FIND TIME Most of us would probably like a few more hours each day. Unfortunately, we will never get a 26-hour day. We only get 24. God has given everyone on the planet the same amount each day. Because we will never have more than 24 hours, we must be wise with our time. The Apostle Paul challenges us in Ephesians 5:16 to make “the best use of the time”. Being wise with our time means not wasting it. This doesn’t mean leisurely activity is wrong. Rest and leisure can be very helpful. Being wise with our time means being intentional. It is using wisdom to determine how we will use our time, and not allowing ourselves to be lazy or unproductive. The amazing thing is that when we use our time wisely, we often begin finding time that we were unaware of! When we begin finding time in unexpected places, and intentionally using it, big things happen. It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste. - Henry Ford Consider this analogy: Every minute of our day is like a thread. Individually, each thread is weak. We can only pull a small amount of weight with a single thread. However, the more threads we weave together the stronger it becomes. If we weave enough threads together into a rope, we could pull an ocean liner. Our life is the same. If our time is divided in 1,000 directions, we can only move 1,000 small things. If we weave together our threads of time (and don’t waste them), our lives can make a big impact. What kind of rope are you weaving? To Find Time, start by asking this question: What parts of my day could be spent differently? Here are some ideas: 1. Get Up Earlier Do I lay in bed after I am awake? This is precious time that could be spent in a more focused way with God, your health, learning, and after that, a project. Something I have found helpful is this: Preload your decision. Make the decision in advance, before you are all nice and comfortable under the sheets. First, figure out how much sleep your body needs. Then, you have a couple of options:
If we wait to make the decision when we wake up, we will rationalize and just roll over. We must remember Solomon’s warnings: “As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.” (Proverbs 26:14) “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:33) Sleep is vital to everything we do, but we only need so much. Consider the results of only 15 minutes less sleep each day, if applied well: In one year 15 minutes a day = over 91 hours. That’s over 2 weeks of normal workweeks! What could you do with an extra 2 weeks? The first and best way to spend some of that time is with the Lord. It is in the quiet morning hours, before the world starts to whirl with activity, when we can best be still before the Lord and listen to His voice. In Psalm 63:1 David prays: "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you". The Hebrew word David uses for seek is defined as: "to dawn, i.e. (figuratively) be (up) early at any task (with the implication of earnestness); by extension, to search for (with painstaking) -- (do something) betimes, enquire early, rise (seek) betimes, seek diligently) early, in the morning)." -Strong's Exhaustive Concordance The NKJV Bible translation says “early will I seek you”. Seeking God is so important that its worth getting up early for! Early morning is a great time to quiet your heart and be still before the Lord in worship. Make time with God a priority. Worship before work. Because I exercise after work, I use extra time in the morning after my devotion time with God to write, edit my audiobook, etc. I also use the time to learn. Do the things that will grow and develop you first thing in the morning, not email. (More on that in the next blog.) For others, like my wife, mornings is the best time to exercise right after devotions. Figure out what works best for you and make it a habit. Utilize the time that others are wasting! At the same time, God’s Word gives us a balanced view of sleep. While we should not be lazy, we should also not neglect sleep! Psalm 127:1-2 has been a constant reminder that sleep is a gift from God. It is an act of faith to stop work, and sleep. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” I used to push myself to get up earlier and earlier to gain more time. But I found my limits. After a few months, I would get sick. So this is an area that I am constantly trying to balance. I don’t want to be lazy, but I also don’t want to forget that it is God’s power that accomplishes everything of value, not mine. Everyone is different regarding their body’s need for sleep. Some people can get by on less sleep than others. I am constantly experimenting with ways I can optimize my sleep: tracking and eliminating foods that hinder sleep, reducing or eliminating caffeine, getting enough exercise, quitting work early enough to allow my mind to relax, and avoiding blue light before bed. Experiment with what works for you. Just remember to take a long view of things. For example, drinking a lot of coffee may make you productive today, but coffee affects the quality of your sleep. Because coffee has a 6-hour half-life for most people, while you may fall asleep ok, it is still affecting you so you may not be getting restful sleep. This means the next morning you are effectively useless until you drink coffee. The litmus test is this: If you need coffee to wake you up in the