Managing Time
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”
The Bible clearly indicates that for every one of us, there is enough time to accomplish what must be done.
However, if you want this to happen, you’ve got to take the initiative to obey the following Scripture:
Eph 5:15-16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
But the question is, “How do you do that?” What are practical guidelines that the Bible can give us about how to manage our time?
ONE NOTE: I can teach you how to be more efficient, but my ultimate goal is to make you more effective.
We need to understand the difference between:
EFFICIENCY - doing things right.
EFFECTIVENESS - doing the right things
You see, we can fill up our days with busy, efficient activity, but never be effective. You can do the things that make you rich and famous, but never be effective, if you don’t do the things that matter for all time and eternity – the things that God values.
Mike Tyson’s life was efficient.
Adolf Hitler’s life was efficient.
Mother Theresa’s life was effective.
To understand the foundation of effectiveness, we’ve got to:
Understand the relationship between urgent and important.
URGENT - Shouts at you
NOT URGENT - Doesn’t shout at you.
IMPORTANT - adds value to God’s work, you and others
NOT IMPORTANT - doesn’t add value to you or others
EVERYTHING in your life is some combination of these four.
The key to effective time management (self-management) is doing the things that are important, and especially the things that are important, but not urgent.
I’ve put together a handout to help you visualize this. I want to give you a couple illustrations of what I’m talking about: (I am indebted to STEPHEN R. COVEY for this concept.)
Quadrant 1 - Urgent & Important
Putting gas in your car
Quadrant 3 - Urgent, Not Important
Setting the air conditioning
Quadrant 2 - Important, not urgent
Changing the oil Quadrant 4 - Not Urgent, Not Important
Setting the radio presets
Your relationship with your spouse:
Quadrant 1 - Urgent & Important
Resolving an argument; buying gift for holiday Quadrant 3 - Urgent, Not Important
Pointing out that you were right
Quadrant 2 - Important, not urgent
Buying flowers/gift on a non-holiday; Spending time talking Quadrant 4 - Not Urgent, Not Important
Write down for me one thing that you’re not doing now, but if you DID, it would contribute greatly to your effectiveness as a father, mother, pastor, spouse, worker, Christian, etc.
Whatever you wrote down, I can almost guarantee it is found in Quadrant 2.
A) If it will make you more effective, it’s important!
B) If it was urgent, then you’d be doing it already!
That’s the foundation for effectiveness, doing the important things.
Steps to effective Time Management:
1. Identify the roles you have.
List the four top things that you are in life. For me, they are:
- Christian
- Husband
- Father
- Pastor
For you, some of your roles will be different than mine.
2. List several things in Quadrants 1 & 2 that need to be done for each of your roles.
For instance, in my life, I have chosen the following tasks as priorities under each role:
CHRISTIAN
- Prayer.
- Obedience.
HUSBAND
- Talk.
- Plan to show love by helping when needed.
FATHER
- Spend some time each day talking to my baby.
- As she gets older, this commitment will become larger.
PASTOR
- Preaching & Teaching
- Personal leadership growth.
- Developing the leadership ability of others.
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3. Put those things in order of importance in a time management tool.
Elizabeth Hughes’ is a little planner. My wife’s is a calendar. Steve Davis’ is a wallet-sized book. Mine is my WIFE – no, really, its’ a Palm computer.
The point is not to have an expensive tool – the point is to have a tool. Somewhere where you can write things down to force you to concentrate on the things that matter.
4. Do #1, and finish each before going on to the next one.
A man once came into the office of businessman Andrew Carnegie, and said he was a time management expert, and wanted to give Mr. Carnegie advice. He said, “You don’t have to pay me today. If you feel like my advice is worth something, then send me a check for whatever you think it’s worth.”
He told Mr. Carnegie, “Write down 10 things you have to do tomorrow. Now put them in order of importance. Now, start with #1, and make sure the top 3 get done every day before you do anything else.”
Mr. Carnegie thanked the man, and he left. A few weeks later, the man received a check for $20,000.00. (In those days, that was a HUGE amount!) In the letter, Andrew Carnegie said it was the most valuable lesson he’d ever learned in time management, and he’d instructed all his executives to use the same method.
That’s the power of doing things in order of importance!
There’s a principle in time management called the Pareto Principle:
80% of results come from 20% of activity.
This is true in many areas of life.
In a business: 20% of the products bring in 80% of the profit.
In church: 20% of the people give 80% of the money.
At a picnic: 20% of the people eat 80% of the food.
In other words, if you have 10 things to do, make sure you get the top 2 done, and you’ll already be 80% effective in managing your time for the day!
5. At the end of the day, take 5 minutes and evaluate yourself.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- How well did I do today?
- What could I have left undone?
- Is there anything I should have done?
- How can I do better tomorrow?
6. Find places where you can eliminate wasted time.
For instance, if you’re staying up and watching a movie and then sleeping late. . .
If you’re spending lots of time doing needless browsing. . .
7. Repeat steps 1-5 each week, and perform a check-up on yourself.
Now, this sermon is a little different, and some of you are saying, “Why a sermon like this? Why don’t we focus on really important stuff?”
The answer is simple: THIS IS THE IMPORTANT STUFF!
God has made it important in his word by giving us the verse that I quoted at the beginning:
Eph 5:15-16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
It’s very simple. If you want to make the most of your life, you’ve got to make the most of your TIME, because TIME is the stuff that LIFE is made up of!
In the next 5 years, if every one of us (about 50) saved 15 minutes a day through a sermon like this, and used that 15 minutes for prayer, or ministering to a friend, or using your gifts for God, or talking to someone about Jesus, look what it would mean:
5 years X 365 days X 15 minutes X 50 people = 1,368,750 minutes!!!!
Does God care about that?
I guarantee you He does! God is glorified when we use our time in a way that pleases HIM!
______________
HANDOUT - I used a small 4-cell table, which cannot be reproduced here, to illustrate the four Quadrants. . . please see ’7 Habits of Highly effective People" for an example and complete details.
______________
Managing Time Wisely
Ephesians 5:16 “Redeeming the time. . .”Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”
Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Eph 5:15-16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
My ultimate goal: To make you more __________________.
We need to understand the difference between:
EFFICIENCY - doing things _____________.
EFFECTIVENESS - doing the ___________ _____________.
___________ ____________’s life was efficient.
_____________ ______________’s life was effective.
You must understand the relationship between urgent and important.
____________ - Shouts at you
NOT URGENT - Doesn’t shout at you.
_________________ - adds value to God’s work, you and others
NOT IMPORTANT - doesn’t add value to God, you or others
EVERYTHING in your life is some combination of these four.
Quadrant 1 - Urgent & Important
Putting gas in your car
Quadrant 3 - Urgent, Not Important
Setting the air conditioning
Quadrant 2 - Important, not urgent
Changing the oil
Quadrant 4 - Not Urgent, Not Important
Setting the radio presets
Write down for me one thing that you’re not doing now, but if you DID, it would contribute greatly to your effectiveness as a father, mother, pastor, spouse, worker, Christian, etc:
I can almost guarantee it’s in Quadrant 2. Here’s why:
_____________ ________________ is found in Quadrant 1.
__________________ is found in Quadrant 2.
__________________ is found in Quadrant 3.
__________________ is found in Quadrant 4.
Steps to effective time management:
1. Identify the ___________ you have.
Your time is connected to what you ARE in life. List the four top things that you are in life.
2. _________ ____________ in Quadrants 1 & 2 that must be done for each of your roles.
See the attached handout.
3. Put those things in order of _______________ in a time management tool.
4. Do ______, and finish each before going on to the next one.
There’s a principle in time management called the Pareto Principle:
_______% of results come from _______% of activity.
5. At the end of the day, take 5 minutes to ____________ yourself.
- How well did I do today? - How can I do better tomorrow?
- Is there anything I should have done? - What could I have left undone?
6. Find places where you can eliminate ______________ time.
7. Repeat steps ____-____ each week, and perform a weekly _______________ on yourself.
