“Each of us are allotted the same amount of time every day, week, month, and year. No one gets more than anyone else. Each of us gets the same!”

A quote from a coaching conversation I had awhile back.

My coach then went on to say:  “If that is true Terry… then we need to QUIT TRADING OUR TIME  for that which is not the best.

We need to start using our time to do the few things that really matter. It’s time we let others more gifted to do the “good things” we keep doing, in order to be able to do the unique things God has created us to do!”

Time is the most prized commodity of our day. Many of us have said that we have… “so much to do and so little time.” But is the problem the “so much to do,” or the “so little time?” Or both? I believe that underneath all the justifications lies a reason why most of us struggle with trying to do “too much” in “too little” of time.

Some would say that the struggle is an issue of skill or technique related to how we use our time. Others refer to the multiple “lists” on how to be more productive and save time. Still others recommend the latest time management book and new research related to “brain science” or “habits.” There is merit in many of these ideas but there is often something else.

It can be summed up with our refusal to make choices.

Two truths often collide:

TRUTH: Most of us (in the West) refuse to live within our limits when it comes to time.  We hate limits. And yet there are limits. There is a limit to how much one person can actually do before other things begin to suffer.

TRUTH:  Each day has exactly the same amount of time. Whether it is packed, spaced out or scheduled.  In each day we have been given the  amount of time never changes. It stays the same. And it is the same amount that is alotted to everyone else.

THE NEED: CHOICES.

 It’s about TRADING OUR FEW HOURS each day for that which matters most, as opposed to continuing to be consumed with that which is good, but not best. That trade can only happen if we contront the truth that in today’s fast lane, choices must be made on a daily basis.

“NO” must be said regularly in our world of multiple options (especially in the mid-game) in order to say “YES.”

The seedbed for a “productive day” is one that day is played out according to whom God has made us to be and what God is at work doing in our day. It is about having the courage to chose to be ourselves, in the midst the demands, opportunities or even that which is already scheduled. How many times have you called and said “I can’t make it today,” and it was becuase God had altered the priorities of your day?

A more productive day

• A productive day is not about getting everything done.
• A productive day is not about getting more done.
• A productive day is about getting to the most important.
  

Important is tied to those things that come out of your personal calling and “unique” Kingdom contribution. These things are important things… they are acts of worship… you being truly “you,” contributing based on who God has shaped you to be. While sometimes we don’t always have the choices… but when we do, its about chosing to be ourselves. 

But How?

Honest Evaluation… Am I trading my time?

• How long has it been since you have taken an honest hard look at your schedule and busyness?
• How much of your day consists of duty/responsibility/ busyness versus activities around your core passion and unique contribution?
• How fatigued are you by the continual priorities battle you face, trying to figure out again how to slot too many things into too few time slots?
• Is your first response “yes” or “no” when asked to participate, jump ino a new opportunity or take on one more thing than you should?
• Is your day filled with doing “good” and what you can do, as opposed to doing “best,” and that which you must do?

How much have you been trading your time away?

How much have you been caring for the urgent and what everyone else wants, instead of aligning your day around who Christ has shaped you to be, and making daily choices accordingly.

Ready break the cycle?

New Commitments… changing my paradigm.

• I/you accept and believe that time (now) is my most precious commodity to steward? If yes…
• I/you accept that, if left unchecked, I will become busy and trade my time doing “good” but not the best? If yes…
  
• I/you accept that frustration grows as every day I don’t make the choices to be me, and chose to say “no” to good.  If that is you…
• I/you accept I cannot (will not) keep this up, but rather decide today that it is me who has to change.      If yes…

Make the choices required to live a productive day.

Approach each day with the following… Jesus, I seek to align with you and what you are already at work doing in this day ahead.

Spirit of God reveal to me: