Put First Things First

 You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it." Charles Buxon

After putting Lil' Bit down for a morning nap, I sit at my desk to begin research for an entrepreneurship activity ... a text message beeps through my phone.  It's a friend confirming weekend plans, so a quick text won't hurt anything.  As I put down the phone, my husband calls to tell me of company coming for dinner  ... surely I have 20 spare minutes to prepare for that.  Back at my computer, I see an email regarding a community service opportunity.  Just as I send a reply and return focus to the research, a noise comes from the monitor ...

"Waaah" from Lil' Bit.  She's wide awake, eager to eat and play.  And "Waaah" for me, as I failed to accomplish my research activity during her nap.  I stayed busy, and even managed a couple of somewhat productive tasks but not my most important tasks.  Ugh!  I know I am so far from my example in Proverbs 31!

"She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family ... she sees that her trading is profitable ... she opens her arms to the poor ... When it snows, she has no fear for her household ... she can laugh at the days to come ..." 

 

Providing food for her family, earning an income, helping the poor, staying prepared for the cold and snow ... and that's just a few of this woman's regular activities.  Obviously, we know she was a Godly woman who leaned on the Lord for strength to be such a good steward of her time.  I also believe this woman had to be incredibly skilled at time management to balance all of the roles she played in her family as well as in the community.
 

Time Management, a skill I used to sharpen regularly, is one that I have neglected over the past months.  And one that needs to be sharper than ever, now that Lil' Bit demands her share of my time. 

 

I know that God has granted me each moment of each day, and that I am commanded to be a good steward of that time.  Just like a budget or a plan is necessary to be a good steward of money, how can I be a good steward of time without the same?  During the next few weeks, I commit to renewing my own time management skills using both Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix and the concept of "Big Rocks". 

 

Covey's Time Management Matrix from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People helps us to determine which activities should be the focus of our time (those important yet not urgent activities that fit in quadrant II).  

 

 



The idea of "Big Rocks" compares each day of the week to a bucket.  If you begin filling the bucket with pebbles and sand (the first and easiest tasks that come along), you eventually run out of room for the Big Rocks.  The buckets (days) fill up faster than you think, and you can't get more buckets (or time). 

 

So, it's best to move the Big Rocks first and fill in the pebbles and sand around them.  The Big Rocks are the Quadrant II activities.  For me these Big Rocks include Daily Quiet Times, Exercise, Career Advancing Activities, Entrepreneurship Activities, Spending Quality Time with My Husband and Daughter, and Serving Opportunities. 

 

When planning my week (using my planning binders) I commit to scheduling my "Big Rocks" first.  Starting out, I will plan Daily Quiet Time, Exercise + 3-4 Big Rocks each week (no more than one per day, so as not to become overwhelmed when renewing this habit).   And I commit to staying with my plan - refusing to be sidetracked by the urgent yet unimportant activities or spending too much time in the quadrant of waste. 

"Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time."  Benjamin Franklin