When asked what one has to do, Jesus said that we needed to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves. Is that radical? Is that out there? It is a concept that we will often quote in church and to each other, but do we really do it? Jesus was a radical for his day. He met with women by himself in public. He met with sinners, sick people and a host of others that were just wrong for Jewish males, let alone a rabbi to be in public or by themselves with. Talk the Samaritan women for instance. Jesus was not only alone with her, a big no no, but he was also alone with a Samaritan, which was an even bigger no no. You see in that world, Jewish despised Samaritans. They would take the long way around Samaria which required crossing two rivers just to get from one side of the Promised Land to the other.
Jesus also gives us the story of the Good Samaritan for our consideration. Using the same type of person that Jews despised to show an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. This example provides us with what it truly means to be friend. Giving up time, money, and convenience in order to help those in need, even if they are someone you would generally despise. So what can we take from this example of Jesus?
Everyone is our neighbor. Everyone is our neighbor and we should not discriminate. At the same time, if everyone is our neighbor that means that we have to love them as ourselves even if they engage in things that we may or may not approve of. After John 3:16-17 reminds us that God sent the Son to save us and gives us eternal life, but it is 17 that reminds us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. If that is the case, we cannot condemn the world, but try to love and save it. No condemnation means that we have to push past polarizing issues such as homosexuality, people who drink, or have sex, the poor and the downtrodden. What someone does should not matter to us as much as loving them as our neighbor.
Love happens outside of the church. Did you ever notice where Jesus does most of his ministering and healing? In the church? No. Out in the church and on the fridges of society. Where people were cast out, left to fend for themselves, and overlooked. Rarely did Jesus every ministry or heal in church. He did it out side of the church. He did speak in church and provide teaching there, but love and healing for the most part took place outside of the church. What does that mean for us? Should we not go out and do rather than stay inside and hide. That is not to diminish time together with believers and worship, after all Jesus did that with the disciples, but we need to recognize when it is time to go out and be the hands and feet and not just hang around in the sanctuary.
Being a neighbor takes resources. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we get the glimpse of what it takes to be a neighbor. One of the things is resources. We need to make sure that we are willing to offer shelter, pay for food and other incidentals without question. Why, because God told us too. Jesus gave the example for us to learn from. And we are called to go out and do on the Lord’s behalf. We have to be ready to provide resources when we can and in any way we can.
So what king of neighbor will you be? Will you be an example of the Good Samaritan or will you be an example of someone who lives in their Christian bubble and never goes out into the word. Jesus told us to go out and create disciples and baptize and obey everything Jesus commanded to us. He did not say stay…..he said go. What will you do?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Can you over plan?
I work with people in my office and friends on time management and planning. I even try with my 12 year old, but I keep getting these looks like “Are you serious?” Regardless, I do my best to provide a myriad of topics to them based on my research and trial and error over the past 10 to 15 years of trying and failing and be successful at time management. The one thing that I suggest to them that gets chuckles the most is that you should try and plan as much as you can even time with yourself or family members. I usually get this look like “You’re kidding.” But I explain to them that it is important to plan time for what you need.
I suggest to them the follow:
1. Time scheduled is more likely to be kept. We often tell ourselves I will clean the garage out this weekend or mow the grass tomorrow night and it seems that they never get done because we get caught up doing something else. I often point out to people this question “When was the last time you missed a meeting or an appointment that was scheduled in your calendar?” Most the time it is I haven’t. Then I point out that if this is the case, why would you not schedule the things in your life that you need to get done too.
2. Faith, Family and “Me” are big rocks. Using the FranklinCovey method of big rocks. Things related to faith and family and myself are the big rocks that need to be scheduled first on our calendar. This way they are put into the calendar and should be marked as non-negotiables in our life. We need to get these scheduled first. Then we can plan everything else around us. I schedule things as innocuous as prayer time in the morning and homework time with my son and time out with the wife and kids. Some people call this going over board and trivialize these things. But I do not think so. It makes my commitment more to them knowing that I carve out time for them and let others know that the time is a non-negotiable. Plus it also allows people who have access to my calendar at work to know that these times, I am not available.
