time management – Matthew Laker

Generous with time, but Focused

Posted on April 1, 2016April 7, 2016 by Matthew Laker

In Mark 1:32-39 Peter learns the need to focus on his time. At this point, Simon, who later would be called Peter, does not know much about Jesus. After some time in the synagogue, they go to Peter’s house. After the sunset people begin to show up at Peter’s house and Jesus spends time that night healing people.

The next day, early in the morning, Jesus gets up and leaves to find a solitary place and prays. Peter is searching for Jesus and seems a little frustrated that he has left. Peter tells Jesus that everyone is looking for him. Let me summarize what is behind that statement: What are you doing here Jesus? All these people are at my house and you need to be there healing those people. There is some implication that Peter sees the Lord’s absence as unproductive and perhaps having the wrong priorities.

Jesus simply does not seem impressed by the large crowd and all the people wanting. Notice his statement in verse 38 “Let us go somewhere else….” The reason was to preach the gospel to other villages. You see Jesus was generous with is time but also focused. He knew what God the Father sent him to do and so prioritizes his life. Jesus that day did not heal everyone or do everything.

Peter would learn the need to prioritize his time. Peter would begin to learn to look at the needs through the eyes of the Father’s will. There are a lot of good things they could be doing.

There are a lot of good things you could be doing.

Jesus knew what God the Father called him to do. Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to be good Christians and helping everyone and doing all kinds of good work that in the process, we miss Jesus and the opportunity to produce better fruit. Sometimes, like Peter, we have expectations, or listen to the expectations of others, and miss out on being and doing what God has called us to be or do.

What about you?

Are you just running through life with no direction; running from one urgent thing to the next? Have you filled your schedule so much that you look busy and are busy but have no margin and time to just be still and know God.

God is not in a rush.

In this season of your life, what is the Holy Spirit asking you to focus on? Where do you need to stop living for the urgent and live for the significant? Are you busy in work, or a location or circumstance, but God is calling you to be somewhere else?

This week ask yourself this question, how does Jesus want you to use your time?

There is no way Peter got this right away and he would have taken baby steps. What steps do you need to take to focus on what you should be doing?

In my life I do still live in the tensions and the only way I can align correctly is to have paused moments of reflection. Perhaps this is what Jesus was doing out there alone praying. He was being reminded of where he should be and who he was.

Series: Walking with Peter and Jesus

Observations From The Life of Jesus on Time Management

Posted on February 5, 2016February 2, 2016 by Matthew Laker

When we look at the life of Jesus there are some observations we can make that can help us in our use of time. One main observation is that once time is gone, it is gone. This is what makes time precious.

Generally, as a culture, we are obsessed with time. We judge people based on what they can produce in a certain amount of time. We struggle in the tension of handling our time wisely. For all of us our values and wants are usually the driving force as to how we use our time. bread

As we look at the life of Jesus there are five things, to start, that can help us with our own time management.

1. Jesus is not rushed

Jesus seems to never be in a big rush to go anywhere. He knows where he needs to go but he seems to take his time. As he goes to where he needs to, he gives what we might call today margin.

As you read through the bible you will often see that God is not in a hurry. He often may not take what we think is the most efficient route.

God is not concerned about our perceived speed of time, but instead how we use that time.

2. Jesus gives time for people and sometimes just one person.

In the gospel of John chapter 4, he spends a long time speaking and investing in just one person. He also seems to spend more time with smaller groups of people rather than with larger groups. He spent more time with the 12,for example, then he did with the 120, and even among the 12 he spent more time with three. Yet even in the midst of that focused time, he still allowed others in. As he walked along the road he listened to those who crossed his path and gave them his time.

3. Jesus accepted interruptions.

In Mark 6 the Apostles come and report back after a training mission. Jesus shares they need rest and so they get in a boat and cross the lake. However, a large group of people end up following them and meet them on the other side. All they wanted was to find rest and be quite for some time but these people have interrupted them. As we look at the life of Christ, we see him use interruption as potential God opportunities. He uses this moment to teach and serve that crowd.

4. Jesus understood seasons of time and rhythms

As flip through the gospels, we see Jesus in moments of craziness with lots of people and moments of him just with himself. He would often pull away to get rest and take care of his own soul. There were times for being generous with his time, and time for taking care of his own life.

5. Focused

In Mark 1:36 Simon (Peter) comes to find Jesus and says “everyone is looking for you!”

Listen to his reply, “let us go somewhere else-to the nearby village-so I can preach there also. ”

Jesus knew what God called him to do. Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to be good Christians and helping everyone and doing all kinds of good work with our time that we miss what Jesus is asking us to do. Sometimes, like Peter, have expectations or listen to the expectations of parents, others, friends, culture and we do not live lives worthy of our calling.

