Frozen breaded foods all smell about the same. I dumped a bag of chicken nuggets onto a baking tray at the Salvation Army and spread them out. They would be the snack for the couple of dozen kids that came to the After School Program where I worked in the afternoons. The kids wouldn’t care about the smell of the snack before it was baked, but to me it seemed to add to the monotony of the task. I had one thing on my mind: the countdown. It was just 80 days until my first trip to Colombia. 80 days until I traveled. 80 days until I got to experience what I had been wanting for so long.
Suddenly, a soberness came to mind as I recalled, “Teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12). The Holy Spirit softly spoke, “Only 80 days left to influence these kids.” I realized that I had been counting down – but backwards. Instead of realizing the potential of each day, I was just waiting to check it off my list.
As a reminder, I gave little jars with beads to my other friends in the internship. The number of beads represented the number of days we had left in the program – days of influence, days of learning. We needed to count the other direction.
I’m heading home in a week. But I don’t want to forget to keep priorities in place and make the most of my time. I have found a few strategies for making my time count, and I would like to share them with you.
Before anything, begin to get your priorities in place. Decide, for example, what the daily things are. Don’t try to implement all of them the first day. Start with one, and after you do it for a week, add another. Determine what you would consider your “non-negotiables” and as you fit them into your schedule, you’ll figure out whether or not they actually could be negotiated.
On a daily basis:
1. Make a to-do list. It takes some time, but it will save you a lot of time.
As much as I would like to do this digitally, I just haven’t been able to keep up with it. I just use a notepad and scratch things off as I go.
2. Mark what you will do today. Include one thing that you’re dreading.
Some things might just require starting. If you do, start, or make progress on one thing you don’t enjoy each day, you will eventually eliminate it from your list! (Or you’ll just learn to do it more efficiently if it’s something that can’t be eliminated).
3. If something can be done in less than two minutes, do it immediately.
Some of my most dreaded tasks are the ones that really don’t take very long, but my procrastination has caused them to grow in my mind. Getting these things done quickly builds momentum for completing other tasks.
4. If you’re having difficulty managing your time, create a schedule for yourself and insert your tasks into the schedule.
I don’t always do this, but there have been times where I’ve used a schedule for the day with 15- or 30-minute time blocks. It helps me project my time, even though I don’t usually stick to it very strictly.
If I’m feeling productive – even in tasks that don’t have a lot of importance – I often forget about these principles. I need constant reminders to prioritize my times to do the things that really matter.
Our days our short.
I’ve lived 9248 days.
You can calculate how many days you’ve lived here: www.therobertd.com
Teach us, Lord, to number our days and to use our time wisely.
The “Kingdom” series isn’t over yet. This is just a pause…