Photo Credit: Global Water Partnership – a water secure world via Compfight cc
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Time management is a myth. No matter what you do, you will never have more than 24 hours in your day. You cannot stretch it out. You cannot shrink it down. Time is stubborn like that. It is what it is.
Trust me, I know. I have been obsessive about time management ever since I read Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” back in the 1980s.
After thirty years of trying to manage my time, I have faced the cold, hard truth: Time management is a myth. And this truth is liberating.
Once I exchanged the myth of time management for the realities of time, my life entered a new level of empowerment. Let me share with you 5 Realities of Time.
- Time is your friend.
By “friend” I mean we should not see time is something we work against, as in “working against the clock.” Time is something we work with to accomplish our goals and to live out our values.
Time is our friend because time supports our need for family, friends, work, restoration, and creativity. Time gives us room for all the things that are valuable to us. Time makes a place for all these.
If we miss out on the people we love and the things we value, it is not because time ran out on us: Time is always there. Your focus may have run out. Your attention may have run out. Your ability to prioritize may have run out. But time did not run out. Time is a true friend; it is always there (at least until Jesus returns).
- Time is your accountability partner.
Time looks at all the people you love and all the things you value and goals you want to accomplish and asks a simple question, “When?”
When are you going to be with those you love? When are you going to do this task? When are you going to live out this value?
Time management is a myth. I do not manage time: Time manages me.
- Time is your sponsor.
Sponsors make it possible for people to do what they love and enjoy. It may be Coca-Cola sponsoring your favorite TV shows or Red Bull sponsoring the X Games, sponsors make things happen.
Time says to us, “You have a life to live, a purpose to pursue, and people to love, I will fully sponsor you. I will give you 24 hours every day to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy. Now go for. I am on your side.”
What you do with that sponsorship is up to you.
- Time is your great equalizer.
Some people have more money, friends, connections, opportunities, and talent than you. But no one has more time than you.
Some people have less money, friends, connections, opportunities, and talent than you. But no one has less time than you.
You may measure time with a Rolex or Timex but the time is still the same. Time is no respecter of persons. Kings and queens, peasants and poppers have all been made equal in time.
You can buy friends, cars, homes, watches, and food, but try as you may, you will never buy more time. Each day remains stubbornly entrenched with 24 hours. No more. No less.
Time is the greatest equalizer. You have not been cheated, nor have you been granted more than others. Time is the one resource God has determined all will have in equal portion.
Time management is a myth. You do not manage your time, you manage your life.
- Time is the canvas upon which you paint the masterpiece of your life.
You are the artist. Your life is your art. Time is your canvas. Your values are the colors you paint with. Your choices are your brush strokes.
“Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Ps 90:12
This life, this one life, is all you have. Make it your masterpiece, your magnum opus.
What are you waiting for? It’s your life. Now, go live it!
Resources for the Journey
Here are the best resources I have found to help me “number my days.”
- Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen Covey
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Living, by David Allen
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown
- The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Gary Keller
- Time Management Magic: How To Get More Done Every Day And Move From Surviving To Thriving, Lee Cockerell
The Week Dominator planner. A big shout out to my friend Jonathan Griffiths for recommending this wonderful weekly planner to me.
You may also want to check out www.daytimer.com
I am among the more than two dozen missionaries supported by the Foursquare Missions International Global Missions Fund. To support our global missions efforts, visit The Global Missions Fund.
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Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
