Thursday, January 5, 2012

31 days, 31 questions, 31 answers - Day 5

I read an article by author, professor and theologian Don Whitney that listed 31 questions to consider for a new year. I decided that I will answer one question each day in January. Here is the fifth question, and my answer.
5.      What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year? I am sure that there are a multitude of time-wasters in my life. I would have to say, however, that the biggest time-waster is a lack of organization. I would guess that most of the other time-wasters are directly tied to disorganization. In fact, there are many times when I find myself making to-do lists, and then misplacing those to-do lists. Sometimes I can get so overwhelmed by the amount of obligations I have that I can be crippled by inaction. What should I do first? What has the highest priority? What can be left for another day? The problem is that I become so caught up in listing the things I have to do, that I rarely get around to doing those things. So they remain on the list for another day. Another problem is not following things through to completion. Yes, I may start a project (and it might even be the project which should have highest priority in life at that moment), but then I get distracted (often thinking about other tasks) and do not finish the task at hand. It seems that every few months, I am developing a new strategy for getting organized. It seems that I am “spring cleaning” three or four times a year. But I am painfully aware that God is a God of order. His creation is ordered. His word (the Bible) is ordered. His word calls His followers to be disciplined and ordered. If I could just stick to my guns and follow a prioritized to-do list to completion, I would feel a much greater sense of peace. If I could organize my office, or my car, or the junk drawer, or the garage, I think I would be much more effective as my mind is not distracted by the disorder and can better focus on the tasks at hand.

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