60 seconds in a minute. 60 minutes in an hour. 24 hours in a day. 168 hours in a week.
This is true for every living person. No one can increase or decrease this fact of life. And there is not a man, woman, or child who perfectly manages every moment of the day. But a friend pointed out something very important. She said:
I don’t own one moment of my day. Every second is God’s and is to be used for Him and His glory.
Wow… I confess, I am not living every breath for God. There is a lot of “me” time and motives in my day. When I decide what to do next, do I think about what God wants me to do or what I want to do next?
Friends, we don’t create a schedule for our own good. We develop a plan to help us seize every minute for eternity.
Pull out the schedule we began forming two weeks ago. (Print the Daily Schedule template or create your own if you have not started.)
You should have these time slots already designated:
Last week, I asked you to fill in the committed time. Theses are activities which at this moment are non-negotiable – sports, standing playdates, work time, school, etc.
Looking over your schedule, did you find that you are over committed?
My guess is that most of us found ourselves way over booked. We bounce from one good activity to another all in order to expand our child’s pallet. In reality, the busyness is keeping us from doing what is best. We are trading a whole lot of good for what God calls best for our season of life.
I am learning that I can not provide for my family in the way they need me too if my van tires are constantly warm. I do not have the energy for my husband if I am going 60 mph the whole day. I can’t love on others when my love-bank is overdrawn.
And if that wasn’t enough, our schedules are still not complete. God, my husband, and committed times are just the first part of completing a Scheduling Success chart. There are a few more topics yet to be added… like Mommy chores. Examples are the dishes, fixing meals, laundry, paying bills…and the list goes on.
Right now, create your mommy job description. Then find an open slot of time to place each of these items.
Go ahead. I will wait.
Now take a moment to answer each of these questions:
- Did my committed-times leave room for my daily and weekly responsibilities around the house?
- What needs to be cut out? Remember that good does not mean best.
- Tomorrow’s blog will ask me to add family time. Do I have open slots to add this?
For more ideas on slowing down your schedule, here are a few blog posts to read:
- It’s Your Kid Not a Gerbil – A book review I wrote introducing you to a fabulous book on scheduling by Kevin Leman.
- Are You Busy Being Busy?
Tomorrow: Family Time
How is your schedule filling up? Do you have wiggle room?
About 3 years ago, when I was a working mom and struggling with getting everything done in 24 hours, a friend of mine directed me to a website with a resource I have been using since! It's http://www.motivatedmoms.com A couple of women sat down and figured out everything that needs to be done around the house and has broken it down into about 5 things per day. It was designed to keep us from getting overwhelmed with all the chores and other things that come up. Once the things for that day are done, you don't have to worry about the other things you didn't get to. They'll come up on another day. This resource has changed my life!!!!!