Monday Memo 361: You Don't Have Time

There are two types of people in the world of productivity. There are those who say they don't have enough time and they don't. Then there are those who say they don't have enough time and they don't. Confused? You should be, for I have defined two separate groups with the identical phrase. What could I possibly mean by this? Ah, to find out, you will have to read on.

GROUP ONE

The first group doesn't get things done that they would like to do because they are waiting for conditions to be just right before they move forward. They are waiting to have the mortgage paid off, the children to be grown and gone, their retirement years to arrive, or a ton of money saved in the bank. Then there are others who are waiting for unrealistic chunks of time to become available before they even start on their goal or dream.

I once had someone say to me, "I wish I could go off for about eight weeks and do nothing but write! Then I could get something done." I replied, "Believe me, you don't know what you are asking. If you ever have eight free or uninterrupted weeks to do something, that means you have lost your job, broken your leg or are recovering from a heart attack!" The people in this group remind me of what the wisdom writer had to say: "Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

Some of those in group one are perfectionists; others are fearful that they can't produce or do what they want, so they use the excuse that they don't have time to prevent them from ever starting or seriously planning.

GROUP TWO

Then there is group two who says they don't have time and they are correct -- they really don't! This group, including yours truly, usually tries to shoe horn four hours work into two hours. We can't say "no," so we tend to overcommit, believing that all things are possible for those who work hard and are called according to His purpose (a slight variation on Romans 8:28). Our to-do list is as long as our arm and even then we feel like we are underachieving.

For group one, the solution is to be realistic. You usually don't have huge blocks of uncommitted time, so you must learn to use what you have. This group must also deal with their unrealistic perfectionism, which says that only the perfect will do in any situation. This group would do well to heed the verses immediately following the verse mentioned above: "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well (Ecclesiastes 11:5-6).

For group two, the solution is also a dose of realism. If we are doing to do some of the things we want to do, we must stop doing some of the things we are currently doing. There is only one way that I could embrace going to school and that was to stop traveling as much as I was. There are only 24 hours in a day and no matter how organized or committed you are, there are limitations. Where are those limits? I don't know; that's what you have to find out. For group one, the answer is a to-do list; the answer for group two is a stop to-do list.

I know which group I am in. Into which group do you fall? It would be good to find out and then take steps this week that will enable you to do some of the things that are important to you and that are in your heart to do. Discover this week why you don't have enough time and then find the proper mindset that will enable you to produce. The answer is to get more busy so you can use the time you have or to get less busy so you can use the time you have. Have a great week!

Comments

[Steve]

Once again Jambo! Thanks pastor for your wonderfully word of God.

[njire]

Thank you for that insightful message. May God bless you. I am going through a time of deliberation on whats next in my life and that message was surely very helpful. God is using you to encourage the discouraged

[mabel]

My request is Lord help use the time I have in the time I have. I need your prayers.
I bless the Name of our Lord. Thank you John. God bless.

[Sue Nzisa]

This topic has helped me alot and I will purpose to change from being unrealistic perfectionist. God bless