Episode 7: Growing in Time Management

Episode 7: Growing in Time Management





Do you have challenges in managing your time, whether it is in ministry or beyond? Let's think about a sensible framework for planning schedules while leaving flexibility for the unexpected. 

Quick recap of the time management framework:

1. Morning, midday, and evening routines
2. Scheduled commitments
3. Big and medium projects
4. Random little things that can fit in around the others
5. Buffer time for the unexpected

Here are some of the resources I mentioned in this episode.

Lectio365 is the prayer app I like to listen to at night as I am getting ready to sleep. I do this on my phone, but their web site has so many other prayer resources that it's worth a long look too. 

Trello is a project management program that I use to organize my seminary assignments and other complex tasks. I can use it as a phone app or on my laptop. On the laptop, I can copy and paste assignments and web links from Canvas, which is where they are assigned by Asbury. These are screenshots from the phone app of a list called Asbury Assignments, and then a checklist within a card called Week 2 Assignments. Note that I put links to those assignments right within the check list. You will also see on the left hand screenshot that 8 of the 12 assignments for the Week 2 Assignments card have been completed and that I have read 5 of 5 chapters of my Practical Theology text. Each card can also have a due date.

Google Keep is a program, also available for app and computer, which allows you to create all sorts of lists. I turn on the check box function and the nest the lists under several sections. Here are screenshots of parts of my Monday list from a few weeks ago. I copy my master list for each day of the week on the day I need it, then customize it for that day. There might be a particular errand or task that I need to do that day. Or I can move a priority task up into that top section if I want to do it in a certain sequence and make sure that it is seen and accomplished. When I finish an item, I just tap it to check it off, and then it moves automatically to the bottom of the list. That gives me a record of what I actually did that day. The cute emojis keep me extra motivated.

FYI, on Money Monday, as seen above, I make sure everything is in order with my financial accounts. 

I use Google Sheets to track and project my internship hours. This is a cropped slice of my document as seen on my phone. Note that each week has totals, and there is a running total of hours from week to week.

Did you see the Sing item in my Google Keep screenshot? Yes, I honestly do tell myself to sing each day! I recently saw that reminder, grabbed the nearest hymnal (I keep a few next to my reading chair), and found a lovely  vintage hymn called "God We Praise" that I had never seen before. Now I can't get the melody out of my head... I'll end this blog post with the chorus: "Great and holy, is the Lord of all, daily guiding where his blessings sweetly fall. Love and mercy crown our earthly ways. Gladly, gladly, God we praise."

Bless y'all!

Virginia