Guard Your Time

Do you end each day wishing you had more time to accomplish the things that you did not get to throughout the day? If so, this post if is for you!

If we truly desire to be women who live lives of purpose, fulfilling that which Christ has for us each day, it is vitally important that we use our time wisely.

Time Management is something we all struggle with at different points in our life. Time management is something I have really had to work on being that my life is non-stop. In addition to working full-time as a high school administrator, I am also a Life Purpose Coach, Educational Consultant, Writer, Speaker, Doctoral student, wife, and mommy. Needless to say, I have had to learn to prioritize my time.

So, what are some time management skills you can apply to your life? Read on!

1) Start with giving your calendar over to God
There is only so much you can handle before it becomes a mess. Believe me, I know. If you really want to prioritize your time management skills, start off by giving your calendar to God. Truly seek Him and ask Him to show you what your calendar should consist of. When you do this, I promise, He will show you.

2) Make God the Priority in Your Life
I don't know how He does this, but every time that I have made God the priority in my life and in turn, have spent time with Him on a daily basis, not only am I able to accomplish everything that I needed to accomplish, but my day goes by much more smoothly. It's like God showing me that when I place Him first, He in turn will indeed take care of my every need. Try this and watch how God will bless your day.

3) Prioritize your efforts
Make the distinction between things that are important and things that are urgent. Most of the time, doing the things that are important, rather than urgent, results in greater effectiveness. In other words, don't major in minor things.

4) Do less to get more
Economize your efforts. For example, when you're boiling a pot of water, let it come to a boil while you do something else, or you can "watch the pot."

5) Reduce excess sources of adrenaline
These are substances, activities, relationships, situations, or attitudes that result in your feeling "charged up". Too much adrenaline can distract you from the focus needed to complete a project, increase feelings of anxiety, and intensify the feeling that time is flying. Over time, excessive adrenaline can have negative health consequences as well.

6) Eliminate time and energy-taxing elements
These are situations, attitudes, or behaviors that you're putting up with in your personal or work life, which don't serve you or your larger purpose but consumer physical, mental, and/or emotional energy. Eliminating them results in an increase in available energy for people and projects, an overall feeling of calm, and more time to get things done.

If you are having trouble with time management, take some time this week to implement some of the "keys" listed above. Also, if you have any time management ideas that you have implemented within your life, please, share those with us! Looking forward to reading your comments and be on the lookout for Part Two of "Keys to Time Management".

* Some of these "Keys" to Time Management have been taken from The Coaching Starter Kit by Coachville.com, published by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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