Some people are smarter than others. Some people are more attractive than others. Some people are more talented than others. Time and time alone is the one gift we all have in equal portion. The slacker and the accomplished, the dreamer and the doer all stand equal before the clock.
Have you ever noticed the people who complain most about how busy they are are usually just poor at time management? Benjamin Franklin said, “Never confuse motion with action.” Being occupied does not mean you are busy. Being busy does not mean you are being productive. To truly be productive, you need to be effective and efficient.
To be effective is to do the right things. To be efficient is to do things in ways that create results and momentum in the right direction. Both are necessary. They are two sides of the same “time management coin.”
When it comes to being effective, the book I’ve found most helpful is “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. Yes, the book has been quoted and rehashed so many times it has almost become clichéd. But for me, it is powerful book that taught me common sense habits that radically improved my life.
The Seven Habits are:
- Be Proactive.
- Begin with the end in mind.
- Put first things first.
- Think Win-Win.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
- Synergize.
- Sharpen the saw. (Take care of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.)
The flip side of the time management coin is that not everything fits snugly within the Seven Habits motif. Sometimes being effective isn’t enough; sometimes you just need plain efficiency. You need to get things done and get them out of your head and off your list. Enter David Allen and “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.”
“The Seven Habits” taught me how to determine what is important – it taught me how to “Think” about time and life management. “Getting Things Done” (aka GTD) taught me a practical system to do the things I need to do.
Every month I have hundreds of emails to process, five to 10 books to read, an average of 10,000 miles to travel, a family to care for, a ministry to fulfill, health to maintain (I generally run 4-8 miles a day, five days a week), churches and leaders to develop, and a host of other obligations and opportunities that pop up. Life can be pretty demanding. These two books gave me critical tools to live my life without feeling overwhelmed and busy. And for that I am thankful.
These books and their techniques are not perfect. No system ever is. You will need to think through how to apply the principles and practices to your life. You will find other tools that supplement and assist you. Great tools are out there like “Evernote” and the “Pomodoro Technique.” You just need to start. The first two steps are to start somewhere and to start now. Go ahead. I dare you to make 2013 your most effective and efficient year ever.
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
