A few years back I shared a blog titled “The Day I Killed the Christmas Cactus”. Sounds heartless, huh? But it really was about time management.
I was bemoaning how “busy” I was in that season of my life. Well, guess what. It hasn’t changed – unless it maybe got busier. I have been a devotee of David Allen’s method in his book “Getting things Done” which has a main step of putting all your projects, to-do’s, tasks on your mind onto a list (or other trusted space). The goal is to get a clear head so you can concentrate on just the top 2-3 things. That is all we have space for if we want to be productive.
To make the story short, every time I walked to the kitchen or living room, I passed the Christmas cactus my sister gave me several years before. It bloomed beautifully for years and I just poured a little water here and there. Then, when I was out of town, the caretaker didn’t follow instructions well on the watering. Don’t know what happened, but it quickly went downhill—drooping sadly, turning dark, looking diseased.
Yes, every time I passed it, here was the conversation in my head – “I need to research how to revive it” – “probably need to re-pot it” — “or maybe it needs minerals”. But quickly came my retort (in my head) “NO – I don’t have time to deal with this. It is just what eats up my time!” Result? Frustration following guilt and no action. Let’s face it – as J. D. Roth said “It’s not what we say is a priority, but what we actually DO that’s a priority.”
And I looked at my priorities. Putting the task of finishing my friend’s Life-Story book against the “Christmas cactus” rescue? No question. It took all of 30 seconds to dispose of the cactus, move another thriving plant into the pot and walk away. DONE! Ready to jump into the high priority list.
So that tells you the value I place on time management – my to-do list requires it. My overwhelm requires I focus on it. So when I saw a blog by my recently-discovered time management guru, I had to share it with you. Just in case you are as overwhelmed as I. What I love is that he is in sync with David Allen’s system, but the title of his blog will tell you what he adds that I absolutely love – “Time Management for the Eternally Minded”.
His name is Reagan Rose and his book’s name is Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God. Yep, he keeps me focused on the main priority – our Creator God.
This beginning is from his shareable blog – I just had to share it and you can head over to read the whole blog, which I recommend.
The faster life spins, the tighter we grip. To keep your bearings, you have to fix your eyes on something that isn’t moving.
Whenever I take my kids to the park, I always envision myself sitting on a bench reading while the kids play contentedly. But any parent will tell you that is never how it actually goes. Somehow, I always end up running in literal circles, spinning my own children along with half a dozen other kids on the merry-go-round as fast as I can.
Sometimes I get carried away. The kids are yelling “faster!” so you better believe I’m going to deliver. But then comes the moment when I catch the eye of one of the kids, usually a smaller one who doesn’t belong to me. His joy has turned to panic. His little white knuckles are hanging on for dear life. His mom is screaming at me to stop while I laugh maniacally.
I’m kidding. I stop when they get scared.
The truth is, I feel like that kid sometimes. Maybe you do too. When the merry-go-round that is life starts spinning faster and faster, our grip gets tighter and tighter. And our natural tendency is to grip tighter to the things of this earth—more control, more money, more security. But what often gets lost in the vertigo of modern life is an eternal perspective.
He describes how the merry-go-round is an apt analogy for time. And then he points out that Christians know that time is not a meaningless spinning wheel. His clear explanation of that brings you right to his point (and it is worth reading his path of description to get you there).
But he really nailed it with his bottom line – Christians would agree about the importance of an eternal perspective, at least on paper. “But how does that shape your Tuesday?”, he asks.
I encourage you to read the full blog – HERE.
Yet I can’t leave you hanging – so please check out how Reagan Rose walks you through the richness of his story of how he found the antidote to keeping an eternal perspective while life is spinning at top speed.
You focus on something stationary.
His discovery, and confirmation, on the playground is a perfect illustration of how to order your hours by God’s values rather than the fears of the moment. As you walk with him through it, you can finish by asking yourself the fundamental time management question: Am I keeping my eyes fixed on Christ?
May you be blessed as I was by his excellent and memorable illustration story.
