Skip to main content

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. 

Comments

  1. 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

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - nope.  Walking? - can&

A Designer's Secret For A Taller Bed

  Several years ago Hubs and I spent almost a year looking for a bedroom set that we both loved.  He wanted clean lines and dark wood.  I wanted curves and a "tall" bed.  Of course, there was no perfect bedroom set but we were able to compromise on a set that we both liked.  My main wish was for a bed that I could "climb up into".  The problem with that wish was that most of the "tall" beds were four poster beds and Hubs was not in the mood for that.  We found a Thomasville bed on display at a local furniture store and it fit the clean lines that Hubs wanted and it was "tall"  enough to suit me.  The problem was that once we received the bed we ordered in our home, it wasn't as tall as I had remembered it being.  My heart sunk!  I went back to the furniture store to look at the display.  Their bed was much taller than our bed.  Hmmm. . . what was different? I got nosey and lifted up the comforter on the bed.  It revealed their secret

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.