3. Schedule goof off time. Really? Are you losing it? That is what most people say. But if you do not do this, you will find yourself working yourself to death, taking care of others and soon find you self burned out and worn down. We have to have time to sharpen the saw and refuel. Again in my experience, if you don’t plan it you are less likely to do it. If you are less likely to do it, you might not do it at all.
4. Have a family calendar. In order to keep everyone on the same page and for family members to know what each one is doing. I often suggest a common calendar for family. This calendar has info on it for everyone’s activities and then family members know who is doing what and when time is available for them. As part of this I recommend setting aside time to sit down together, each week if possible, to plan for the follow week and update the family calendar.
5. Schedule time once a year for deep reflection. I schedule time a day or two at least for deep reflection once a year. This time is usually spent reviewing my mission statement and updating it. At the same time, I look at things from a high level perspective and plan the big rock goals that I will work on for the following year. This time is refreshing, realigning, revealing, and provides great revelation. I suggest this to all who ask.
Can you over plan? Maybe, but for me it seems to work. Not everything I teach or suggest works for everyone but it does work for some and it might work for you. So, what do you suggest? What types of things do you do to control your time and getting things done? Let me know.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I suggest to them the follow:
1. Time scheduled is more likely to be kept. We often tell ourselves I will clean the garage out this weekend or mow the grass tomorrow night and it seems that they never get done because we get caught up doing something else. I often point out to people this question “When was the last time you missed a meeting or an appointment that was scheduled in your calendar?” Most the time it is I haven’t. Then I point out that if this is the case, why would you not schedule the things in your life that you need to get done too.
2. Faith, Family and “Me” are big rocks. Using the FranklinCovey method of big rocks. Things related to faith and family and myself are the big rocks that need to be scheduled first on our calendar. This way they are put into the calendar and should be marked as non-negotiables in our life. We need to get these scheduled first. Then we can plan everything else around us. I schedule things as innocuous as prayer time in the morning and homework time with my son and time out with the wife and kids. Some people call this going over board and trivialize these things. But I do not think so. It makes my commitment more to them knowing that I carve out time for them and let others know that the time is a non-negotiable. Plus it also allows people who have access to my calendar at work to know that these times, I am not available.
3. Schedule goof off time. Really? Are you losing it? That is what most people say. But if you do not do this, you will find yourself working yourself to death, taking care of others and soon find you self burned out and worn down. We have to have time to sharpen the saw and refuel. Again in my experience, if you don’t plan it you are less likely to do it. If you are less likely to do it, you might not do it at all.
4. Have a family calendar. In order to keep everyone on the same page and for family members to know what each one is doing. I often suggest a common calendar for family. This calendar has info on it for everyone’s activities and then family members know who is doing what and when time is available for them. As part of this I recommend setting aside time to sit down together, each week if possible, to plan for the follow week and update the family calendar.
5. Schedule time once a year for deep reflection. I schedule time a day or two at least for deep reflection once a year. This time is usually spent reviewing my mission statement and updating it. At the same time, I look at things from a high level perspective and plan the big rock goals that I will work on for the following year. This time is refreshing, realigning, revealing, and provides great revelation. I suggest this to all who ask.
Can you over plan? Maybe, but for me it seems to work. Not everything I teach or suggest works for everyone but it does work for some and it might work for you. So, what do you suggest? What types of things do you do to control your time and getting things done? Let me know.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Are you organized?
A friend of mine at work is trying to get their life organized. They have tried, unsuccessfully, to take a class that I teach on getting organized about 4 times. They have recently purchased an organizer by Franklin Covey to try and help too. I helped them put their planner together and reminded them of some of the tricks of the trade that we have talked about before. I also recommended reading the David Allen book that I posted a review about before.
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)