Tyranny of the Urgent…
Tyranny of the Urgent…
Is a great mini book about stewarding time (by Charles Hummel). Here is an excerpt from the book…
“For me hardware stores have a strong attraction. I am fascinated by the variety of tools and gadgets. Suppose that today I need a new electric drill for an important home project and remember a special cash-and-carry price of $17.90. I put $20 in my wallet and head for the hardware store. But just inside the door I spot a set of five unusual screwdrivers on sale for $3.95 and purchase them. Several counters farther on a new kind of wrench catches my eye, and I spend another $6.90. When at last I reach the electric drills, I discover that I no longer have enough money to buy what I came for.
If I had the honesty to return home and tell the family my sad story, how much sympathy would I get? What would they think of my excuse ‘I didn’t have enough money for the drill’? At the moment the screwdrivers and wrench seemed important, but in the end they robbed me of the drill I really needed.
Many of us who resist spending our money this way are not equally careful with our time. We spend hours on the impulse of an unexpected opportunity or demand. Then we complain that our time flies away, leaving some important tasks unfinished. What is the remedy?”…
He then leaves four steps and explains them in detail, but I’m going to briefly summarize them here…
1. Decide What’s Important: When I say, “I don’t have time for this project,” I really mean, “I don’t consider it as important as something else I want or need to do.” The first step is to decide what activities are most important so that we can plan and give them the most priority. We should take time to write down a goal for each important activity, and estimate the time it will take during the next several months. But do not make a schedule yet…
2. Discover Where Your Time Goes: Before you can effectively budget your money, you first need to know how much money you have and where you have been spending it. So it is with time. It is critical before scheduling changes to first take a time inventory of your life. For one week make a chart for each half hour of the day and list how you spent the time, “At work, sleep, eating, leisure, time with God, etc.” At the end of the week count the hours spent in each activity and compare the totals with the list of priorities you made in the first step. And brace yourself for shock. There is a strong tendency to neglect the important tasks that do not have to be done today–or even this week.
3. Budget the Hours: The author writes strongly about our need to not make sudden changes in our time schedule, but to first plan only a few changes as they become possible for you (suddenly turning a cruise ship 90 degrees will cause it to fall apart). Consider one high priority being implemented… and once it is set in your schedule and become routine, then consider adding another.
4. Follow Through: Often times as we seek to follow through, sudden “urgent” matters will come up (phone call from someone in need, an e-mail that catches your eye that you feel you need to respond to, an invitation to a party or gathering that seems important). It’s important not to respond to these things right away. As you withstand the urgency of the moment, you can weigh the cost and discern whether the task is God’s will for you.
This blessed me! Hope it blessed you as well. =)
