One of my colleagues recently pointed me to the blog of Barry Werner, whose background includes serving as director of operations for World Wide Pictures at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In his entries, Werner has been walking through the Old Testament and considering how different leadership principles are represented in the passages he reads.
One of his recent posts—which he relates to Numbers 33—addresses the issue of self-discipline. He's primarily talking about time management, and I found this line to be the most helpful:
The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing.
An urgent task, after all, is easy to discern. All you have to know is the deadline, and how much time will be needed to accomplish it. In fact, an urgent task is almost impossible to ignore.
But an important task—well, to discern that requires a bigger-picture perspective, something quickly lost on a busy afternoon. Without a concrete deadline to remind us or compel us, we let it slide. So what do you do to clarify your daily priorities and stick to them?
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Comments
I find it very helpful to make a list my priorities in order first thing in the morning and carry it in my pocket throughout my day. When I find myself wasting time doing nothing, I reach in my pocket and check to see what I can do to be more productive.
Posted by: wolf rhino | June 22, 2009 1:39 AM
I personally utilize the system outlined in David Allen's book " Getting Things Done" and coach leaders to employ many of the same principles outlined therein. In short, I keep all of my to do's on a list and then review the list weekly to set my weekly & daily priorities within a longer term plan.
Planning around a vision/mission statement, annual & quarterly plans, and then finally monthly/weekly/daily schedules help me choose how everything in my life fits together.
Posted by: Janna Rust | June 23, 2009 10:02 PM
Thanks for sharing your tips with us!
Posted by: Tim | June 29, 2009 8:47 AM