Time and Priority Management

Time and priority management is always a concern for all of us. This equally applies to Christians who have to seemingly manage between church and 'secular' commitments. Time is always not enough. So, how do we manage our time and priorities?

Jesus teaches to "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you." (Matthew 6:33). Paul also tells us that in everything, whether we eat or drink, we are to do all of it for the glory of God.

Thus, whatever we do, how we spend our time, how we manage our priorities all have to be according to the glory of God. Be it serving in church, in our studies, and even in our recreation (yes, rest can be to the glory of God).

Three principles I wish to share to help us in our time and priority management.

1. Establish the Core.

Undoubtedly, there are things which must form the core of our schedules, those 'must dos', those in the priority list. And that is to seek God's Kingdom as first. What does it mean? It simply means to seek God as your King and God as King in the hearts of others. And how do we do that?

a. Through prayer to our King
b. Through meditating on the Word of our King
c. Through loving and serving other that God be King in their lives as well

Anything else should fit around this core and only then that our lives will be orderly. It is just like the sun being the core of the solar system and everything else fits around it. If anything else replaces the sun as the core, the source of energy will be gone and all the other planets would cease to exists needless to say rotate properly. If we don't have this core, we are bound to be in trouble. We will fail to extract the source of all strength. Even if things seem to go smoothly, you get good grades, good money, but in time, the cracks will show. And the cracks can only be mended if you get a proper core. The core that God, that Jesus, is your King.

Why prayer? Because prayer shows your trust and dependence upon this King. Why meditation on the Word? Because it is where you know how to live in accordance to the King's rule and pleasure. Why fellowship? Because it is where you demonstrate love for others and through that, lives out what you have prayed about and meditated about.

Other things like study, rest, eating, friends, family are built around this core. Get your core right and the rest of these turn out right. Obviously at certain periods, certain activities take precedence, e.g. you will study more when the exams come and you will rest more in the holidays, but the core never ever changes. Get the core of God as King right, and all other things will become right.

2. Deal with the Distractions

What can threaten this core? Your distractions. And what can that be? It is called..."The Beep". It causes you to put down whatever you are doing and take it up. It is not simply something that you avoid, but something that comes at you. The beep can be a beep for an email, a beep for a 'notification', a beep for an sms etc.

It distracts you from focusing, from concentrating. And this distraction causes you to be shallow in whatever you are concentrating on. To be shallow in thinking about that math problem, to be shallow in reading the bible, to be shallow in comprehending real world issues, because the minute you start to engage in deep thought, it is broken by the beep.

Unfortunately, distraction turns into shallow thinking which turns into shallow living. Your grades start to suffer, your devotion starts to suffer (you rush through your 1-minute devotion article), relationships with almost everyone starts to suffer. Ultimately, your relationship with God suffers.

This certainly does not help when this generation is labelled a generation which tries to multi-task. You try to do many things at the same time but you realize, that you simply cannot achieve quantity with quality. Quality without quantity just isn't true. Quality can only come about with quantity. Everything becomes shallow, you get frustrated, and you blame others and pity yourself.

Don't multi-task. Better to do a few things well than many things poorly. Take time to slow down and concentrate on the things that matter. Jesus took time off to pray. He took time to eat a hearty dinner with sinners, tax collectors, and even with this disciples the night he was to be betrayed. He wasn't flustered. Slow down. Focus. And go on a 'digital fast'. That will certainly help you focus. Through focus, you achieve concentration which leads to deep thinking, and on to deep living.

3. Dig for Depth

When you think deeply, you start to observe. You observe that God feeds the sparrows. You observe the beautiful stars that proclaim His handiworks. You start to know God more intimately. You start to do things well because they are done with depth. And because of that, you don't have to re-do them. You save time. You pray with depth. You pray with praise and confession instead of just petition. You read the bible with depth instead of skimming it to satisfy that bible reading plan. You come to realize the root of your sins and know where to pull it out. You love people with depth. And you will naturally come to realize, your time and priorities are properly managed.

Conclusion

Does your schedule and checkbook reveal that your core is seeking God's kingdom first? If not, get that right. Get that in place. Everything else will not go well if this core is not firmly established. Pray before anything else. Read His word meditatively and deeply. Spend time with others. Show them the care which Jesus shows.

Deal with your distractions. Set times of digital fasts to do the things that really matters. Focus, concentrate, think deeply in His Word, live deeply for the glory of God.