Tag: time management

Setting Priorities in Your Schedule

Do you make time for what’s most important in your life? The best tip I ever heard for setting priorities was a technique taught in a Franklin Covey time management seminar I attended. This is included as one of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits, “Put First Things First”, using an object lesson involving rocks.

big rocks are your prioritiesA college professor takes a box of rocks from behind his counter and proceeds to place them into a jar in front of his students. When the jar is full, he asks if there’s room for more. The students say no, because the jar is full. He pulls a box of smaller rocks from behind the counter and proceeds to add them into the jar. Each smaller rock fits into the cracks around the big rocks in the jar. He repeats this question and demonstration pattern with gravel, sand and water until the jar is completely full. What’s the moral of the story? he asks. “You can always fit more,” one student suggests. “No, you have to put the BIG ROCKS in first.” There won’t be room for your priorities if you fill your schedule with little things first.

I heard this lesson and concept nearly 15 years ago but still use it and have found tremendous value in it.

Application

Here’s a way you can try applying this to your own schedule:

  • Step 1 – identify the important roles in your life. For me, that’s husband, father, pastor, employee, manager, mentor, etc. Note that some of these are closely tied together, but I separate them when I’m trying to identify priorities. I prefer to define each unique role in which a person sees me. For me that means, being a pastor (to the congregation I serve) and manager (to the staff I oversee) are distinct.
  • Step 2 – within each role, on a weekly basis, identify the most important thing you should do. What would help you excel in that role for the coming week?
  • Step 3 – once you identify it, block time in your schedule to do that thing for each role. As husband, that may mean date night, or it may mean being home in time for dinner.
  • Step 4 – keep to the schedule that was built around your priorities!

schedule your priorities

Downloadable Resources

I developed worksheets to guide you through Step 1 and Step 2 which you can download here:

Halfway through – checking progress

As we cross into July, I am reminded that with six months down, I have now used up half of the available capacity 2013 offered me to achieve the goals which I set for the year. Am I halfway there? More? Less?

Pull out the goals you wrote at the first of the year and ask yourself some questions. Be honest and then decide what you need to do over the remaining six months to call 2013 a win.

1. Have you measured any progress at all? Make sure you celebrate any wins, even moderate ones. Most people I know focus more on the things that aren’t done yet, but forget to rejoice over what has gotten accomplished.

2. Are you satisfied with your progress? If you are dissatisfied with your progress in any area, are there any mental or schedule blocks that are keeping you from making the progress you’d like? Address these. (Here’s a post regarding the margin you’ll need to make progress on goals.)

2. Are there any goals which seem more or less important than they did January 1? Perhaps a family situation has caused one of your goals to seem unimportant at all? Adjust for these.

3. Are there any new goals you would set based on how the year has gone so far? Remember that you want your goals to be moderately ambitious, but not too much so. If you have already met one of your 2013 goals, maybe you should set an additional goal to work toward unless your other goals will require increased focus. (Goal-setting tips, if you need them.)

4. Based on your revised goals for the year, decide on one action you can take THIS WEEK to make progress on at least two of your goals.

A wise man told me people overestimate how much they can get done in a year, and underestimate how much they can get done in ten years. I have found this to be very true, so pace yourself, but set your mind toward progress.

Final tip – take five minutes to write yourself a note in your calendar for August 1 – “Check goals”!

Busy people…

“Busy people always have time.” I first heard this sentiment in my mid-20’s and strongly disagreed. I had a full-time job, was an active volunteer in my church, and had a circle of single friends that did activities nearly three to four nights per week. I didn’t have extra time. In fact, I was wondering how I’d ever find time to get the things done that seemed very important to me. 

In the last ten years, I’ve gotten married, had two kids, have a significantly more engaging job, and wonder what happened to all the free time I had then, because certainly I don’t have any extra now. 

Over time, I discovered that the statement is true. Busy people figure out how to use time well. Because of that, they can also make time for new things fairly easily. Once they decide something is important, they figure out how to work it in.

If you’re interested, check out this blog post I wrote a while back with some time management tips.