Can Women Have It All? A Grace-Filled Approach to ProductivitySample

Teach us to number our days

I often struggle with time anxiety, “the terrible feeling that [I] never have enough time and [am not] doing enough with the time [I] do have.” This struggle with time often provokes an anxiousness and restlessness within me. I often feel as if there’s never enough time, and I want to perfectly manage my time and not waste a second of this one precious life. Far too many of us know just how fleeting life is. As the saying goes, The days are long, but the years are short. We know that time is an unrenewable resource that slips away all too quickly. Time management, as Jen Pollock Michel writes, is “the premise of control . . . you are working to achieve your best life now.” But we end our days often reminded of how little control we actually have. Our to-do lists are longer by the end of the day than at the beginning. We crawl into bed exhausted, reminded of all the things left undone. We chase the mirage of control, but ultimately find that it’s just a vapor.

The psalmist cries, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” His prayer for an attentive heart to the brevity of time is a prayer for wisdom, not a prayer for productivity. We should be intentional about how we manage and steward our time. But rather than focusing on productivity, for the sake of getting more done, we should focus more on seeking wisdom—and wisdom can’t often be measured. Psalm 1 gives us a picture of a blessed and righteous man and tells us the secret to a happy and fruitful life.

Christians should fundamentally understand and observe time differently because we know that we’re “living in the Lord’s time.” This ought to free us up from the relentless pursuit of cramming every minute with productivity. We can welcome interruptions in our schedule and linger over coffee with a friend, because she needs our presence and attention. The calling of our lives is to love God and love our neighbor. But the thing about love is that you can’t often love in a hurry. You can optimize your life for a lot of things, but love requires slowing down, setting down your devices, and offering your attention and presence. Love requires honoring your limitations and capacities, because to truly love others, you must give your time, energy, and attention.