“Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.” - Stephen Convey
One of the biggest obstacles keeping us from following Jesus together is how we manage our time. And the reality is we live in a world chock-full of distraction that keeps us cultivating an emotionally healthy spiritual life. To think of Stephen Convey’s quote another way - how we use our time, shapes our schedules. How we use our schedules, shapes our habits. How we use our habits, shapes us into we’re becoming. Who we’re becoming, shapes our eternity.
We often say, “If only we had a few more minutes here.” “If only I had an extra day there.” And yet, following Jesus isn’t about doing more things - it’s taking a holistic view of your life and prioritizing it around what matters most - around the teachings and practices of Jesus. When we do this we discover it’s not about doing more, it’s about doing less. And as we eliminate things to prioritize around Jesus, we begin to become people of peace.
To do your time audit, print this out (Google doc | PDF) and begin by filling in the “big rocks” in your schedule -
1 - when you sleep
2 - when you go to work
3 - when you go to church events - Sunday Gatherings, LifeGroup rhythms
From there assess - what else goes into the time you have leftover?
To help you keep track with where your time went, use the following tools
1 - Look at your calendar over the last week, then fill out your time audit document accordingly.
2 - If you have an iPhone go to your Settings, then Screen Time, then See All Activity. Fill out when in your time audit document when you are most likely to spend time on your phone.
After you chart out your time as best you can ask yourself, How were those things forming you? Were they necessary for rest, abiding with Jesus, nurturing relationships? Once you asses your week, eliminate the things that are keeping you from following Jesus. In place of that, begin substituting them with helpful practices. You can find ideas on FollowingJesusTogether.com
As you worked through your audit, was there anything surprising to you?
What’s one thing you remove this week and replace with helpful spiritual practices?