e are at that time of year when I don’t know whether to be excited or sad. I am excited about everything coming up suchas trainings and ramping up different focuses. It is sad because we are ending summer with all the trips to the beach and summertime activities with my family. Yet the days and the seasons keep rolling. The more I try to slow down the days, the faster they seem to come and go. 

Do you ever feel like that? 

When I was a child people would tell me that the older I got the faster time would go. While I never said it to them, I thought that was the most cuckoo thing I had ever heard. I felt no matter what an hour is an hour, a day is a day, a week is a week, and a year is a year. Now years later, the clock is still turning, but that clock seems to turn faster and faster with the passing seasons. 

All of this got me thinking, how can I make the most of my time?

1. Create S.M.A.R.T. goals and celebrate the achievement of those goals.

   

When I started to drive there was no such thing as a GPS, it was either the good old map or the 15 printed pages of Mapquest. Either way, there were two pieces of vital information: present location and where you desire to go.

In life, your present location (present condition) and where you desire to go (goal) are vital to making the most of your time.

What are your goals?

Goals create both direction and motivation. Zig Ziglar states, “Direction creates time, and motivation creates energy.” When things don’t move and progress in life it is more often than not a direction problem or a motivation problem. In other words, there is a goal problem.

The best formula for setting and achieving a goal is S.M.A.R.T.

S-Specific – complete each statement fully and clearly. If you can’t articulate it

and write it down, you will not be able to achieve it.

M-Measurable – include exact results that can be tracked and measured.

A-Attainable/Achievable – is the statement realistic? Is it too large? Is it too

small?

R-Relevant – Does the statement fit with the others – is it relevant where it is

placed within the strategy?

T-Time Bound – When is the completion date?

For example: “In 2024, I endeavor to read 15 books to help me grow as a pastor, leader, and person.”

Is it specific? Yes. The only way I could make it more specific is list the titles of 15 books. For me, this would be problematic as there always seems to be a book or four that jumps to the top of the ‘to-read’ list that would not have been on the list when I originally listed the titles of the books.

Is it measurable? Yes. Even further, if I’m not working on at least the 7th or 8th book on July 1st, I know I am not keeping pace.

Is it attainable? For me, this is very attainable.

Is it relevant? Yes. A leader is a reader.

Is it time-bound? Yes. This goal is to be accomplished by the end of 2024.  

Some areas in your life that you may want to consider for a goal are body, mind, spiritual, love, family, community, money, work, and hobbies (taken from the 9 domains of the ‘Double Win’ from Full Focus). 

Let me mention one more thing about goals. When you achieve a goal, celebrate the completion of that goal. Stopping to celebrate will do multiple different things, one of which is propelling you to greater success. As I write these words, I am looking at myself because this is something I have to be very intentional about, as my natural inclination is to keep working on whatever the next thing is. What I have learned by ‘keep working on whatever is next’ is this leads to burnout. 

Further, when you celebrate the completion of a goal, celebrate it ‘in kind’. What I mean by this is if it is a small goal the celebration could be going to go get your favorite cup of coffee. If the goal is a big goal the celebration should be reflective of that accomplishment. From a brain science standpoint, let the accomplishment/award process work for you to encourage you and motivate you.

2. Pause daily.

Taking time daily to pause and simply close your eyes and breathe is helpful. Even more helpful is to take time to reflect daily. To reflect is to ask yourself questions, think and ruminate, and allow these questions and thinking to turn into illumination.

As Jim Rohn states, “At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance ( i.e. your actions, reactions, decisions, and motives). The results should either applaud you or prod you.”

What would you need to do to schedule time to reflect?

3. Plan daily.

You are probably like me and your days are full of different tasks with comings and goings. Because of this, we need to head into each day prepared. How do we head into each day prepared? We do this in two ways:

First, we do this by looking at your schedule and to-do list for the coming day the night before or first thing the morning of. By simply looking at the different things coming up, it allows you to prepare your mind for the different demands.Further, by preparing yourself by looking at your schedule and to-do list you can know when you need to be at your best both mentally and with energy, as opposed to when you can relax your mind a little.

Second, as was just alluded to, we need to prepare a to-do list. This could be a daily to-do list or a weekly to-do list. Some will argue for one over the other, but the point is to create a list whether written or digital as a way to help you track your progress and remind you of the different tasks that need to be completed. If I were to argue for the best method, I would say that the best method is the method that works for you. I use Omni-Focus which tracks my tasks and projects across both my phone and tablet. For me this method works because it is simple, it gives me notifications, and I always have my phone or tablet with me and therefore always have access to my to-do list.

