Organize Your Time

In order to finish the year STRONG, we must maximize our time and make the quality decision that we are going to do what it takes to get control of our time. 

I want you to truly ask yourself: Is my Calendar system ready for what I am praying for? 

Let's unpack your Calendar system.

A Calendar system is simply how you organize your time. While God doesn't operate inside of time, He created it. 

Genesis 1:14 (ESV) - "And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,"

God created time for us to steward and to have dominion over. We must get a revelation of this. Why? The enemy is the master of distraction. Keeping your time organized means creating intentionality and living a productive life.

When it comes to organizing your time, I want you to focus on two things: prioritizing and planning. If you can get a system around these two things, you will be WELL on your way to having your time organized and the result of that is most certainly productivity.

Let's start with prioritizing: We all have so much to do. How do you decide what to do first? There are MANY methods you can use to prioritize: I'm going to highlight 3

Method 1) The Eisenhower Matrix.

This method was created by former US president Dwight Eisenhower. To use this method, you draw a four-quadrant box that will help you separate urgent tasks from important tasks. Label the four quadrants as follows:

1. Urgent and Important

2.  Important, but not urgent

3.  Urgent, but not important

4. Neither urgent nor important: 

When you are sorting your tasks into these boxes, urgent tasks are things you feel like you need to react to right away. Important tasks are tasks that affect your long-term mission, values, and goals.

As you are deciding how to prioritize the tasks, ask which one of the quadrants they best fit in. Tasks that are urgent and Important should be done as soon as possible. Tasks that are important, but not urgent should be scheduled. You decide the best day and time to do it. Tasks that are urgent, but not important are tasks that should be delegated to someone else. If a task is neither urgent nor important, delete these tasks from your schedule. 

Method 2) Brian Tracy’s ABCDE method

This method is great for list makers. After you make your list, go through your list and give every task a letter from A to E. A represents the highest priority. Then, for every task that has an A, give it a number which indicates the order you’ll do it in. You will then repeat until all tasks have letters and numbers.

Method 3) Eat The Frog

The method is based on a book called "Eat that Frog" by productivity consultant Brain Tracy. The book was inspired by a famous quote by Mark Twain. Twain said, "If you have to eat a live frog, it does not pay to sit and look at it for a very long time!”

In order to eat your frog, you must first decide on your frog. This is your most important task. This task is usually one you want to avoid or have been avoiding. It's a task that should be able to completed in just a few hours. This allow you to check it out and be motivated to be productive the rest of your day. Also, give yourself the freedom to break it down into smaller steps. If you need to do this, once you complete the first step, the next step becomes the frog. 

AGAIN, there are many ways to prioritize the projects and tasks that you need to complete. Choose the best method for you as long as you CHOOSE. Because we have a finite amount of time each day, it is important to prioritize.

Now, let's talk about planning

Planning can be simplified into two steps:

Step 1 - identify what needs to be done

Step 2: decide the best course of action to complete it.

Now that you have prioritized what needs to be done. It's time to get things on your calendar. YES! The list can't just stay "a list". If the tasks and subtasks don't get on the calendar - it won't get done! PLAN to take action.  This happens best when your calendar becomes your to-do list.

This allows each day to have a GAME PLAN!

Tools that I use to make this happen:

1. Journal (The More in Your Morning Journal)

2. Asana 

3. Google Chrome Extension - Momentum

4. Google Calendar

5. Productivity Push Worksheets

There are a ton of resources out there. Just use what works!

Make the quality decision that you are going to organize your time, so your calendar can handle what we are praying for - clients, speaking engagements, etc. 

What is your best next step to organizing your time? Comment below and let me know.