Part II
Here is another major time waster, and a deadly one:
Time Waster #4 – Procrastination
Are you a procrastinator? If you tend to put things off to the last minute much too often, then I don’t have to tell you that it is causing you to waste a lot of valuable time, and it is putting you in crises mode more often than necessary.
Procrastinators tend to say things like: “I do my best work under pressure.” Or “I just have trouble getting started.” We can find all kinds of excuses for procrastinating, but if we face the music, we’ll have to admit that procrastination creates many problems for us. Here are some of the reasons we procrastinate; see if you can identify with them:
- Laziness can be one simple cause of procrastination.
- We put things off when we’re facing an unpleasant task or something we just don’t enjoy doing.
- We procrastinate when the task seems overwhelming—too big.
- We procrastinate when we feel insecure about how to do it or we’re afraid of failing.
- Often we procrastinate because we don’t know how to get started.
Procrastination can become a deadly bad habit, and if you struggle with this, I want to strongly encourage you to make this a matter of serious prayer and determine how you’re going to break the bad habit. First, identify where you tend to procrastinate the most and ask yourself why. God says he’ll give us wisdom if we ask for it, so ask for wisdom from God to show you what’s causing you to put things off so much.
Then, set some rules and guidelines for yourself to help break that bad habit. For example, as you face each day, ask yourself, “What is it I have to do today that I really don’t want to do?” Then whatever that is, do it first. If you will get the unpleasant tasks out of the way early in the day, it frees you up for the rest of the day. You won’t believe how this one simple technique can make a huge difference. I use this all the time on myself, and once I get the thing done that I don’t want to do, I’m energized for the rest of the day. It really works.
You see, as long as that unpleasant task is hanging over your head, out there in front of you, it slows you down. After all, the faster you work the sooner you’ll have to do the unpleasant task. So without realizing it, you start to slow down. I promise you, this rule of getting the unpleasant tasks out of the way early will go a long way toward breaking your procrastination habit.
For big projects, break them up into manageable smaller parts, with a time schedule for each part. Once you see that it is doable, and you start working on it one piece at a time, you feel good about getting something done and it really energizes you. For example, every time I start to write a book, I feel totally overwhelmed, and I go through the “Why did I ever agree to do this?” period. I want to tell you that I cannot write a book!
But I can write a chapter. So, once I break that book up into chapters and schedule those chapters in my daily routine, I begin to realize that perhaps I can write a chapter this week. So, I start working on the chapter, because that doesn’t overwhelm me. As long as I think of it as a book, it just looks like mission impossible. Breaking large projects into manageable smaller ones is a very good way to start having victory over your procrastination bad habit.
If you tend to procrastinate about everything all the time, you will need some accountability to help you change. Ask a good friend to hold you accountable for your use of time and between the two of you, set up a method of checking in with each other so that you know you’re going to have to explain your use of time to someone else. See if that doesn’t help you eliminate this time waster of procrastination.
When we do procrastinate, we add so much stress to our lives. By eliminating this tendency to put things off, you will make your days much less stressful and keep yourself out of crisis mode. I believe once you see the wonderful fruit of getting rid of this time waster, you will be hooked because it’s going to make your life easier and make you much more effective.
Did you ever think that perhaps your enemy, Satan, is using procrastination as a tool to keep you from being effective for Jesus? If we waste our time, it gives us less time to do things that are important. So, if our enemy can just keep us in this bad habit of procrastination, he knows our time will not be used wisely. We may not be participating in any outward sin, but we’re not doing anything eternally significant with our time, and that suits him just fine.
Time Waster #5 – Lack of Delegation
If you need to delegate but you don’t, why not? Maybe because you think you can do it better? Or because it takes more time to tell someone how to do it than it does to do it? Or because you simply like to keep control and try to be super-person?
Lack of delegation will keep you in crisis mode, and it will keep you from growing. And it also withholds opportunities for others to learn and grow. This is one thing I have to keep learning, that I can’t do everything, I need others, and furthermore, we produce a much better product when other ideas and talents are involved. So, ask God to help you learn to delegate.
Time Waster #6 – “Mind Clutter”
To be good stewards of our time, we must eliminate what I call “mind clutter”—the stuff that clutters up our minds and slows us down. When you’re trying to keep too many things in your mind, when you’re mentally balancing too many balls in the air, it clutters your mind with confusion and stress. You need to establish techniques that will eliminate mind clutter.
For example, a daily planning system helps reduce mind clutter, because you write things down on some sort of to-do list, you prioritize your activities, and then all that clutter is out of your mind and in writing, where you can keep track of what has to be done without confusion.
Also, project-planning systems will help to reduce mind clutter. A simple time line method is a good way to plan a project with multiple tasks and perhaps multiple people involved. It gives you an overall view of how the job will be accomplished and when each task is due. And again, it eliminates that “mind clutter” problem of trying to keep it all in your head.
“Mind clutter” not only slows us down but it invites forgetfulness. If you’re trusting your memory very much, my guess is you let too many things fall between the cracks. How often do you hear yourself say things like, “Oops, that report was due yesterday,” or “Oh dear, I forgot about that meeting today”? That would be an indication that either you don’t know how to plan your day or your projects, or you’re not putting the necessary disciplines and structure in place.
Check-off lists are simple devices to keep us on track. I use them for event planning a great deal—things that have a lot of details that have to be remembered. Just make up a check off list of all those details, with who is responsible and when it should be done. Then check in with your check off list to make sure you’re on track. Every little detail should be listed—don’t trust your memory for anything. That way, you’ll save yourself a lot of unnecessary frantic last minute rush, because you thought of it ahead of time and put it down on paper.
Periodic check-off lists can be helpful. Do you have certain routine responsibilities on a regular basis, like month-end? Why not make up a month-end check off list, run several copies, and at the appropriate time, put it out in front of you to remind you of those routine tasks that have to be done by certain deadlines. It will help to clear up that “mind clutter,” and you’ll work more efficiently.
Let me repeat these most common time wasters: Interruptions, paper shuffling, meetings, procrastination, lack of delegation, and mind clutter. There are others, but these are probably the ones we face most often. How would you say you’re doing in making the most of your time? Would you even be able to tell where your time goes?
You know, a good starting place to get control of your time might be to find out where it’s going. For a week or two if you would keep a record of how you spend your time, you might be absolutely shocked to discover how much time you spend doing any number of things. It could show you where you waste time.
Time Waster #7 – Lack of Time with God
Let me conclude by reminding you to reserve a key part of your prime time each day to spend with the Lord, in his Word and in prayer. Every Christian should have that at the top of their to-do list. Does God get your left-over time, or do you give him the first fruits of your time? He should have our prime time.
Often we think we just don’t have time to spend with God, so we head off to our busy days, and wonder why we never seem to get things done. When will we learn that spending time in the presence of God will do more for our time management than anything else we can do? It gives us his peace and guidance and wisdom for the day ahead. No matter how busy Jesus was, he always found time to spend with his Father. And the busier he was, the more he made that a priority in his life. If you’re like me, this is a lesson you have to keep re-learning.
If you’ll spend time with God at the beginning of each day, you’re going to discover that the rest of your day will be much more efficient and productive, much less hassled and frantic. That is the best time-saver technique you can incorporate into your life. And then pray each day that God will help you to manage your time well that day to His glory.