As much as we might wish for more, everyone truly has the same amount of time in a single day. And far too many of us are under some form of time crunch and wonder how we are ever going to get it all done. But there is some good news too. Today is a good time to pray and that is the beginning of better time management.
The first and last part of managing your time is to trust God and give your time to Him. God deeply wants you to use your time well and good time management begins with a recognition that God is able to help you use your time better. If you put God last in your life, then there is no possible way for you to be good at time management. You might be able to do many things from the world’s perspective, but that perspective will not “stand the test of time.”
What would you say if you were standing before the Lord and he asked:
- What did you do with the time that I’ve given you?
- How often did you pray for the people I sent into your life and business?
- How many times did you come to me to seek the answers you needed?
Of course, as Christian coaches you could probably come up with some additional good hypothetical questions that God might ask, but the bottom line will always be that putting God first will provide you a better sense of time than any other time management strategy you might invoke.
Time is your most precious gift, because you only have a set amount of it. ~ Rick Warren
Prayer is Important
One of the most precious and effective things you can do with your time is to pray. As a Christian coach you certainly have some good thoughts about prayer. And perhaps a reminder here to pray for your clients is good. But, in my opinion, it is time for all of us as Christian Coaches to take that to another level. How about we begin to pray for each other and how we, collectively, best use the time of our lives? We are a group of important people from God’s perspective, working not just for ourselves, but truly changing the world through our work as Christian Coaches. We should be praying for each other as individuals and praying for our aggregate Christian Coaching ministry.
James 5:16b – The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Every prayer you make has a result. You may not see it, but that does not mean there is no result. And your prayers probably have no time limit or expiration date. After all, God invented time. Time is a construct that has baffled theologians, scholars and philosophers since… well, since the beginning of time. So, is it any wonder that we struggle to use our time well? We should trust God that our prayers are getting results even if they are not the results, we think we want.
JPsalm 90:4 – For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
While we are temporal, God is eternal. You pray and he listens. And when you are praying for your fellow Christian Coaches, you may not know the impact you’re having on their life, business, or how effectively they use their time, but you are having an impact that changes the world. From my perspective, you should manage your time like it depends on you but pray like your time depends on God.
Coaching Tool to Help with Time Management
Working with your clients on their time management can be very helpful and I’d like to give you a potential tool to use for your coaching toolbox. I’ve used a process called a “Start – Stop – Continue” protocol. It is especially helpful for anyone who is struggling to get things done or needs to set priorities. (See the protocol)
Remember, you can do far more with God than you’ll ever do without Him. Starting tomorrow, trust or give your calendar to God. Ask him to help you to make it work, then trust that he has your best interest in mind.
Start – Stop – Continue Protocol
The protocol is simple. With your goal or objective in mind, what things need to change? Some things are moving you toward your goal. Those things should continue. Write it down. Some things need to start in order to reach your goal. Write it down. Some things are either getting in the way or simply do not add enough value toward getting you to your goal. Write down what you will stop doing.
Whatever your goal or objective you need to do something to make it real. But time is always precious and adding “one more thing” can often be difficult. This protocol will help. Begin by looking at the things that you want to continue. Next, determine what things you will start. Finally, what things will you stop doing in order to reach your goal. If you are like most people, the stop is the hardest thing to picture but it may be the most important. There are always things you are doing that take time, but they may not always be adding to what you really want.
What is the goal or results you want? _________________________________
|
What will we (or I) continue to do? |
What will we (or I) start doing? |
What will we (or I) stop doing? |
Rich Wiegel, Ed.D, MA, MM
About the Author:
Dr. Rich Weigel has an extensive background in leadership with over twenty years leading school districts. In addition to establishing his new business as an Executive and Leadership coach, he is an adjunct professor for Olivet Nazarene University providing instruction for Strategic Leadership at the doctorate level. He is currently in the process of designing a new course on Business Ethics for students at the master’s level. He will teach that course starting in March.
Rich has been a national trainer for Crucial Conversations, Influencer, and Professional Learning Communities. He is working to gain his CCC certification and is designing a future mastermind class for CCNI called Christian Time Management. He is serving as the President of Christian Coaches Network International for the 2020 year.
The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of CCNI.
