5 Insights That Changed My Approach to Time Management

Is time management the solution to your problems? Yesterday was a pretty typical day for me. I started the day with my “todo list,” which I should really call my “wishlist.” After getting breakfast for the children and me, I got on a call with the director for my part-time job with the Diocese of LaCrosse. That meeting added a number of items to my todo list, including some that needed to be done urgently. The meeting went until noon, and the urgent tasks took until 1:00. Then it was time to get lunch for the kiddos. By the time I got to the first item on my original “wishlist,” I had already answered four phone calls and three customer service requests by email. I worked on my first item for about an hour, then I had to get the kids moving to meet my wife for an evening appointment.We went to the appointment, went out for supper, came home and got the kids ready for bed, had some family time, and sent the kids to bed. How much out of my original plan did I get done? Part of my first task. That’s it.

Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated. What’s even worse is that this happens to me a lot! I call this having my time “taken away” from me. I feel completely out of control of my own schedule.

I’ve looked for solutions in the past. I’ve studied time management quite extensively. Classic wisdom tells me to schedule my day and then stick to my schedule, right? Have you ever tried to schedule a day with children at home? And these meetings with the director from the diocese are very unpredictable. How exactly am I supposed to stick to a schedule? Daily planners are useless. Todo lists become wishlists. What’s a guy to do?

Time Management Revisioned

Time management has to be more than just scheduling.

My solution finally came when I started to apply what I learned about productivity skills to what I learned about the virtue of prudence. I really think you’ll benefit from these key insights.

Insight 1: Stop the attitude of victimhood
I can’t be the only one that falls into this attitude, can I? Do you find yourself frustrated because your time seems out of your control? There are two lessons I needed to learn. First, there is much more within my control than not. What I’m missing are the skills and strategies to take control of my time. Second, the unexpected things that pop up are not necessarily “off-mission” for me. They’re not necessarily distractions. But I need to learn how to tell the difference – eliminate distractions and incorporate the relevant.

Insight 2: There are two realms of time management
This was really eye opening to me. If – like me – you don’t realize there are two different realms of managing your time, you’ll beat your head against a brick wall trying to apply the skills and strategies of one realm to the other. That just doesn’t work. The two realms might be called the “big picture” realm of life management and the “moment in time” realm of getting things done. Each realm requires different strategies and skills.

Insight 3: A big goal of life management is to build margin
The concept of margin was revolutionary to me. Margin is a big-picture strategy. It is defined as the difference between the demands placed on your life and your personal resources. It’s what we have left over – to deal with the unexpected, to dedicate to personal enrichment, to invest in our faith and our relationships (not that we want to give God and our loved ones our “leftovers” – this isn’t quite the same thing).

Insight 4: If we don’t set our priorities, they will be set for us
One of the reason our lives seem out of control is that we’ve taken our hand off of the rudder of the ship. So our ship is adrift on the waves and we are left wondering why the ship won’t go where we want it to go. This is another big picture strategy. We need to decide for ourselves what priorities we’re going to form our lives around. Then we need to take strategic steps to make sure we really live by those priorities. If we don’t set our priorities, the media, culture, workforce, and demands on our lives will decide for us what our lives will stand for.

Insight 5: The key to time management is learning skills, learning strategies, and forming habits
We can empower ourselves in both the big picture realm and the get things done realms by making the effort to master certain skills, strategies and habits. Habits are most useful because they make wise use of our time second nature to us. But other skills and strategies are added tools in our toolbox that we can use to fix our rudder. In other words, our time can be in our control – to a large extent – when we put these tools into practice.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that we don’t have to live as victims. Whether we learn how to reframe the disruptions in our day or we learn how to seize the rudder of our own ship, we can take control of our time and our lives. From the Abbey can teach you how to take control of your life by learning your faith and growing in the key spiritual virtues that make up a workable spirituality for the lay life. I invite you to explore the option below to get more involved with From the Abbey. Rediscover the joy of learning and living your faith!

Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.

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