All time management books – secular or religious – will tell you that prioritising is the key to our success. And I am here to agree!
We are finite beings living in a finite world. In order to work efficiently with the time that we are given, we cannot afford to run around like headless chickens! We need to sit down, prioritise and then work according to the list we have set up. Now if you set up a list and then work on it in a haphazard manner, it is as good as not having the list, ok?
We all have duties and errands to run, on top of raising our children. If we do not have a plan, we will end up each day defeated and demoralised. It can seem that we have accomplished nothing. And sometimes, we really accomplish nothing because all we have done is fire fighting! Being proactive is always better than being reactive.
What is our goal?
So how? As my children like to ask me.
That’s when priorities come in. We need to prioritise! But how? First we need to know our goals – for ourselves and our family. Then we need to write out how we can achieve that. Then we can set up a list according to each item’s importance in helping us achieve our goals.
Some examples :
#1 – What is our goal in staying home? So that we can impart our values to our children? But we spend most of our time cooking and cleaning while we plonk them infront of the tv (not you, of course!) then how are we accomplishing the goal of imparting our values to them? We need to make sure that our choices each day help us to fulfil and not distract us from achieving our goals.
#2 – As Christian parents, I believe we all want our children to be saved and serving the Lord (I know I do!) and want them to develop godly character. But what are we doing to show them the way? Are we living and breathing our faith daily? Is our passion for the livng God real to them? Or is He just a God to be worshipped on Sundays and in church only?
Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “You shall teach them (God’s law, God’s way) diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Are we doing what the Bible says we are to be doing? Is that our priority? Or is bringing the children to enrichment classes and fun activities more important? I am not saying that enrichment classes are not good and that our children cannot have any fun. But if it takes top priority in our schedule when we say that our goal is developing godly character and saving their souls, then obviously something is not right.
Priorities help us focus on what’s important and what’s less important and what’s “nice to have”.
The Bible tells us,
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16
So let us not waste our time on things that have no eternal value.