Well, I don’t know about you, but sometimes I am busy all day (Or what seems like being busy) and then at the end of that day, I look at the list of things I wanted to do, and did not complete very many of the tasks at hand. Something is not right…
I recently read the book The Time of Your Life and found this quote to be extremely intriguing:
“Surely our greatest frustrations with time all begin with that faulty assumption that our time belongs to us – that we’re in charge of how our lives unfold, that we can control our minutes and hours. The truth is, we’ll never come to terms with time until we understand God’s view on time” (pg. 21).
God is the author and creator of life and everything around us! Time does not contain Him. He was, and is, and is to come! He is the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8)!
We all get the same amount of minutes and hours in a day. God gave us all the time that we need to do the work that He has called us to do. It is our job to prioritize our tasks and be obedient to what God wants us to accomplish.
So, here are some practical tips that I use and seem to “add” extra time to your day:
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RISING
Don’t hit the snooze button! Just get up. Put your alarm clock on the opposite side of your bedroom so you have to get up. Also, wake up to upbeat and fun music, if you can. It is a great way to start your day when you wake up to a song you love.
This can add as little as 5 minutes and as many as 30, depending on how many times you hit snooze!
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TV
Limit your time watching TV, or eliminate it all together. I use to be glued to my TV, but now I just watch 3 shows. I just stopped watching TV and started doing other things. Also, when you’re watching TV, use the commercials!!! During the commercials do something, like clean or read or check your e-mail. Don’t waste this time!
This originally added hours to my day, when I cut out several shows that I just watched just to have something to do. Nowadays, for me, being busy during the commercials adds up to 30-45 minutes when you add them all up!
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INTERNET
My tip for the internet is to give yourself a time limit. Set a timer and when it is done you are done. A time saving tip for reading your blogs is using Google Reader, or a similar reader. This saves so much time! You just sign in and it shows all the unread posts from all the blogs that you follow. I love this tool!!!
By setting a timer, you can add as much time as you choose! By using Google Reader, it keeps me in the loop with my favorite blogs, and saves me about 30 minutes of blog hopping!
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READING
Take a book with you everywhere, carry it in your purse. Then, when you are waiting for something, like a doctors appointment or at a train stop, you can get your book out and read. Who says you don’t have time to read?
On busy days, this allows me to add a good hour, if not more, to my day. And it allows me to stay caught up on my reading plan! It’s a Win, Win!
These are some of my favorite ways to “add time” to my day!
Do you have tips to share? Leave a comment below!
I schedule my day and follow this loosely. This adds so much time to my day. I schedule time just for the internet, laundry, reading time, cleaning, home school, etc… It really helps me to see where my time is going.
Great post, Ashley!
Great tips and reminders! Thank you…
Remembering that “our time” is really not our time, but God’s time, is so important.
It is so very SIMPLE…GOD SAID in Exodus 20:8~11
“Remember the sabbath day,to keep it holy.Six days shalt thou labor,and do all thy work:But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:in it thou shalt not do any work,thou,nor thy son,nor thy daughter,thy manservant,nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,the sea,and all that in them is,and rested the seventh day:wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”If GOD Himself RESTED on Saturday…WHY are people NOT getting this…HE does NOT Change His Word!?!
It is one of the TEN Commandments of God!?! AMEN!!!!!!!