I was wasting a lot of time pondering on what I was going to write for my Editorial today until I heard the minister of the church I attended give a message on time. Basically, how little time we give to God, when it should be our priority.

No. That is not what I am going to repeat, even though the minister is correct.

It did set me thinking, however, what do I do with my time v. what should I do with my time?

The Internet contains an enormous amount of wisdom on Time. I urge you to find time and explore it like I did. here’s mine:

1. Slow down. – Hmm. To me, that’s counterproductive. It’s not. How many times have we been driving fast, the radio blaring and we are missing seeing the beautiful scenery around us. The scenery God provided us with. If you go for a slow walk, look around you, and see what you’ve been missing.

2. Are we happy with our free time? Or are we bored with it? Shouldn’t we give ourselves a purpose to pursue in our free time? It will certainly make us happier than being bored. It will make us want to be productive.

3. Perhaps we should aim to execute fewer things? If we do less more time is given to those fewer things. Those things will be better for it and we will find some pride in seeing the result.

4. Shouldn’t we spend some time on thinking about what matters most to us? What is it that I care about the most? My spouse? My parents? My children? My spiritual life/God?

5. Use the 80/20 rule. I confess I hadn’t heard of this until I did my Internet search. The 80/20 rule says 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. One example of this is watching television. If you spend only three hours a day (most spend a LOT more than that – even the average is FOUR) and you live until you’re eighty, you’ll spend 10 years of your life watching TV! That’s time you’ll never get back, and time you could have invested into a much higher leverage activity, like reading a book, having a tea/coffee with someone you want to learn from, exercising, writing, or meditating (with God). Isn’t it time, therefore to spend more time on activities that produce the greatest returns on your time.

6. Realize how little time you have. According to the American Time Use Survey, (based on the average American) each work day you’ll spend: 7.6 hours sleeping, 8.8 hours working, 1.1 hours eating, and 1.1 hours doing chores around the house, leaving you with about five and half hours left over for doing what you want to do. And these figures don’t include investing time into your relationships, caring for others, or any other commitments you have already.

Conclusion: Start with twenty-four hours and subtract all the things you have to do. What are you left with?

Ref: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/7-ways-make-better-use-your-time.html

I started with religion and it is only fitting that I end with it. I expect, you will guess what I am going to end with. Is there anything written that is better? Note: The Minister, today, did not use or mention it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

NIV – New International Bible