Jesus was generous with his time, but in a way, was also ruthless with his time. I do not like the word ruthless because it means no compassion and Jesus had compassion. Jesus was focused, sometimes at the expense of not healing everyone. Did you notice that Jesus did not help everyone in that moment? He focused in on what God called him to do for that season, and did not worry about what others expected him to accomplish.

What is one thing you can take from the life of Jesus on how he used his time?

P.S.

One extra – Jesus practised a Sabbath rest. More to come on that later.

Our Values drive our time Management.

Posted on January 29, 2016January 24, 2016 by Matthew Laker

Many people I speak with are struggling with time management. Often there is a tension between unrealistic expectations and the many responsibilities people have or are given.

In all of our lives, we have values we wish we had or want to embrace and then we have the real ones. Sometimes those real ones are destructive. Sometimes the real ones are good. Sometimes we wear a mask and are ashamed or are not willing to actually admit what we are valuing in life.

Try this exercise:

Take a piece of paper and take a look at your schedule over the last 30 days. Where are you spending your time? Here are some examples of things to look for:

How much time did you sleep? How much time did you work? How much time was there for fun and relaxing? How much time for investing/serving others? How much time checking email or watching media? For a moment, think that you are looking at someone else’s schedule. Based on where they spend their time what would you say are things they value?

We see whatever we deem important. Whatever we deem more valuable, that is where we spend our time.

Does where you spend your time align with what you have stated are values in your life?

For the Jesus follower, the question becomes do we trust Jesus enough to lead us to a different set of values? Is how we use our time guided by the reality of the gospel in our life? Are we investing in the things that Jesus has said will lead to a full life?

As you do the above exercise you may notice you need some changes in your life. The first step to moving in that direction is to understand the “why.” Why do you need to change? Why will seeking a new habit, or embracing a new value in your life, be good for you?

Whatever you value will be what determines your direction and use of time.

Check out this post on why identifying Values is important.

Time management a road to the life you want (Part 2)

Posted on November 4, 2015November 2, 2015 by Matthew Laker

Personal time Management will help you enter, engage, and experience what you were created for.

Today we continue on tips for time management in order to gain the life you want. You can read part one here.

To get where you want to in life, you are going to have to reflect and be a steward of the time you have. You only have so much time in your life.

How are you going to use the time you have been given?

1. Scheduling is your friend.

Either you control your life or something else well. I know right away some are saying I am just not a calendar person. Again, either you control your life or something else well.

Here are a few thoughts I find helpful around scheduling time.

a. Make sure to keep margin in your life. When booking appointments, give a little extra time. Why? Sometimes you may need it, but if not, enjoy the moment.

b. Schedule time with yourself and your family.

c. Keep 50% of your time involved in things that get the results you are wanting.

d. Schedule start and end times for your activities.

e. First 30 min. of day given to plan the day.

f. Schedule an extra 5 minutes for review of task completed or conversation at end of the hour or day.

g. Establishing a daily, month, weekly routine that will move you forward

h. ______________(What would you add?)

2. Reality Check Experiment

Spend a week recording everything you do. Put down the places you have been and the people you spoke with. Write down a summary of what you did each hour. This will help see where you are spending your time.

Here is a free spread sheet template. You can use it on your phone to help track your time.

3. It’s impossible to get everything done – live with it.

Seriously, it is impossible to get everything done. Take the time to understand how long you need and break things down into small chunks. It will lower your stress level. However at the end of the day understand there will always be something you need to do.

Celebrate what you have accomplished. What tips do you have that are useful?

Time management a road to the life you want (part 1)

Posted on October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 by Matthew Laker

Personal time Management will help you enter, engage, and experience what you were created for.

As I journey with people, one of top tensions or challenges in people’s lives is related to how we spend our time. Many feel stressed out as they hack away at the “to do list” and responsibilities in life.

In my personal journey, and as I have walked with people, working harder is not going to help. Working smarter will help you move.

Try one of these suggestions and you just may start to see improvement. You could also work through each one step by step to steward the time you have.

1. What is important to you?

Take some time and answer this question.

2. Prioritize your work.

Let’s start right now. Break your day down into three phases. Copy the table below into a document or write it down somewhere.

What are the have-to’s in each of those slots? Fill it in.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sat.	Sun.
Morning
Afternoon
Night

You may need to create a work table and a home life table. When at work, what are the priorities on Monday morning? What is a reasonable expectation of the tasks you can complete?

3. To do list for the day.

Organize that list into a first priority, and second and so on. What can wait and are ongoing projects? As you approach the day this will help you know what needs to be done. Put your to-do list into your calendar. Actually schedule each hour.

Example: At 2:00, I will work on such and such a task.

4. Focus on one project and finish it.

You will increase your effectiveness if you can focus longer on one project:

“multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error. Meyer has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time.” (Joshua Rubinstein, PhD, Jeffrey Evans, PhD, and David Meyer, PhD, http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx)

So finish one project.

Personal time Management will help you enter, engage, and experience what you were created for.