if I invested time into my son by being intentional and proactive? What if I took him on Father-Son hangouts, just me and him, once a quarter for a half day - how might that impact him? I have heard it said that kids spell love T.I.M.E. It's not just quantity, it's quality. Being off my phone, being fully present, being engaged, asking thoughtful questions, creating a fun and adventurous experience, and helping him learn to become a man - those are all things I COULD do if I steward the time given me faithfully. Or I can just settle for being "okay" and focus on being lazy and selfish. Nope. I refuse to live a life of being average and going through the motions. Absolutely not. Time is too short! We really don't know when our last day is. To make the most of the days, you must learn to be manage your energy and priorities!

How do you "manage" your time?

You really can't manage your time, but you can steward it by managing your energy and your priorities! Energy is the battery in the flashlight that gives you light! Priorities are where to aim that flashlight!?

Here are a few tools to consider using to help you become a faithful time steward:

1) Energy Management

A) Do an Energy Intake

• List out all the things and activities that give you energy. What drives you? What motivates you? What energizes you? What gives you life? What gives you joy? What is re-energizing for you?
• List out all the things and activities that suck your energy. What drains you? What demotivates you? What deenergizes you? What takes your life? What steals your joy? What is sucking your energy away?

B) Do an Energy Evaluation

• Review your list carefully. Reflect on it. What are you noticing? What is becoming clear? What stands out? What is alarming?

C) Do an Energy Refinement

• What do you need to keep doing?
• What do you need to stop doing?
• What do you need to start doing?

D) Create an Energy Plan

• I will commit to the following:
• Energy Drivers: I will do the following activities each day to regain or maintain my Energy (1-3 activities). I will do the following activities each week to regain or maintain my Energy (1-3 activities).
• Energy Drainers: I will avoid the following activities each day to better manage my Energy (1-3 activities). I will avoid the following activities each week to better manage my Energy (1-3 activities).
• Write it out on a notecard
• Review it on a daily and/or weekly basis
• Once a quarter, review and refine your Energy Plan!

2) Priority Management

• You can't do it all! So focus on what you can do. Try the following Time Blocking Strategy:
• Step 1 - List it out! Get everything out of your head and into your system!
• Step 2 - Clean it up! Do: If it takes 2min or less, do it right then! Evaluate: Evaluate each item into the type, the task, the very next action, the time, and the margin. Different Types: PRJ - Project block *Could be a task, PPL - People block, PER - Personal block, PRO - Proactive block, PREP - Preparation block, MARGIN - Margin block. Example: PRJ - Read the book Traction, Action: Open it up and just start reading! (15min + 15min margin = 30min) Organize: Organize the list using the following: A. Urgent/Important (MUST DO THIS WEEK) B. Urgent/Not Important (Maybe do this Week)

???????C. Not Urgent/Very Important (This Week)

???????D. Not Urgent/Still Important (Next Week)

???????E. Not Urgent/Important (Next Month)

???????F. Not Urgent/Somewhat Important (This Year)

???????G. Not Urgent/Maybe Important (One Day)

Prioritize:

Prioritize each one from most important to least.

• Step 3 - Block it in! Be sure you put it in your calendar in the order of A items first, then B, then C, ect. You could even plan out your whole month this way (although I usually don't go more than two weeks out).
• Keep good margin!

3) Life Balance

You have heard of Bank Accounts right? Savings, Checking, Business, ect. Well, according to Bobb Biehl, there are 7 baskets that all of life can fit into. I took those 7 and stretched it out to 9. I changed the word baskets and called them "Life Accounts." I talked with a great mentor and friend, Chris McCormick, and he helped me categorize them into three areas: ME, WE, BE. There are areas about ME. There are areas about WE. And there are areas about BE. The 9 Life Accounts are as follows:

• ME: 1. Spiritual, 2. Personal, 3. Physical
• WE: 4. Marriage, 5. Core Family, 6. Extended Family, 7. Social
• BE: 8. Professional, 9. Financial

Here is the tool:

Plan out your ideal year.

*What do you want to accomplish this year? Instead of focusing only on professional (which is what most of us do), create 1-3 goals to achieve or problems to solve in each Life Account. Ask yourself, "If I could only get one thing done in this next year in the area of [Life Account] what would it be?"

*Do that for each Life Account until you have at least 1-3 goals/problems.

Break the plan down.

*1 Year -> 90 Days -> 1 Month -> 1 Week -> 1 Day

*Start with your ideal year.

*Break that down into 90-day outcomes. What would need to happen in the next 90 days to generate positive momentum towards completing that outcome?

?*Ask yourself that same question and break it down into a 1 month outcome.

*Ask yourself that same question again and break it down into a 1 week outcome.

*Finally, break it down one more time by asking that same question and get clear on what needs to happen today!

?*If you follow those two exercises, it will give you a better idea of what's most important to you and where you should be investing your energy.

*BONUS: You could also think about analyzing your week from three angles:

1. Ideal week (if you had complete control, what would your ideal week be?)
2. Actual week (Create a spreadsheet and track your time in 15min intervals for 4 weeks in a row. Now you know what your actual week looks like)
3. Realistic week (based on your actual week and your ideal week, create a realistic week that is balanced with the 9 life accounts. Strive towards making it more like the ideal week each month!)

Action:

• Take one of the three tools mentioned above and try it out!

Citations:

Ideas adapted from Bobb Biehl, David Allen, and the Professional Christian Coaching Today Podcast episode number 266 called "Time Blocking with a Twist with Teresa McCloy."