“…withdraw cash from ATM…send $25 to Aunt Barb…finish online ordering…trim bird of paradise in front yard…visit the dollar store…and the thrift store…and the fabric store…shop for stocking stuffers for daughters…cook rump roast tonight…cook some hard boiled eggs to have on hand…walk…pray…straighten dining room table…soak sore foot…”

I rarely have less than 20 things on my daily to-do list…20 things that I would really like to get done…20 things that jostle for the first places in my schedule…20 things that niggle and nag at my consciousness. I feel the pressure of it all: the burden of it. It creates in me a general mental scatteredness and an inward sense of dis-ease. And if I attempt to juggle all those 20 or more things to do, I can easily render my day very unproductive. The juggling becomes one more activity I must manage. The juggling creates the perfect environment for wasted hours instead of harnessed and profitable activity.

And so, this little meditation about time management.

EVERYTHING CANNOT BE A PRIORITY!

…in a day

…in a season of living

…in a life

I have many diverse duties each day; I also have many personal interests, plus obligations of family life and urgent unexpected things that meet me. This daily round of activity has been a schoolroom for me in the area of time management. The mantra that has helped me most has been: “EVERYTHING CANNOT BE A PRIORITY!” I would like to share three applications of this mantra. The three build one upon another and have helped me immensely in ordering my day. By applying this mantra, I am able to have a profitable day, to know the peace that comes with intentional choices and to experience the happy loss of overwhelming scatteredness of mind.

There are three distinct steps to apply this helpful mantra: first, choose reality; second, choose priorities; and third, choose to decide and settle. There…that’s it.

CHOOSING REALITY. “Everything cannot be a priority!” This is reality. This is the truth. My time is limited. I am limited. All my time management efforts MUST start with and rest upon this truth. I cannot rush headlong into the activities of my day, taking no thought to my real limitations. It’s not enough to meet the day with high hopes or abounding energy or teeth-gritting willpower in order to complete my to-do list. First, I must come to a settled reality: I am limited and everything cannot be a priority.

CHOOSING PRIORITIES. Second, while everything cannot be a priority, yet there ARE priorities for THIS day at THIS time. This is when I mentally scroll my to-do list. I thoughtfully consider different needs, demands and desires in relation to my time. I consider my limitations of energy or resources. I consider how THIS day fits into the days that will follow it. Then I choose my priorities. In my experience only two, or maybe three things, will take the designation of “priority” for the day. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will be done first, but they will take first priority in the flow of my day. Other sundry activities may flow around my chosen priorities, but they are not to push the priorities down in importance. Only TWO or THREE priorities! The priorities must be limited, because – back to reality – my time is limited.

For example, on Wednesdays I spend the afternoon volunteering at a local elementary school. That is THE priority for the day. I will not be running errands, I will not be doing extra housework. My only other priority for the day will be to get a simple dinner on the table in the evening.

Sometimes my chosen priority is not dictated by an appointment or framed by another thing to accomplish. A “day off” can also be a priority. This particular application of prioritizing has been super helpful to me. By declaring the “day off” as a priority, I am able to clear the decks; all other jobs, duties and responsibilities are NOT on the priority list for that day; I am able to really enjoy that “day off” without the flotsam of niggling concerns that can spoil the day. I truly experience a “day off” and can return to my regular duties on the following day refreshed.

CHOOSING TO DECIDE. This is very important. Sometimes I think that I have chosen my priorities because I have penciled in a small star or asterisk in front of these items on my to-do list. But in reality, I have not settled on these “so limited” priorities for my day, but continue to entertain possibility after possibility after possibility of what I “might fit into” my day. This will not do: I must decide, and settle. The two or three priorities (and they seem woefully few), ARE the priorities of my day. ALL the other stuff is NOT! When I decide and settle on my priorities, this firmly restricts all other needs or opportunities or diversions that may arise.( i.e. “Yes” I will spend the morning in the kitchen doing food preparation and “no” I will not be visiting, working in the garden, writing letters or cleaning the bathroom.) This “saying no” to the many other things flitting through my mind can be difficult, but it is freeing: very freeing. Every time one of those “other things” pops into my head…”I must run to the store and pick up a gift card for J., I need to call S., oh, and I think I’ll rearrange this shelf”…I can remind them – and myself – that they are NOT the priority today. I may write them down on my to-to list. But after that, I can dismiss them from my active consideration immediately. Some things don’t need to be written down, but just mentally dropped. This is a great way to stay on track and to accomplish the most important things for the day.

This practice of choosing limited daily priorities is an exercise in reality (acknowledging my limited time), discernment (ascertaining what is most important) and self-control (saying “yes” to some and “no to many).

I have many diverse duties each day; plans may change midday; life happens. But this exercise of choosing a limited number of priorities brings such relief to me, it brings peace and clarity to the daily rhythm of living and it enables my day to be more productive and satisfying. That’s because my deliberate choices have guided my day…and not that awful yammering to-do list.

To sum up: everything cannot be a priority. In managing time…for a day…for a season of living…or for a lifetime: live in reality…with all it’s limitations; choose your priorities…just a few; decide and settle…deliberately choose the yes’s and the no’s.

Live in peace. Have a great day!

“To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Eccl. 3:1