[Spirit of Leadership] PracticeSample

Managing Your Time

If you are going to be a leader, manage your time. This is critical to leadership. 

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua asked God to stop the sun, and the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. This was supernatural time management. The sun stood still, or at least it appeared to, where Joshua was standing on the earth. God gave Israel extra time to get done what they needed to get done. 

Maybe you’ve got the faith of Joshua and you can stop time, but this is probably not going to happen. Good leaders learn how to manage their time. How? Here are some pointers:

1. Start early. Get up early. Get out of bed. Get going. 

2. Pray first. God can help you with your day.

3. Use a time management system. Write things down. Keep up with what’s going on. Have a calendar. Have a to-do list. 

4. Fast. Sometimes, you can only catch up by using your mealtime for other things. You might be surprised by how much time you spend thinking about food, cooking it, getting it, eating it, talking about the next meal and so on. Fasting gives you extra time. 

5. Be secure enough to say no. A good leader says no to a lot of things. 

6. Handle things once. When you get something, handle it. Do what needs to be done with it, and move on. 

7. Reduce wasted time. Where are you wasting time? Where is your energy going? How many hours have you spent on ________? You fill in the blank.

8. Aspire to zero procrastination. Many times, the Holy Spirit has brought a task to your mind so you’ll get it done. If you don’t do it then, if you say “I’ll do that later on,” that later on often never comes.

Quit praying for the sun to stand still. Time is your most valuable asset. As believers, our task has a time limit. Use your time wisely. Use it for the Kingdom of God.