Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You.
Psalm 143:8 (AMPC)
As the Scripture verse above suggests, it is wise to begin each morning asking God to show us the way He wants us to walk and requesting His help in following through. Pray and then plan! If we will acknowledge Him in our ways, He promises to direct our path (see Proverbs 3:5–6). God very simply wants to be asked if He approves of our plan, and told that if He doesn’t, we are happy to change it. We are instructed in God’s Word to
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
Our plans won’t work well unless God blesses them, and very often He does just that if we submit them to Him. Most of the details of daily living God leaves to our free choice, but He does want to be acknowledged.
Scheduling is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals in the time you have available. Scheduling can maximize your effectiveness and reduce your stress levels.
Lack of scheduling, on the other hand, reduces productivity and results in wasting time instead of enjoying the rewards of a fruitful life and the best that God has for us. We can be proactive instead of reactive—that means we need to take the initiative. A life of reaction is actually a life of bondage. Decide what you want to do each day, before other things and people start making your decisions for you. Just as we have a financial budget of some kind, we need a time budget. A time budget helps us avoid stress and not waste time on less important tasks while running out of time for the important ones.
Don’t try to do this on your own, but first commit yourself and your day to the Lord. Offer up all you are and have, including your time, to Him, and ask for His guidance as you plan your day.
When we ask God for direction, we probably won’t be given a specific outline of what the day should look like, but we can depend on God to guide us as we schedule and plan our day. God has given us common sense and wisdom as gifts, and as a part of our free will, He expects us to use them in daily planning. Planning is simply thinking wisely. It is looking at how much time you have and deciding what you want or need to do with it.
How much can we realistically get done in one day? What can we accomplish without frustration and stress? What are the most pressing things we need to attend to first? What could we roll into tomorrow if we need to? Is our planning leaving room for us to live a balanced life that includes worship, rest, laughter, as well as accomplishment?
As a recovering workaholic, I must confess that I did not always apply the principles I am encouraging you to apply. I learned by my mistakes, but perhaps you can learn without making the same ones I made.
What unfinished projects do you have that bother you the most when you think about them? It could relieve a lot of stress and therefore give you more energy if you would just systematically start doing them and eliminate the stress they cause. Putting a project off never makes it easier to do later on. Seize it and get it over with!
The very thoughts of planning and, especially, scheduling may cause some people not to want to read another word of this book. Our temperament determines just how detailed we are willing or able to be in things like scheduling. My personal assistant is beyond organized! Her calendar and the copy of mine she keeps and manages are color coordinated with color-coordinated sticky notes covering each month. Each note has a tiny, very neat message. She can put those calendars in front of her and take delight in reading and rereading them and improving them in any way she can for hours at a time. If I decide to change one appointment, something I do quite often, it usually has a ripple effect that can mean she needs to move several other things, and she doesn’t seem to mind at all. If I worked for me, I would look at me and say, “You have got to be kidding, Joyce. I just got this thing organized, and now you want to change it?”
I remember asking her once what she liked to do when she had time off and she actually said, “I love to organize!” I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. It is very obvious that her skills are a gift that God has given her, and it is also obvious that I don’t have them, so I am glad I have her.
God gives us different gifts and He wants us to use them for one another’s benefit. You never have to be like someone else! Although we may not have the type of organizational skills that some people do, we all do have an ability to be organized enough not to waste our life. If you feel that you are lacking in these skills, don’t just assume that you are not an organized person, but at least be willing to learn and grow. I also highly recommend you don’t say on a regular basis, “I am just not organized.” Our words are powerful, and negative words can keep us trapped in a weakness that we would like to be free from.
My daughter, Laura, is admittedly not very organized. She also tends to forget things frequently, but, interestingly enough, she runs an entire household that consists of her husband and three children. In addition to that, she helps take care of my widowed aunt, who is in a nursing home, and she works part time for me. I interviewed her briefly for this book to ask how someone who is disorganized manages to keep up with the things she keeps up with. She shared that making a note each day about what she needs to do that day is the most helpful to her. And then she said, “But even then, I may forget to read my note.” Then she added, “Mom, you have no idea how often God reminds me to do something just in the nick of time, and that is what keeps me out of trouble.”
So we can see from this that God helps us in our weaknesses. His strength is actually seen through them. Pray, make a plan, and trust God to help you remember to work your plan!
Some people have an aversion to planning because they say they are spontaneous and they want to be free to do what and when they choose. That, of course, is their right, but I seriously doubt they will do as much good with their time as they would if they included a little planning in their life.
