Are You Ready?45Yes, it’s a bit of a hassle to do this exercise, but it is well
worth it.
When I did this for the first time, I realized that I spend
two to three hours a day carpooling my children to school
and activities. Wow! And I live in a small town where all our
activities are less than five miles from our home.
When I realized how much time I spend driving, I started
keeping Bible- verse cards to memorize in the car to use that
time more effectively.
And when Jimmy saw what my schedule looked like, he
realized he could help out even more and free up more of
my time to write without affecting his schedule adversely.
Hallelujah chorus!
Now, hear me: I’m not saying someone will step in and
help if you track your time, but at the very least you’ll be able
to identify spots in your schedule that you can use more effec-
tively or activities you can delegate to someone or eliminate
altogether.
I also realized I’m not awesome at relaxing, so I’ve made
it a point to work hard during work hours and then relax
hard (no pseudo work— e- mail, social media, or otherwise) in
the evenings and on weekends. This has been a wonderfully
peace- filled change.
You might, like me, discover you waste way too much time
randomly checking social media in the evenings, and it leaves
you feeling drained and less connected than before. It is far
more restful to just skip the extra social media time and take
a walk or get more sleep. If you go to bed earlier, it’s easier to
get up earlier— a simple way to shift your schedule and have
time to build a great morning routine.