4. Be mindful of the time-killers.

We are all susceptible to time-killers. Time-killers are those things that we can get involved in that do not move the needle forward in our lives and eat up our time. Your time is your most valuable resource. Once that day or that hour is gone, there is no getting it back. The tricky thing is that oftentimes the time-killers in your life aren’t always necessarily bad or evil. What makes it a negative, is when we lose ourselves and lose track of time as we dump exorbitant amounts of time into that thing. There are some common time-killers, but it is important to realize that a person’s time-killer can be different from another’s time-killer. Here are some examples of common time-killers: Social media, games on your phone or TV, TV, hobbies, and what we call in the south ‘piddling around the house’. For instance, let’s look at social media. There is nothing wrong with Facebook, X, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Social Media can be a wonderful tool and connector. The time-killer aspect is when you spend hours on it or when you are constantly and consistently looking at it throughout the day.

5. Laugh often.

Laughing has so many benefits for you physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. These benefits cannot be underestimated, yet my point about laughing often is to enjoy life. Enjoy life through being with the people that you love being around. Enjoy life by doing the hobbies and activities you enjoy doing. I’m not saying that we need to be irresponsible, but I am saying that we need to love living life. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

What are the things you enjoy doing?

What are the things that bring you the greatest joy and happiness?  

6. Be prepared for Murphy.

   

We need to be prepared and flexible for Murphy because Murphy has a way of showing up at the most inopportune times. By Murphy I mean Murphy’s Law which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Maybe for you, something has happened and it couldn’t have been a worse time. For instance, you have an important presentation to makeor a project to turn in. When you go to print it before you walk out of the house, there is a problem. Murphy.

Life has a way of throwing curveballs at us and oftentimes at the most inconvenient time. If we are going to make the most of our time, we need to be prepared and therefore adaptable. My friend, we have a choice, we can be unprepared when the curveball comes making us fall apart emotionally, physically, and mentally. Or we can adapt and roll with the punches as we turn lemons into lemonade.

7. Celebrate the Lord with joy. 

I am a person of faith, that is who I am. When you recognize the Lord for who He is, it is amazing what time spent celebrating the Lord with joy will do. Because my space is limited let me mention just a few things it does: 

• It reminds you who you are. 

Celebrating King Jesus re-centers you as it brings you back to where you are supposed to be because there are so many things that push and pull us away from the Lord. Further, some things happen in life that either discourage us to create a sense of despair or encourage us to create a sense of pride. When we worship and celebrate Jesus, it brings us back to where we are supposed to be. 

• It reminds you whose you are. 

When we celebrate the Lord it reminds us that we belong to the Lord, we are His. More to the point, as a believer you are His child. When you think about being a child of God, how does this affect the way you approach making the most of your time?

• Celebrating the goodness of the Lord is always time well spent. 

If we are going to spend eternity in heaven praising Jesus, this should show us that celebrating the Lord is time well spent. 

I have the joy of coaching dozens of churches: some are traditional, some are contemporary, some are highly structured, some are less structured, and some I only catch every about every 10th word in non-English speaking churches. What a beautiful kaleidoscope of worshipping our one Lord and King in so many different styles and in different languages.Whatever the case, celebrating King Jesus is always time well spent.

• It brings us closer to our church family. 

Worship should and must be something that unites us together. 

When you and I celebrate our risen King, it is time that blossoms and has wonderful ripple effects through all areas of our lives. 

8. Make family time and our other relationships special and meaningful. 

There are a couple of items on this list that I have to be very intentional about, this is one of them. You see, I am highly task-oriented, this isn’t an excuse it is just part of my personality. Yet because I am so highly task-oriented, if I am not careful and intentional it can negatively affect my relationships. As I type these words, I am also aware that I’m not alone in this struggle and maybe you identify with me. Here is something that I am constantly reminding myself of: the most meaningful things that I can accomplish on this earth are not tasks or things, it is the relationships that are built and enjoyed. 

My friend, you were created for relationship. In the first item above, we spoke about our vertical relationship with the Lord. Here we talk about our horizontal relationships with our family, friends, and co-workers. Therefore, one of the most valuable things you can do is to enjoy those relationships and make that time special and meaningful. 

As I write this my family has just concluded an awful week and a half with COVID. It started with my oldest son on Sunday evening. Two days later my youngest son tested positive. Not to be outdone, my wife tested positive on Thursday night. While my wife was still isolated in the bedroom and my boys were feeling better and better, I was left with the task of being Mr. Mom. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing as I am confident I am a VERY poor substitute for ‘mom’, yet the boys and I have had a big time playing the board game- Risk. While we were missing different camps, activities, and appointments, I still wanted to make sure that time with my two sons was special and meaningful. In reflection, it was a success as we laughed, talked, and simply enjoyed that time together.

9. Ask, what is the most important thing right now?

While we will have goals, there will always be something that needs to be front and center in our lives. The trick is knowing what that one thing is.

Right now in your life, what is the most important thing for you to be focusing on?

What will the result of that focus be? Will your focus on that ‘thing’, actually fix what you intend to fix?

Maybe you have been told that you can’t or that you aren’t capable or that you are not worthy. My friend, I want you to know that I believe in you. I think you are capable of greatness. I believe you can accomplish far more and greater than you can imagine.

You are capable of making the most of your time.