We need a certain amount of spontaneity so we don’t become so rigid with our plans and schedules that we don’t leave room for anything or anyone other than our own “plan.” Doing something on the spur of the moment is good for all of us occasionally. But occasionally is the key to not letting it get out of control. I am spontaneous to a degree (most people who know me would probably say to a tiny degree), but before I drop everything and do something spontaneously because a friend or one of my children has asked me to, I have to think about my responsibilities and ask myself if there is anything I have to get done today that I can’t put off.
Responsibility, even though it may not always be the most exciting thing, is an important priority. Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”12
Spontaneous people are lots of fun, and we can count on them to be on call for whatever we may want to do, but are they obeying God’s original dream for man that they be fruitful? If you are a spontaneous person, don’t get angry with me or offended. I am glad that you are you, but if you need a bit of balance or a little shift in priorities, why not read on? No matter what personality you have, the only way you can keep your priorities straight is by being willing to adjust them regularly.
We all have different levels of responsibility in our lives, and if we have accepted the privilege of doing a thing, then we must accept the responsibility. If someone is a doctor, he or she has been given an amazing gift, but with that gift comes the responsibility of being on call and needing to get out of bed in the middle of the night because a patient has been taken to the emergency room. If you want to be the boss, you will have more responsibility than the other employees.
I had the privilege of having four amazing children, but I also had the responsibility that goes along with raising children. No privilege comes without responsibility, and to expect one without the other is plain foolishness.
We all need a plan for each day. Even if our plan is to do nothing that day, we can still plan it and do it on purpose. The thing I don’t want for my life is being manipulated and controlled by circumstances, my own emotions, or other people. If I do a thing, it should be because I have chosen to do it. I hope you want that also. Living my life “on purpose” has become very important to me, and it has brought me into an area where I live with less regret than ever before.
I definitely think we need a plan for each day, but how we do the planning is totally up to us and can certainly accommodate our own temperament. I have lots of plans because that is the way I like to live. I already have planned what I will eat at the restaurant we are going to tonight. I have several friends who tease me a lot about planning where, when, and what I am going to eat, but they also like eating with me because it is almost always good! I planned to go to the restaurant I am going to tonight a week ago and made reservations to be sure I could get in. That way I won’t be disappointed.
I planned how many hours I wanted to work today and the phone calls I wanted to make. I plan out my day each morning, but I can adapt most things if I really need to. Without plans we have no direction, and we end up doing nothing, or, at best, very little. We are at the whim of whoever and whatever comes our way. I feel fulfilled right now because it is late in the afternoon and I have accomplished a lot, yet I still have time to relax and do something fun.
Making plans like I am talking about doesn’t require complicated planning, it just requires that you do a little thinking about what you want to do with your time. If you do make a plan and it needs to be adjusted, then be flexible, but at least have a plan of some kind.
There is rarely a day when all of my plans work out, or when I don’t have to do some things I did not plan, so I even plan for the unexpected to happen. Always leave some room in your schedule for the things you didn’t schedule and it will help you avoid stress and pressure. Anyone who thinks his or her day will go perfectly according to his or her plan is sure to be frustrated and disappointed. Recently, I had two days in succession where I didn’t accomplish much of what I had planned, but I did end up spending one day with my daughter unexpectedly and another one with Dave. The day after that occurred, I was talking with the Lord and said, “I am frustrated because I didn’t accomplish much of what I had planned the past two days,” and immediately I heard Him speak in my heart that frustration was a total waste of time and did nothing but make me miserable. Then He reminded me that relationships with my family are very important and that I did use my time wisely after all.
As I mentioned previously, it is wise to leave some room in your planning and thinking for the unexpected! One of my self-induced problems for many years was that I didn’t leave any room in my schedule for things like that. I planned things literally back-to-back with no time in between, and it was a recipe for stress! I ended up rushing and being angry because people and things got in the way of “my” plan. I am not fond of what I call small bursts of downtime—the ten- and fifteen-minute intervals between things that don’t leave me enough time to do anything really worthwhile. I always looked at them as wasted time until I realized I needed those times to breathe and regroup my thoughts. Those are good times to thank God, or just talk with Him about how your day is going. If things are not going well, it may be an opportunity to hear from God about what adjustments you might make to still end up with a fruitful day.
If we leave no time between appointments and things we have committed to do, what happens if the doctor is ten minutes late, we get stuck in unexpected traffic, or we get a last-minute phone call that we cannot resist taking? The answer is pressure happens, and it happens to us! When facing that pressure, we often pass it on to someone else we are dealing with. The simple act of planning some time for things you did not expect could bring a great deal of peace into your world.
