Redeeming The Time, Because The Days Are Evil. Eph. 5:16

Did you know that there is a gift that God gives to everyone in the same amount? He gives everyone of us, rich or poor, young or old, short or tall, skinny or fat, twenty-four hours every day. That is 1440 minutes every single day. We are responsible for caring for this gift the same as any other.

Have you ever had a time in your life where your schedule seems to run you? I mean, you go from one emergency to the next barely keeping your head above water, much less your house afloat. It sounds something like “Akkkk! It's supper time and all the plates are dirty so I had better wash dishes! Oh no! Church tomorrow and no one has any underwear! I had better do laundry! Yaahhh! I have to leave for the doctors in fifteen minutes and I am not even dressed yet! Ekkkk! The plumber just pulled in and I can't even see the sink!”

Does this sound familiar? It does to me. This is what it sounds like when your schedule runs your life. There is a different way to live though. You can run your schedule. You really can be in charge of your life and control your time. All of these emergencies can be prevented with reasonable planning.

Now, one of my biggest problems is that I hate to make decisions. Deciding what to do every minute of every day is just too stressful. I guess my perfectionism makes me want to always make the perfect decision. There isn't usually such a thing, but I want to anyway. So I have a tendency to not decide until the emergencies begin to decide for me. There is an easy way out of this though.

I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish in a day. I know we all have big dreams of what we are going to do; cleaning, crafts, sewing, teaching, helping others, etc. After allotting a reasonable amount of time for each activity, I had to go back and eliminate some things. You see, God, in His wisdom, only gave us twenty-four hours, not thirty-six. He knew how long we could go without exhaustion. When I realized I was expecting to accomplish two days worth of work everyday, a big part of my frustration disappeared.

Homeschooling children, I am also responsible for their schedules, so I wrote out what I wanted them to do every day also.

I then arranged all the activities into a reasonable order. I did it up all pretty and posted it on my bedroom door. Now I don't have to decide what to do. I look at my schedule and it is already decided for me. This takes so much less energy I actually have more energy to do my work with. I still have a problem with wanting to get too much done, but things are better and I can usually find where my problem is and fix it.

I don't let the schedule be the boss. If something comes up that is not listed (out of town company, illness, someone needing help moving, etc.) we go ahead and take care of it. The schedule is a tool, not a master. Not everyone would work well with a schedule but if you have been running in emergency mode or feel like you never get anything done, than you should give it a try. The best resource I have found is Managers Of Their Homes by Steve and Terri Maxwell (homeschooling parents of eight) available at titus2.com. Pretty colored charts and a wonderful book of ideas.

I would suggest, whether you write a schedule down or not, that you begin implementing one of the biggest time management helps available, The Force Of Habit. Every morning when you get up, get dressed. Those of us that stay home have a tendency to get distracted and forget this until hubby is pulling into the yard (another emergency!). Instead, I suggest you get in the habit of getting up, brush your teeth, shower, dress, put on your make up (if you wear it), and (from the Flylady) put on your shoes. Not loafers, shoes. (If you have a bonafide health reason not to you are excused). This not only gets one important chore out of the way, it makes you feel ready for work. A lot of ridicule has been given to the old TV shows that showed women mopping their floors in high heels and pearls, and I don't recommend trying that (heels are slippery), but there is something to the point that if you are dressed for work you are mentally ready for work. Think about it, do you feel more like making a beautiful home while in your robe or in jeans and a t-shirt? Being dressed energizes you. Do this for a couple of weeks to see if it works or not.

Give yourself a couple of weeks to get into the habit.

Pick certain times to do each major chore; dishes before bed, 5 minute room bless after breakfast, etc. If you do this regularly for one month you will form a habit. You will not even have to think about what you are doing. Your habits will clean your home. This applies to anything that needs to be done on a regular basis. Habits will help you to get things done before they become an emergency.

There are two schools of thought to time management: the prioritize and stick to it group and the multitask group. I lean towards the later, but they both have there merits. The Priority group says to make a list of everything that needs to be done, number it in order of importance, than start the first item. Don't quit or do anything else until you get this done. Than go to the next item, etc. I do think it is important to have a list of priorities and stick to them. You don't want to spend all day organizing your medicine cabinet when the plumber is coming at 2:00 and you can't get under the sink. That is why I suggest you read your Bible before getting out of bed. It is the most important thing to do and this way you will not forget it. It is also why I put getting dressed next. That prepares you to be more efficient the rest of the day. Next, you should eat breakfast. Your body cannot run without fuel any more than your car can. For those that don't like breakfast foods, eat a sandwich, slice of pizza, bowl of soup, what ever. For the dieters, I have observed that when I don't eat breakfast (as when fasting), I eat MORE calories, total, the rest of the day. My body becomes convinced it is starving and must eat everything in site. Studies confirm that breakfast eaters can loose weight faster than non-breakfast eaters.

Personally, I function best when I follow breakfast with house cleaning so the house is more pleasant the rest of the day. Than school, bigger projects, etc. you have to find your own best order, but generally the earlier in the day something is done the more likely that it will get done. I also find it helpful to promise to reward myself with a few minutes of reading (one of my favorite hobbies) after I get my housework done. I don't dare read before housework because I won't get to the work if I do. Work before pleasure.

The second school of thought points out that you could easily waist a lot of time with the first method. “Let's see, it is most important that the children have clothes tomorrow, so I will do laundry and nothing but laundry until it is all done.” Then dinner doesn't get done until 10:00 because you were doing laundry. No, the best thing to do is to start the most important thing, laundry in our example, and while waiting for it to be done start something else. “Ok, the laundry is going so I will now start dinner while I wait for the machines to finish. Ok, dinner is going too, so I will load the dish washer. Now laundry, dinner and dishes are going. While I am waiting I will run a damp mop over the kitchen.” This takes practice to keep from dropping one of the balls you are juggling, but it gets to be kind of a challenge and, well, fun. I like to see how much I can accomplish while fixing dinner and still have a great meal on the table (that is my priority). The thing to watch out for is getting more things going than you can handle, and forgetting important things while you are busy with lesser time fillers. “There, my hair looks just right for hubby to come home. Hmmm, I wonder why the smoke alarm is ringing? Oh no! The cake has been in the oven for an hour and a half!”

Is it really important that we learn to control our time? Yes. God says for us to be wise stewards of what He has given us. This includes our gift of time. He has even told us that if we are faithful over a few things, He will make us ruler over many. No, He won't give us more hours if we use our minute wisely, but He will bless us in other ways if we show ourselves faithful in the everyday. Not only is controlling our time wise use of our time but it allows us to be better stewards of everything else we own. We can take care of the maintenance that will keep our material possessions from breaking or deteriorating. We can take care of our relationships before the same happens to them. We can be on top of the game and in control, thus making us more dependable for those other important things that need to be done.

Yes, we must Redeem the time, for the days are evil. At least my home looks pretty evil if I don't redeem my time. I want to be known in God's eyes a good and faithful steward. Even of the 86,400 seconds God has blessed me with everyday. Then He will say enter into the rest of the Lord.