A big part of productivity is managing your time. Google “time management,” however, and you’ll be met with a deluge of articles on to-do lists, calendar management, scheduling, and more.
It can be a little overwhelming.
So I want to offer a simple list of five time management strategies, that I think will give you the most bang for your buck. These five strategies, if applied, will help you make significant progress in how you steward their time and maximize your God-honoring productivity.
1. Start with Why
Whether your goal is to finish a work project, built a business, mow the lawn, or get just through the laundry, you have to understand why what you’re doing matters. Thankfully, as Christians, we have the biggest reason of all. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
You might wonder what this has to do with time management, and my answer is everything! Everything you do—tasks, habits, projects, goals, and schedule—should be about glorifying God. As Thomas Watson said, “The glory of God is a Silver Thread which must run through all our actions.”
When you start with why, you recognize it’s not actually about time management; it’s about time stewardship. Because it’s God’s time, not mine. This shift in mindset should trickle down to every area of our life, providing motivation and meaning to even the most mundane daily tasks. But most importantly, starting with a recognition that you’re managing God’s time for God’s glory, helps you to clarify your priorities like nothing else.
2. Set Clear Goals
A common issue I encounter when helping believers manage their time, is that they think time management means trying to squeeze everything in. They spin their wheels trying to fit in too many tasks in to too little time, and end up feeling defeated and deflated.
No matter how good you get at time management, you’ll still be limited by your time, energy, and ability. And that’s okay. Because time management isn’t about squeezing everything in, it’s about making time for what matters. That means if you want to manage your time well, you’ve got to be clear on your priorities. This is where goals come in.
Goals provide direction and indicate priority. A goal tells you what the main thing is. In other words, goals are what you are managing time for. Setting a goal is just you defining in clear language what is important right now. Once you know that, then you can shift your time around to make sure what’s important gets the attention it deserves.
If you struggle to manage your time, you might not have a time management problem. More likely you have a priority problem. I encourage you to sit down and write out your priorities. What areas of life need more attention? Then choose a goal to improve one of those domains of stewardship.
3. Make Specific Plans
It’s easy to jot down a goal on a sticky note only to throw it away months later when the adhesive wears off. If we want to steward our time well, we need to plan how we will reach our goals.
Scripture presents planning as synonymous with wisdom. Wise people plan ahead, while foolish ones do not. In Proverbs, the wise man is the one who considers the future and prepares by planting and harvesting at the right times, unlike the sluggard who ignores the future and suffers for his lack of preparation.
In my own life I’ve learned that it’s when I make specific plans that my goals turn from dreams into reality. Often we don’t take this vital step, because we feel too busy. And planning means slowing down and making hard decisions. Easier just to keep the foot on the pedal than to do the hard work of planning. But if you really want to change, crafting a clear plan is the catalyst you need.
A good plan is one that:
- Define specific action steps
- Anticipates obstacles
- Identifies needed resources
- Sets a deadline
- Measures your progress
Our brains often operate in two modes: planning and action. By taking the time to plan out how you’ll accomplish your goals in advance, you make it easier for your future self to act. Just sit down, follow the plan, and put in the hours.
You can use this goal-setting worksheet for more help writing clear goals and plans to reach them while also glorifying God.
4. Schedule Your Week
It’s taken us four points to actually get around to what might be called time management, but now we’re finally here. It’s essential to do the groundwork we’ve discussed—understanding your big why, setting clear goals, and outlining projects—before diving into scheduling your time. Because it’s only once you have your purpose, priorities, and plans clear that you can effectively manage your time for the purpose of stewarding these things well.
And one of the best ways, I’ve found for making time for what’s most important is to create weekly schedule that prioritizes those things. Don’t just hope you’ll get to them; plan for them.
Here’s a simple way to create a weekly schedule for yourself:
- Plan Your Theme Days
Decide which days of the week are dedicated to specific areas. For me, Wednesdays might be for recording videos, while Mondays and Fridays are for administrative work. For a homemaker, your daily themes might follow a cleaning schedule, for an office worker, it might be that certain days of the week you focus on certain key responsibilities or projects. This approach doesn’t need to be overly detailed, just one big day-sized priority per day. - Map Your Energy Levels
In his book, “At Your Best,” author Carey Nieuwhof describes mapping energy levels into green, yellow, and red zones. Create a schedule that respects these energy levels. For example, I schedule my writing time into my ‘green zone’ in the morning when I’m most alert, and leave calls and meetings for the yellow or red zones. - Prioritize Tasks
Fill in your schedule from most important to least important. Use a spreadsheet to block out time for sleep, meals, and deep work during your green zone, then fit everything else around these priorities.
If you want to delve deeper into weekly planning, consider our course, Optimize Your Week. It covers creating an ideal weekly schedule and sticking to it. The course includes various schedule examples and provides a comprehensive framework for organizing your week. Use code IDEALWEEK for 40% off.
5. Prioritize Necessary Rest
As you strive to make the most of your life for God’s glory, it’s crucial that you recognize your need for rest.Pushing yourself to full capacity for too long, always being overwhelmed and busy, will lead to burnout. Any productivity gains from overworking will be lost when you finally do crash. So, pace yourself.
Avoid the myth of perfect efficiency. Optimizing your life for productivity is admirable, but remember you are not a machine. Machines that can operate nonstop, but you’re a creature and creatures need rest.
The Psalms remind us that God knows our frame and remembers we are dust. He shows compassion to us, just as a father does to his children, because He knows our limitations. You are not expected to be perfectly efficient or productive at all times. You can worship through faithfully stewarding your work and faithfully stewarding your rest. It’s all to His glory, so don’t neglect one area for another.
