Time Management

I just finished the book "Shopping for Time" by Carolyn Mahaney and her three daughters.

Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed by Carolyn Mahaney"

It is excellent - I highly recommend it. If you're anything like me, needing LOTS of help with time management in order to get everything necessary done - this book is a must-read. Here's a few quotes or an appetizer if you will :-)

"Do you evaluate every opportunity in light of biblical priorities, or do you do whatever it takes to get ahead?
Do you consider whom God would have you serve, or do you try to please everyone all the time?
....We can know - with absolute certainty - that we are doing all God wants us to do. Peace and joy and rest can be an everyday experience.
....This means choosing not to do a thousand other things. It means saying no to a lot of enticing options.....We don't want sinful pursuits to deter us from what is God glorifying. But, it's often the good things such as a ministry opportunity, a relational pursuit, a money-making venture, a leisure activity, or a hobby that hinder us from making the best choices. It's frequently these good things that distract us from the best things." Shopping for Time by Mahaney, Chesemore, Whitacre, and Bradshaw

This are just quotes from the first chapter. It's a short little, fun book with six chapters. An easy-read. Most women could easily read it in a month!

They go on to quote several other authors - I will type out a few of my favorites:

"Spending fifteen minutes thinking about what you are going to do before you start will save four hours of wasted time later on. Any individual who has thought through her workday, set priorities, and organized the day's tasks is likely to accomplish far more than someone who randomly moves through the day." Smart Business: How Knowledge Communities Can Revolutionize Your Company," in Stephanie Winston, Organized for Success

"No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it." Alexander MacLaren

One last quote to balance it all out:
"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's "own" or "real" life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one's "real life" is a phantom of one's own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it's hard to remember it all the time." "The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves, 20 December 1943," in The Quotable Lewis


All that, to encourage you. I pray you would consider taking the time to read this book as an investment in your future time spent. For additional recommended reading you can of course see the list on the right. :-)