I’m taking back the management of my day—15 minutes at a time.
Back in the busiest season of my life, I made a practice of tracking my daily schedule in 15-minute increments. I’m sure I heard about this idea from somewhere, and it’s a game changer!
Suddenly I found so much more time in my day. Whether blocking in 15-minute power naps or finally realizing how much time I spent on social media, these weekly schedules kept me on track and heading proactively towards my goals.
Well I’m back, in the throes of another crazy busy season. I’ve tracked my calendar on my phone, and while I don’t miss appointments, I can admit that some projects and priorities keep falling by the wayside. So I’m taking back daily time management, and implementing a few lessons I learned last time around.
Tips for implementing:
- Use structure to make space for people, not block them out. Sometimes busy seasons can cause us to become project-focused, and to fill every time slot with tasks and checklists. Make better use of this time management tool by making more time for people. With some intentional planning you can offer more space in your life for the people you care about.
- Make this about time management, not control. We want to better manage our day, not to control it. Detailed time management is intended to enable flexibility to follow God’s leading. What does He want during my day? How does he want my current habits to shift? Better time tracking will help us expand into our callings, not contract into overwhelmed over-managed messes on our office floors.
- Don’t over-correct. Have you ever skid while driving on ice? The trick for not sliding way off the road is to resist the urge to over-correct, thus launching you full throttle in the opposite direction. Tracking our time expenditures doesn’t mean we need planned activities in every 15-minute time slot. Leaving time for relaxation, regrouping, and planning is just as valuable as scheduling meetings, running errands, and checking off items on those stellar to-do lists.
- Don’t be afraid to change habits. Each time I complete this challenge I look back over the week and see a whole bunch of misused time. And that’s okay. Part of this exercise is learning what we need to change.
What do you think? Are you interested in joining the challenge as I schedule out my week 15-minutes at a time? Click these here to download my FREE Subscriber Library including your weekly schedule and a task checklist!
