For the past four years, I’ve existed on a schedule that is productive and rewarding as well as flexible, refreshing, and adaptable. If any of these adjectives don’t apply to the structure of your life currently, please keep reading, because it wasn’t always like this for me, and maintaining it is an ongoing process.
For most of my life, I told myself that I was pretty self-motivated, but looking back, I can see that I relied very heavily on external structures to keep my life in line with top priorities (school, college, work, church activities, etc.). Those structures were easy for me to stick to because they involved other people who needed me to show up for them, and that motivated me enough that I set my own personal ambitions aside for a season, making little real progress with them.
But then, Covid happened. 2020 started me on a new work-from-home scenario that gave me some extra time I hadn’t had in years…and I realized that I needed to make a change with my way of life. I needed to take charge of my time, otherwise what I wanted to achieve and experience wouldn’t happen because authority figures in my life weren’t going to force me into a structure that favored my personal goals. It was up to me to decide before God what I wanted to look back and see years later. How was I going to steward the time and resources given to me and not feel like my life was always getting away from me?
Anyone else feel me? It's a frustrating place to be, but I promise you, there's a solution that works...and it can provide clarity no matter what season of life you're in and what your days look like.
I started with prayer, asking God to show me what He wanted me to learn and do with everything He’d given me.
Then, I started making lists.
The first list I made was a list of responsibilities that I couldn’t get out of, things other people depended on me for, income-generating tasks, etc.
Secondly, I listed all the things I wanted to do with my day, things I wished I had more time to explore or accomplish even in small increments.
Finally, I took a week to monitor my own activities. Whether I was working, scrolling on social media, doing laundry, or putting on makeup, I logged a general estimation of where I was spending the majority of my time every day.
Finally, after a week, I compared my lists and asked God to show me where I could minimize or eliminate some time-wasters so that I could start including more meaningful things that I actually wanted to incorporate into my days!
This was the catalyst that changed my life. From there, things started snowballing. In one year, I had taken a headfirst dive into the world of Christian Indie publishing, and by the end of 2021, I had written and published four books and was working on my 5th! No joke. That's not even what I was aiming for originally, but that's how powerful it was to take charge of my time.
Now, in 2024, I am still maintaining the same practices—keeping track of my daily activities, debriefing each week, and praying about what’s next. If you're ready to jump into this yourself, let me encourage you with a few more brief notes:
1. All of this is meant to be led by the Lord and covered in prayer. The goal is not to chain yourself to a burdensome, rigorous schedule but to ensure that you’re joyfully living out the priorities God has for you in each season and making the most of your life instead of feeling like you never have any time for what you value.
2. Passion is key for motivation, so if you want to start being more productive, start with things you’re actually excited about.
3. You should expect your routines to flex and change seasonally. That’s normal. If an undertaking is worth it to you, stick with it. If not, set it aside for another season.
4. Some habits will require trial and error before you settle on a pattern that works for you. Focus on changing just a few things at a time, and keep the changes small so that you can adjust and fall into a successful rhythm before adding more.
Most of us have time. We just forget that like money, it must be managed or it will disappear.
So, if you’re feeling scattered and out of control, try starting with prayer. Then, make lists that reflect your goals. Keep them small and personal, then simply start. Give the process time, and you will start to see your days become more meaningful as you fill them with what is most important.
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