"A stingy old man was lying on his deathbed. His family had been summonsed from around the country to come home for their father’s final departure. As he began to draw his final few breaths, he asked, “Is my wife here?” “Right by your side dear.” she replied. “Are all the children in the room by my bed?” “We’re all here for you dad.” came the response. To which the old man replied, “Then why didn’t someone turn off the light in the kitchen?”
Some people just have a hard time when it comes to establishing right priorities. But learning to attach the right priority level to the various activities on your “to-do” list is a key skill of good time management.
We all have more things to do in a day than we would possibly have time for. The only way to solve that problem is to prayerfully prioritize the items to do the most important first. Stop and do that right now, so you’ll redeem the time.
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"Perhaps you’ve heard about the new best seller for wealthy Christians. It’s called “The Chauffeur-Driven Life.”
For many of us the idea of having a chauffeur would be a joke. But it might not be as unthinkable as you imagine. Wealthy people justify having someone drive them places on the basis that they can do something more valuable with their time than drive a car. And while your time may not be as valuable as that of a Fortune 500 CEO, your time is still the most valuable resource you own.
That’s why if you have a teenage son or daughter, you might consider having them “chauffeur” you on your next trip. You can work on your laptop computer, answer correspondence, or do any number of other projects you “never have time for” while they gladly do the driving.
Teens love to drive. Giving them the opportunity to do so under your supervision insures they learn to do it right. And it creates an opportunity for both of you to redeem the time.
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"Henry Shanks lived in the 1800s and spent 28 years computing pi to 707 places. Unfortunately, he made a mistake at the 528th place and the last several years of his efforts were wasted. Today a desktop computer program can calculate pi to 707 places in less than seven seconds with zero mistakes.
Computers have improved the speed and accuracy of many tasks, including time management. Sharp managers today rely heavily on PC based software to make the most of their time. But this software isn’t just for professional project managers. Almost every computer sold in recent years, comes with some sort of program, such as Outlook or Works, to help us organize our calendars, task lists, and address books. Yet many people don’t even realize they own these valuable programs.
If you’ve never done so, invest one hour today in learning your computer’s time management program so you’ll be fully effective in what God calls you to do as you learn to redeem the time.
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"I recently read a professor’s article telling how he assigned his MBA students to submit a 5 page paper. He then returned it and had them cover the same points in 4 pages, then 3 pages, 2 and finally to summarize it in one page.
I’m sure his students grumbled at that assignment and claimed it wasn’t possible. But he was teaching them a very valuable skill- how to say more with fewer words. Everyone today experiences information overload including the people you send letters and emails to. If you can develop the habit of concise writing the chance of your message getting read greatly increases.
The next time you compose an email, memo, or letter try reading it twice before you send it to see if there is a way to say it with fewer words. There almost certainly will be.
As Christians we have an important message. Let’s learn to communicate it right, so we redeem the time.
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