A Shopper of Time

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16

Well being that you just read about my top 5 strengths, you now know that I am quite a planner. If you know me at all, you know that I carry my planner with me everywhere. I have my entire day planned out from the moment I wake up until I turn out the lights at night, and I absolutely love to check off my list. However, even though I have the day planned, I can still fill my day with meaningless tasks, and not use my time wisely.

I read this book over the summer, and the principles shared definitely challenged me in light of how I use my time. I already loved these women because they have a wonderful blog called Girl Talk...go check it out! I love their blog, but this book is awesome too! They share five tips for becoming shoppers of time: Rise Early, Sit Still, Sit and Plan, Consider People, and Plan to Depend. I am going to be brief in what I share with you, because I really want you to read this book. The third tip: sit and plan was especially beneficial for me. They challenge you to take a personal retreat where you study, pray, and evaluate your life. Listing your priorities based upon God's Word, you assess how you are doing--what is going well and what needs to change. Then, you focus in on one priority, and develop a plan to change in that specific area. Brilliant huh? I have yet to take this personal retreat, but I hope to schedule this in very soon! They suggest taking 2 a year! I will share a few quotes from the book in hopes that it will intrigue you to read this one. I promise it will be well worth your time, and help you make the best use of your time.

"We can accomplish everything God has ordained for us to do in this life. (Hint: It's probably not half of what's on your to-do list."

"The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart...We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the Word of God and prayer."

"The purpose of getting up early is to make the most important priorities most important."

"We must sit before we do."

"Remember this: even if you only change in one area, you will be doing more than if you hadn't sat down to plan at all."

"For in order to be wise shoppers of time, we must not only look carefully at how we walk but with whom we walk."

"Sitting for a few minutes each morning can considerably affect the trajectory of our day."

"Only God gets his to-do list done each day. We are not God. We are finite creatures with serious limitations."