morning, you aren’t getting restful sleep. Figure out what helps you function optimally for the long haul. 2. Skip Breakfast Yup. That’s right. Skip it. Doing this eliminates the time of making breakfast every day. This simple practice alone saves me about 30 minutes a day. At 7 days a week, that’s over a month of work (182.5 hours) each year. As we get older our calorie needs go down, so most of us don’t need the extra calories. If we do, just eat it at a different meal. If you have never done intermittent fasting, it helps to start by pushing back breakfast by 1-2 hours for a week. Then do it again. And again. Pretty soon your body has adapted. Trust me, you won’t starve. If you get hungry, just drink a glass of water. Most of the time, it is just your brain telling you to eat because of habit, not calorie deficiency. Your body has to learn how to go from glucose-burning (food) to fat-burning. It can take a little while for your body to get used to the change, but it is worth it. Two other benefits to this practice:
NOTE: Some women don’t do as well as men do with this type of fasting, so it doesn’t work for everyone. Research and experiment to find what works for you. 3. Remove Distractions Sometimes it is not more time that we need, it is more focused time. Go somewhere where your tasks take less time. If I need to think, plan, or have a major task, can I go somewhere with fewer distractions? I often go outside to write in the woods or a park. My wife and I go to the café to strategize and plan so the things that need to be done around the house aren't distracting. 4. Eat With Someone Do I need to meet with someone but have a tight schedule? Schedule a meal together. This idea came from the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. You are already going to eat. Why not use that time to eat with someone else? Not only is having a meal together time efficient, but it is also good for healthy relationships. Friendships are forged over food. Food provides a casual environment to talk as well as get things done. Jesus would regularly spend his time eating with others: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19) 5. Walk and Talk Need to meet with someone but have been inside all day? Do a Walk and Talk. Take your phone or walk with them if you can meet. You can even plan ahead and schedule some meetings at times of day when you are able to walk. This gives you a chance to get exercise and connect with others. If you need to remember something from the meeting, ask the other person to send you any notes they took, or do a voice memo to yourself after the call is done. 6. Traffic University Want more time to read? Find time by listening to audiobooks when you drive. On Amazon, if you buy Kindle books, you can often add on the Whispersync for a few more dollars. Then, you can either listen or read. If you are listening and want to highlight something, you can simply pause it, highlight it and then start listening again. You can also find time to listen while you exercise, travel, or do household chores. Don't fill up every spare second with learning, you need time to simply think and be in quiet, but utilize the time you have with books and podcasts. Get a library card and check out their audiobooks for free…or see if they are on YouTube. Many older books are available for free on YouTube. We have more knowledge at our fingertips than ever before in the history of the world. Find times throughout your day to learn! 7. Eliminate Time Wasters You know what your time wasters are. Maybe it’s too much TV. Maybe it’s scrolling on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, video games, or a news feed. These things are habits. They get hardwired into our brain and our brain becomes dependent on the dopamine hit we get from them. Whenever we are dependent, it isn’t healthy. Choose how much time you are going to spend on them, if any, and don’t exceed it. Pre-set a time limit for the app each day or week using Screen Time to help keep you accountable. Or, delete the apps entirely to remove the temptation. Most importantly, remember this truth. You can't simply eliminate habits. Habits need to be replaced. If you want to get rid of a bad habit, stop focusing on trying to get rid of the bad habit. Rather, focus on creating a new habit in it's place! In our Christian walk, we are told turn away from sin and pursue Christ. Even in small habits, we must replace them with something else. Find a purposeful way to spend the time. For more on how to do this, check out this book summary of The Power of Habit . I will let you do the math for yourself. Consider what eliminating some of your TV or Instagram scrolling (or other time waster) each day would mean for you. It could add up to HUGE amounts of time. What could you do with that time? What would that do for your life? “It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” -Henry Ford We all have 24 hours. Your life is the sum total of what you regularly do. Finding time comes down to focus. How will you use your threads of time? Will you have the focus to weave the threads together to move big things or will they go in 1,000 directions? Make “the best use of the time”. (Ephesians 5:16) Serving Together, Kyle I would love to learn from you. How do YOU find time? Comment below.
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