A few days ago, Dave Ramsey tweeted, or someone else quoted him that we should, “Plan our work, and work our plan.” This nugget of advice couldn’t have been more timely for me as things are really getting busy for summer. We just finished a ski trip, and are looking at summer camp registrations, a mission trip, a church-wide fundraising bazaar, another youth fund raiser, a Relay for Life cancer walk, volunteer ethics training, plus the number of other directions in which I’m being pulled with people asking me to assist them or examine something in the church. After a while, it just all piles up! And if you are like me, you might start one thing, and just quit working on it when you remember something else that needs to be done somewhere else.
But when I found that quote from Dave, it reminded me of a helpful little friend I’ve been neglecting for a while; my to-do list. There was a time where I lived and died by the things I put on my list every morning, but somehow over the years, I just quit doing it. But having been re-introduced to this old friend, I’m now more focused. I attack each task, rather than just getting around to it when I think about it.
Maybe it’s a list in your smartphone. Maybe it’s a post-it note on your desk. Whatever you do, write it or type it where you can see it. You might even get detailed and place short-term tasks first, long-term tasks later. You may want to sort them by priority according to size and scope or deadline. However you do it, you’ll find your days are a lot more productive and free up more time to focus on things that aren’t immediate concerns.
How do you stay focused when you have a lot of different things on your plate?
