The Practical Disciple

Balancing Life

Stressed? Fatigued? Overcommitted? Not quite as productive as you know you could be? Do you want to read the bible or prayer more but don’t know when you will ever find the time? Are you neglecting your physical health or your family? Is clutter consuming your space and your sanity? I find it hard to believe that this is what God desires for us. In fact, being disorganized, stressed, living at a rushed pace can have some very damaging spiritual effects. The good news is that these are common problems with some simple concrete solutions. Simple does not necessarily mean easy because it takes some effort to change behavior. Nevertheless, by building on small successes one day and sometimes one minute at a time you can bring greater sanity into your life and pump of your productivity. Most important of all you can make time for seeking first the kingdom. Now about the course…
 
The ‘Time to Change’ mini-course is a collection of 15 videos containing practical time management solutions, tips for decluttering your life, and more. The individual videos are brief, all less than 10 minutes, some less than 5 minutes. Collectively these 15 videos contain over an hour and a half of instruction. There are also text and audio versions available for each lesson as well. When you sign-up to receive the free lessons you will receive them every other day for 30 days. Work at your own pace though. It is best to pick one or two things and get really good at them before tackling all of the solutions at once.
 

Why I am offering time management solutions on a blog about discipleship

People’s lives are chaotically out of balance. I see numerous people stressed and overcommitted to the point that God is crowded out of (or at least to the edge of) their lives. This is a huge spiritual problem. I think it is very hard to serve God excellently and honor Christ fully if you are stressed, fatigued, disorganized, and unfocused. I know that has been true for me. Furthermore, all the spiritual disciplines in the world are not going to help you grow in your relationship with God, if you don’t have time to use them. I am hoping that the ‘Time to Change’ mini-series can both free up time and alleviate stress so that people can be more fully available to God and their families.
 

So What’s in the Course?

I gathered together all of the ‘best of the best’ time management solutions that I have personally used and therefore know work. I have not only included time management solutions, but lots of tips to help you declutter your life and reduce stress. For example, lesson 8 deals with eliminating what I call ‘irritants’. Irritants are those incomplete tasks that you know you should do, but never seem to get to. Irritants are silent sources of stress and drain energy. In lesson 8 you learn how to rapidly eliminate unfinished tasks. In the last 30 days, I have knocked out 11 of 25 unfinished tasks that have been stressing me for months. I explain exactly how I did it in the video. Or for another example, Have you ever wished you were better at saying, “no”? Lesson 11 explores common reasons people say ‘yes’ when they really don’t want to. In lesson 11 you learn why you should give yourself permission to say no and how to do it. These are just a couple of examples of the numerous topics addressed in the 15 videos.
 

How to get the lessons?

Sign-up using the box below or the box in the right side bar. This sign-up is distinct from a normal subscription to The Practical Disciple. I will not be posting the lessons as normal posts. The only way to receive them is to sign-up specifically for the ‘Time to Change’ mini-course. Once you have entered your name and email address you will be sent a brief email to confirm your request.
 

Below is a list of the 15 topics that are currently in the series.

• Lesson 1–The Big Five: Creating a Workable To-Do List.
• Lesson 2–Interruptions: Eliminating and Managing Interruptions to Increase Productivity
• Lesson 3– Scheduling: Creating Priority and Margin
• Lesson 4–Living in Ideal Time vs. Idealized Time
• Lesson 5–Eliminating Clutter One Bag at a Time
• Lesson 6–Ordering Clutter with the 10 Minute Tidy and TRAF.
• Lesson 7–Sabbath Basics: Establishing a Pattern for Rest and Holiness
• Lesson 8–Irritants: Ruthlessly Eliminating Unfinished Tasks
• Lesson 9– Goals: Goal Setting Basics
• Lesson 1o–Evaluate: The Importance of a Daily Inventory
• Lesson 11–How to Say No
• Lesson 12–Batch Processing for Greater Efficiency
• Lesson 13–The Chore Deck, an Almost Effortless System for Keeping a Clean House
• Lesson 14–Keeping it Altogether with a Planner
• Lesson 15–Establishing and Repeating a Weekly System

 
Blessings to you as you seek to establish a more Godly rhythm to life.