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Taming Your Wild Calendar

I want to welcome my new friends from the Living Wholly For God Seminar.  I think the ladies at Providence Presbyterian did a wonderful job setting everything up and and providing the tasty meals.

I'm so glad I got to meet many of you and I hope you found my presentation to be helpful and encouraging. 


A few of you asked about a quick overview of today's presentation and I thought my regular readers might like the information as well. . . so here we go . . .

1.  Priorities:  Choosing, through thoughts, words, and actions what is most important to you.

         Action to take:  make a list of your daily activities and how much time you give to each activity.

           A.   Our tendency towards perfectionism  can keep us from doing what God wants us to do and can cause us to "steal" someone else's blessing.
           B.   Our addiction to multi-tasking can be dangerous because it keeps us from focusing on the task   at hand.  It keeps us from being fully engaged to the people around us.  Multi-tasking can turn our mundane tasks into our priorities.
           C.  Our reactions to circumstances are determined by our priorities and our priorities are affected by
 our circumstances.  Decide now what your priorities are so that when life's circumstances
 arise, you'll be able to make wise decisions.        
           D.  Choosing activities that rate well in God's eyes will help you to keep your priorities straight.
 
           Action to take: Take your list of daily activities and grade yourself according to God's grading
           scale.  Read Luke 10:38-41 if you're not sure what God's grading scale is.

2.  Procrastination:  Where your calendar and schedule go terribly wrong.

          A.  Perceived time vs. real time:  we tend to overestimate and underestimate the amount of time it takes us to complete everyday tasks. 

Action to take:  time yourself doing everyday tasks like making your bed or paying your bills to give you a "real time" idea of your daily activities.

          B.  Squished schedules:  When we fill our schedules with too many activities, we leave no wiggle room for the unplanned.  Even in ministry, we must find what is God's best for us - not just what is good in our mind.

Action to take:  Leave space around your activities and appointments for the unexpected.

          C.  Delayed decisions:  We naturally put off doing things we don't want to do.  Fear can also cause us to put off making decisions as we search for the "perfect" solution.

Action to take:  Set up regular times to take care of dreaded tasks.  Work on large projects a little at a time to keep from being overwhelmed.

          D.  Break the habit of being late:  Being late reflects poorly on your character.  Not many people regret being early to appointments, but most people regret being late.

Action to take:  Add an extra 10-15 minutes to your drive time to give yourself  "wiggle room".  If you are consistently late to the same place, time yourself to see how long it really takes to arrive at your destination.  Your perceived time is probably different than the real time. 

3.  A Bit of Encouragement:

          A.  Use the clock to your advantage - We all have 24 hours and must make the most of it.
          B.  Handling big projects - When tackling a big project, break it up into smaller chunks.  Schedule those smaller chunks and reward yourself after accomplishing each task.  I recommend chocolate!
          C.  Remember the gift of margins - Just like the margins in our Bible, where our eyes rest before reading the next line of text, our lives need margins where no words are written so we can rest and reflect on what God is doing in our lives.
          D.  Use tools to keep your priorities and activities straight.  Whether you use a large calendar on the fridge, a pocket planner, or a PDA, use tools that will help you keep on top of tasks and appointments.  Filing paperwork so that you can retrieve it when needed will help you feel better about being organized.  Think about whether you are a "filer" or a "piler". 



Thanks again, ladies.  It was my pleasure to spend the day with you.  If you have any question, please feel free to email me.  Just click on the link on my right sidebar.  As I mentioned earlier, my testimony blog is blessedbrownwren.com.  Please leave me a comment or an email so I know that you stopped by. 
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Comments

  1. Sheri OJanuary 29, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    WOW!!! You look fantastic! I wish I had gone to this! I can use all the help I can get. We have to get you on the schedule at ROC!!!

    Sheri O.

    ReplyDelete

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