Time Management - How do I do it all?

I have found that when I have an extra full day, if I pray and ask God to help me, He does. So I wanted to put it all down so that I can be more organized in my thought process of how to jam pack a day with everything that needs to get done, done. Here's what I came up with...

I. Obedience to the Lord comes first.
A. What does God require us to do?

1. Spend time with Him. How can you be friends with Him if you don’t know Him? Putting Him first makes everything else fall into place.
2. Take everything to Him in prayer. He created the universe and all that is in it—yet His greatest desire is to possess your heart.

B. What else does God require His children to do?

1. Be trustworthy and faithful
   He has freely given us all the fruits of the Spirit. It is our privilege to use these fruits and to freely give them.
2. Husband comes second, then children

• a. submission does not mean inferior or subordinate
• b. submission is a choice to yield to his advice.

C. Obeying God in the small matters leads to great blessings.

1. Often God requires obedience in things that seem insignificant or irrational. A ship cannot have two captains. A Christian cannot have two masters. Being a slave to Him actually means great freedom!
2. Obedience allows Him to demonstrate His power. He is still in the business of miracles
3. Obeying Him brings a better understanding of Him and ourselves.
4. Obedience in the small matters brings dramatic changes in our lives thus changes the lives of our families. Disobedience affects everyone.

D. Nothing is worth missing what God has planned for you!

II. Heart attitude determines mind attitude.

A. Ministering to the needs of family promotes love in the home.

Trim away the fat of self

Put to death the earthly desire

B. Physical activity promotes good health and sense of well being.

1. Working with hands keeps the body out of trouble.
2. Sense of well being defeats depression.
   

C. Thinking things through and bringing them to God promotes success.

1. Worry over nothing, bring everything to God in prayer.
2. Making provisions for the future eliminates worry about the future.
3. Decide what the worst case could be.
   a/decide what could be done if worst case happens
   b/if nothing can be done about worst case—why worry about it?
   c/if you can do something about worst case, then do it—only if it happens!
   d/after deciding what to do about worst case—forget worry and move on!

III. Have a PLAN! Chickens only flail about because they don’t have a HEAD.

A. Recognize if you have procrastination tendencies.

1. Think about why you delay a duty or chore then address the reason.
2. Know that procrastination makes deeper piles for tomorrow.
   

B. Write down what needs to be done then:

1. Assign each task a priority using 1 as most important.
2. Assign each #1 priority task a letter using A as most important.
3. Assign each task an amount of time to spend on it.
   

C. As each task is completed, line it off.


Understand that emotional burnout is not exclusive to business executives or delegated to the workplace. Emotional burnout begins at home and within your heart.

It is characterized by:

• Exhaustion
• Cynicism
• Negative feelings towards others and self
• Reduced sense of personal accomplishmen

The most common symptoms of burnout are:

• Fatigue
• Psychosomatic complaints
• Irritability
• Depression
• Escapist and/or self-isolating behaviors
• Sleep disturbances
• Excessive eating or drinking
  (From “Keeping the “Spark” Alive: How to avoid Executive Burnout” by Susan Battley, PsyD)
  
  On the other hand, the blessings and rewards we receive from Refreshment in the Lord are:
  
• Joy
• Peace
• Kindness
• Patience
• Goodness
• Faithfulness / Fidelity
• Gentleness
• Self-Control
  
  This is the Fruit of the Spirit. These are our gifts freely given by God but we can only rejoice in them, be enveloped by them and exhibit them if we obey God and follow Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 6:
  
  31What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. 32People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.34"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. The Message