Overcommitted and Underproductive

Lets face it, most of us are busy- too busy!

We are busy with the must-attend meetings, demands of family and friends and work, with daily routines that require attention… there is not much time left for “important” things.

Important things are the things that move us forward. Things that result in accomplishment. They are the measurable productive parts of our lives. I’m not suggesting that family, friends and work are not important. Rather that when life is just one activity after another it does feel empty after awhile. To balance this off I am also not suggesting that everything in life must be a measurable accomplishment but we do need some.

There is a lot of hidden tension between “busy” and “productive”. These two are not necessarily the same thing.

I’m sure you’ve had those days when you ran and rushed through the day, with barely enough time to take a deep breath- but at the end for that day, there wasn’t much measurable accomplished. You were just surviving from crisis to crisis or event to event.

The end result of this kind of living is stress- lots of stress. Plus fatigue, frustration and just plain tired- unusually tired.

Measurable accomplishment on the other hand, energizes and satisfies.

How do you get a handle of this?

PLAN EFFECTIVELY

You need to take time to plan. By planning, I don’t mean planning what to do with your time or just writing a “things to do list”. Most busy people already do that. It does help!

But rather determine what projects you need to get done- or what’s really important. Decide what people are really important and why. The people who are important to you need some quality time from you.

SCHEDULE YOUR ENERGY

Schedule the best energy of your day to that work or you’ll never get the important stuff done. If you are a morning person, do what’s IMPORTANT in the morning. If you’re an evening person, do your creative, important things in the evening.

PRIORITIZE

Prioritize meetings based where and when decisions will be made. Don’t have meetings just for the sake of meetings. Make them productive, decision-making events. If you get placed on a committee you did not choose, press everyone toward decisions, and not just discussion. For everyday activity think “important.”To prioritize is to define why this is important, why it’s important to you and why it’s important now.

MAKE IT MATTER TO YOU

You may say, “This really does not matter to me. I get paid, I go to work, it doesn’t really matter what I do for my company.”

“I have a ministry activity and I just do it. I do what I am told and let others do the thinking and decision-making.”

To live like this is deadly. By deadly I mean, your life has no heart. Activity has replaced initiative, creativity, enthusiasm and forward looking. Nothing ever feels accomplished, it’s just another day.

The problem with this. Without measurable accomplishment in work or ministry, you’ll eventually lose your drive and your energy will be diminished- and I might add, maybe even your health.

Make life important!

The stress of the routine without rewards will wear you out.

BOTTOM LINE:

If you don’t get done what needs to be done, you may well be overcommitted but underproductive.

CHANGE SOMETHING AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!