Time is fleeting, and most people know others who have regrets about how they have invested their allotment.
If Church members are not careful, they can get caught in time traps of procrastination, lack of focus, misplaced priorities, hurry and worry - the "thick of thin things," according to LDS time management consultant Hyrum W. Smith.Church members are told in scripture to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness." (D&C 58:27.)
The challenge is that often Latter-day Saints are engaged in many good causes - including family activities and parenthood, Church service, community work, politics and government service, education and personal development, preparedness and home production/storage, career demands, physical fitness, and recreation and hobbies.
Successfully balancing those many demands requires careful long- and short-term planning and prioritizing, as well as a constant review of one's values, according to Smith.
"It is important to manage time to accomplish the things in your life that are most important to you," he explained.
"Like a pyramid, you start with the governing values, then build long- and short-range goals based on that foundation. The final portion of the pyramid is what we call the daily task list. A person sits down for a few minutes in the morning and asks the question, `What am I going to do today of real value to me?' When long- and short-range goals start getting into that daily task list and reflecting the highest priorities in peoples' lives, they are doing what they said was important, and feel good about it. Their self-esteem goes up."
Smith, a former mission president and member of the St. George 3rd Ward, St. George Utah West Stake, said that bringing in line what a person does with what he really values results in inner peace - especially when those values are in line with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Guilt and unhappiness result when a person does something different than what his value system dictates. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17.)
"Time management is no more than identifying the events in our lives that can be controlled, and taking that control," Smith emphasized. "There are a lot of studies that indicate that there's a causal relationship between self-worth and productivity. If productivity goes up, then so does self-worth - and vice versa. It's a spiral that can go up or down. If I can learn to be more productive, organized and do things that are important to me, than the natural by-product is happiness."
To get organized, Smith suggests setting aside a few minutes each morning and making a daily plan. "It's not necessarily a structured plan, it means prioritizing. Ask, `What are the most important things I can do today?' "
He countered the notion that daily planning hinders spontaneity. "When people have a daily system that works, they usually end up with more free time than they had before. A lot of people schedule time just to think or to otherwise relax. There's a big difference between being productive and being busy. Daily planning based on goals and values is the key to people being in control of their lives."
(ADDITIONAL STORY
Importance of wise time use is emphasized in scriptures
Time flies on wings of lightning;
We cannot call it back.
It comes, then passes forward
Along its onward track.
And if we are not mindful,
The chance will fade away,
For life is quick in passing.
'Tis as a single day.
("Improve the Shining Moments," Hymns, p. 226.)
Time - mentioned almost 1,400 times in the standard works - is the essence of mortality, the "stuff" of which life is made.
And with the advent of the new year, vows to become better organized are commonplace - for good reason. All will be accountable to the Lord for what they do with their time on earth. The prophet Amulek taught,"...for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness, where there can be no labor performed." (Alma 34:33, italics added.)
If people fail to master their time in this life, it may be too late. It seems the measurement of time could be only a mortal phenomenon, as Alma explained, "...time only is measured unto men." (Alma 40:8, italics added.)
Time is a gift from the Lord, Alma also recorded, wherein His children can learn to become more like Him.
"And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to report, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God." (Alma 42:4.)
Too quickly, lives can pass away "like as it were unto us a dream..." (Jacob 7:26.) Each spent minute is gone forever. It should be invested more carefully than gold, one philosopher said, because a fortune lost can be reclaimed, but time lost cannot.
There are different demands on peoples' time at various stages of life. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecc. 3:1.)
But consistent throughout a person's lifetime is the command: "Thou shalt not idle away thy time..." (D&C 60:13.)
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Five principles of time management
There is an adage that "time is money," but it's a whole lot more than that, according to Jack Kelley, president of a Salt Lake City-based executive consulting firm.
Kelley adheres to the notion that, "Time is the currency our Creator gave us to purchase the things we want."
"Everything anybody does or acquires is done at the expense of some amount of time," he explained.
Kelley shared five time-management principles he said have proven successful with many people throughout the world.
Clarify long-range goals - If you don't know what you want or want to become tomorrow, you don't know what you need to do today.
Order priorities - All time-management problems are created by a failure to prioritize. At any point in time, there is only one most important thing to do. The trick is to find it and do it. People who are successful haven't mastered the art of focusing on three or four things at once; they have mastered the art of focusing their concentration on the single most important thing at that moment.
Stop doing some things - Eighty percent of results are achieved with 20 percent effort. Therefore, a person expends 80 percent of effort achieving 20 percent of results. Cut out those things that don't matter, and focus on those things that do.
Learn the art of flexible planning - Don't exchange being a slave to circumstance for being a slave to a plan. Recognize opportunities when you see them.
Do it now - The "Do-it-now" concept comes after confirming that something is part of your goals.
After confirming that a task is the right thing to do, that is the right time to do it - after you have cleared out some unimportant activity so you will have time to do it, and after you have allowed yourself the flexibility to do it right the first time.
