How do you fit more activity into an already busy schedule?
Isn’t this a great question?
How do you create more margin in your schedule—to do the things you want to do and the things you need to do?
8 TIPS TO CREATE MORE MARGIN
1. Prioritize Your Life.
What do you value most? Without knowing this we find ourselves chasing after many things that have little value. If you haven’t identified a set of values for life, start here.
2. Stop Unnecessary Time-Wasters.
If every night includes three hours of television, don’t be surprised you didn’t get to spend a lot of quality time with your children. Most of us form bad habits of doing something that wastes a bulk amount of time. Make a list of what you spend the most time doing and see if there are places you can cut.
3. Work Smarter.
I know so many pastors who simply handle things as they come up rather than work with a plan. The benefit of organization is that you can do what you need to do more efficiently and are more productive.
4. Schedule Times to Organize.
Spending time planning the week will make the whole week more productive. Usually for me this is the first part of my week. If I know where I’m headed it’s much easier to get everything done and still handle distractions.
5. Prioritize Your Day.
It doesn’t matter what system you use, but keeping some sort of prioritized list of tasks increases the rate of completion. Sometimes I start with the easy ones first to feel a sense of accomplishment.
6. Don’t Say Yes to Everything.
Be picky with your time allotment based again on your end priorities and goals. It’s even okay to say no to some things.
7. Schedule Down and Family Time.
When my boys were young, I wrote time with them on my calendar. This may sound mechanical, but it kept other things from filling up my schedule. (I still schedule this time for Cheryl—and, it sounds counterproductive, but we get away even more frequently during busier seasons.)
8. Evaluate Your Schedule Often.
Plans should not be implemented and then ignored. Develop your plan to create margin in your life, then periodically review the plan to see how you are doing and what needs to be changed.
Read more from Ron Edmondson »
This article originally appeared on RonEdmondson.com and is reposted here by permission.