If you hoped I would give you a detailed guide of how to plan your day, you will be disappointed. If that is what you want, there are numerous books you can purchase that will give you a step-by-step formula for planning and scheduling. Someone else’s formula never works for me, but if it works for you, go for it. I do urge you not to spend your life just wanting to know what others did that works for them, in the process never finding what God has for you. I firmly believe we are individuals, and God will guide us if we will give Him the opportunity. My methods of organizing are not like my administrative assistant’s. I don’t live by color coordinates and sticky notes, but I do have my own system that works for me.
I believe that if I successfully convey to you the importance of having a plan and disciplining yourself to stick to it within reason, you are wise enough to look at your own life and make some decisions. I believe we need room to breathe rather than being trapped in a formula that has worked for someone else but may never work for us. Spiritual maturity requires that at some point we untie our boat from the dock and give ourselves to the waves of God’s Spirit, which is another way of saying: “Learn to be led by the Holy Spirit.”
One of the greatest things any Bible teacher can teach you is how to be led by the Holy Spirit. He alone can bring the variety and creativity into our lives that will prevent us from being bored with sameness, rules, and regulations. I challenge you to ask God for a plan for the day, and believe that He will guide you. Now look at what you either need or want to accomplish today (some of both, I hope) and decide what to do first, second, and so on. Some people like lists and others don’t, so have fun finding out what works for you. Finding a plan that works for you may require some trial and error.
Let’s say you really seriously want to exercise regularly. It may be working out at the gym, walking regularly with a friend, or using a treadmill or some other equipment you can purchase and bring into your home. You sign up at the gym or you buy your equipment and you try getting up an hour earlier than usual and you absolutely hate it. You end up being tired all day, and after a week you abandon your plan and continue making payments to the gym you hope to get to someday. Or you look at the treadmill that now only screams at you that you are not in good shape.
Instead of giving up, try something else. Try working out later or on the weekend or whatever it takes to get you started. Once you get a good start, you will probably find it easier to increase the number of days or the time, but don’t give up because your first effort didn’t work. After sixty-two years of not working out and living with my “in shape” husband who has exercised diligently since he was a teenager, I finally decided to stop making excuses and do something. I decided that something was better than nothing, even if that something was only fifteen minutes three times a week. Amazingly, now with ten years of successful weight training behind me, I can see clearly why I failed so many years before finding success.
I kept trying plans and programs, thinking I should be able to do what others were doing and be successful overnight, but my thinking was unrealistic. We usually want to get in shape in a couple of weeks, but it won’t happen. Plan for a long, long, long, long time, and then you won’t be disappointed. I think we are often defeated because the plan we begin with is where someone else has landed after many years of experience.
You can go buy a book giving you details on scheduling and it may help, but keep in mind that it was written by someone who probably failed their way to success before writing the book. Give yourself time and room to be imperfect while you’re improving.
Give yourself time and room to be imperfect while you’re improving.
Have you ever thought of planning to neglect some things? I think it is a good idea and one that will save time. We can plan to neglect the phone for an hour. Honestly, I never knew I was so important until I got a cell phone with texting and e-mail on it. Suddenly, I think I must be available for the world at all times and act as if things would fall apart if they could not contact me for one hour!
A little planned neglect will help us remember that the world can survive after all if we are not present for an hour. It is sad indeed when we feel that we must take the phone with us when we go to the toilet.
We could neglect answering some of our calls until later. I find that very often if I don’t answer, the person calling will leave a text message that requires no answer. I recently told my administrative assistant that I didn’t want her to send me any text messages or folders full of business for thirty days, unless it was an emergency. I was recovering from hip surgery and wanted the time to recover peacefully. When the thirty days were over, she said it was amazing how many things worked themselves out within a few days that she would have normally sent to me to deal with. Surprisingly, she didn’t have all that much to give me, even after thirty days. Wow! I wasn’t as important as I thought I was!
The more we are available, the more people depend on us. We can give others some responsibility by simply planning a little neglect. I am not suggesting we neglect legitimate responsibilities, but we truly don’t have to be available to everyone all the time.
A famous violinist shared that she practiced her violin first and purposely planned to neglect everything until that was finished. Then she made her bed, dusted the furniture, answered phone calls, et cetera. No wonder she became famous!
Time management is really self-management. If we don’t manage ourselves, our lives can be nothing other than chaotic. Frustrated people usually blame their problems on life, but God doesn’t want life to just happen to us; He wants us to subdue and manage it.
• Scheduling can maximize your effectiveness and reduce your stress levels.
• Is your planning leaving room for you to live a balanced life that includes worship, rest, and laughter as well as accomplishment?
• Putting a project off never makes it easier to do later on.
• Be organized enough to make the most of your life.
• Pray, make a plan, and trust God to help you work your plan.
• You can actually plan to neglect the things that might distract you and occupy too much of your time.