What Does The Bible Say About Time Management?

Running a business takes a lot of planning. We’re doing God’s work, so we must align our plans with His. Find out 3 ways to manage your time and a free PDF printable with 8 Bible Verses About Time Management.

Time management.

Do those two piercing words give you brain-freeze, too? I re-wrote this post 4 5 times. If that doesn’t tell you how much I know about time management, I don’t know what will. Time management requires planning, and my mental crystal ball was made of thin glass to begin with, but now it’s just plain shattered.

However, today’s webinar is very helpful, because NACWE member Diane Kephart presents 3 proven methods to help you plan your business operations and manage your time: the 12-Week Year, The One Thing, and Eat That Frog.

Whether you’re trying to get through the next 5 minutes, or if you have a 5-year goal broken down by week, Diane has something you can implement today.

All of our plans must align with Scripture, so I’m happy to show you that Diane’s practical suggestions are also Biblical.

Time Management With The 12-Week Year

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it (Luke 14:28 ESV)?

By planning your year in 12-week increments, you’re forced to consider where you want your business to go and what it will cost to get there. It also cuts complacency and creates a sense of urgency to get more done.

Reflection Question

What are 3 goals you have for your ministry in the next 12 weeks?

Time Management By Choosing Your One Thing

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens
(Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV).

Your lists will always be bottomless, so you have to decide what is most important. There is a time for everything under the Heaven, so we must also discern when the time isn’t now.

Consider the cost of your next decision to weed out what can wait. To put this into practice, Diane recommends a concept from “The One Thing” by Gary Keller.

As you plan, and throughout every day, ask yourself “what one thing can I do right now that by doing it will make everything else easier or unnecessary.”

Gary Keller’s book illustrates that if you live by this principle, your to-do list will fall like dominoes. Just don’t forget to consult God’s perfect timing.

Reflection Question

What one thing can you do right now that by doing it will make everything else easier or unnecessary.

Time Management By Doing The Worst First

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
(Hebrews 12:11)

If you knew you had to eat a frog every day, would you spend your entire day distracted and suffocated by dread, or would you get it done right away so you could move on to a more pleasant and productive day?

The concept behind the book “Eat The Frog” by Brian Tracy is to do the worst things first, so you can stop procrastinating and get more of the important things done.

Reflection Question

Which “frog” will you eat first thing tomorrow morning?

Bonus Tips, My 2 Cents

No matter what time management methods you use, I hope you’ll be guided by the next two verses.

Time Management With Your CEE (Chief Executive of Everything)

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6:33 ESV)

We’re doing God’s work, so we must align our plans with His. The only way to know what God’s plans are is to ask, so begin every planning session my inviting Him in. I’ve offered two example prayers to help you. The second prayer is what I’ve had taped to my laptop for many months.

Lord, I’m making plans, so please join me. I can’t do this without You, nor do I want to. Please show me Your will in the big plans, the little details, and everything in-between. Please dull the decibel of my own ideas so I may discern Your voice. Thank you for choosing me, and for blessing me to do Your work. Amen.

Lord, thank You for the daily gift of Your wisdom. Please help me embrace Your delight to fulfill Your plans according to Your will. Amen.

Reflection Question

Write a prayer asking God to help you with your time management and put it in your planner. (I give you copyright rights to my laptop prayer if you want it!)

Time Management With Your NACWE Sisters

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.
(Proverbs 15:22 ESV)

Running a business takes a lot of forethought, but please know that you are never alone. While God is your CEE, He works both in us and through us. NACWE is about building community and education for Christian Women Entrepreneurs. Whether you’re just vising us today, if you’ve joined us on Facebook, or if you’re a NACWE member, please know that we’re here for you.

Reflection Question

How can we support you in the NACWE community? Please comment below.

Next Steps

My Gift to You: 8 Bible Verses About Time Management Printable

I put together a free printable PDF with 8 Bible Verses About Time Management. It’s a little gift to keep in your planner, so the next time looking ahead makes you freeze, you’ll have God’s word to warm your heart.

Watch the Webinar

NACWE C&E Webinar February 9, 2021 with Diane Kephart: Rigid Flexibility in Time Management

Read The Partner Post

Each week, Karen Lindwall-Bourg and Valerie Riese each write a post for the Community and Education Webinar.

Join Us on Facebook!

For more encouragement, join us on Facebook:
NACWE Freedom Facebook Group
or
Karen Bourg Companies Facebook Group

Valerie Riese

Valerie is a wife, mother, blogger, breast cancer survivor, and virtual assistant. After suffering years of debilitating anxiety, she learned that victory over anxiety comes only through surrender to Jesus. Valerie writes to point women to the Jesus as co-director of Candidly Christian, and as a freelance writer and editor. You can learn more about Valerie at ValerieRiese.com

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

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Celebrate 2020 with NACWE

For the whole month of December, we celebrated our successes and celebrated each other. I love that part of NACWE, don’t you? The camaraderie and synergy we get from one another is great. Not only that, but the support, prayer, advice, and love! It’s a win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win!!! Celebrations galore! You get the point!!!

Celebrate Your Wins; Celebrate Christ

Kim Steadman, one of our Elite Members started us off in the first week by “Celebrating our Wins, Celebrating Christ.” She asked us to write a list of our celebrations. Wow, that got me thinking back on the year and all that I had accomplished in my business with the Lord’s help. All I could say was, “Thank you, Jesus, for ALLLLL that!” There were so many celebration items that I had forgotten about and it was great to be reminded of His goodness, even in the middle of the difficulties of life.

Here’s the Replay!

Celebrate as Your Hear from God

The second week we had NACWE Team Member, Courtenay Collins, bringing us into a time of prayer as we heard directly from God. In the quietness of a busy day, we stopped and told God how grateful we were and we listened to His response to us. Afterward, we shared our unique nudges from the Lord. We were reminded that we are valuable and that God celebrates us! What a way to celebrate!!

Celebrate Your God-given Plans

And December 17th was a life changer for me. We worked through Karen’s Purposeful Planning Workbook as we celebrated all that God has planned for us. As we cranked out plans for the next 12 weeks, we systematically got to what was most important and structured our list as we prayed, planned, and purposefully were productive.

This “Purposeful Planning” Day jazzed me so much I decided to set aside 24 hours over 4 days to crank out my 12-week plan. It worked! I have just a few hours left and am excited to tell you I need to make a new next plan! Just organizing it with the workbook took me from overwhelmed and frozen with so many things to do that I wasn’t moving forward, to streamlining what I needed to do first and foremost and then moving on to what I needed to do each step of the way. And you can bet I am celebrating that I accomplished so much in such a short time.

Celebrate with NACWE

I share all this because I have only been a member of NACWE for part of a year and it has been so instrumental in helping me move my company to a new level. I jumped right into the Pomodoro workspace sessions (join us Mon, Tues, Wed & Thurs mornings), joined the Elite Membership so I could dig into the vault and learn as much as I could, got connected, asked questions, and blessed others in the process.

Joining NACWE has brought energy, fun, connection, laughter, planning, training, love, new ideas, polished deliverables, and more. I really could go on and on sharing about the new friends/entrepreneurs I have met, the conference I got to attend, the movie I wrote at the Lakeside Writing Retreat, the activities I created to help families heal, and the blessing that NACWE has been to me!

Celebrate Leadership

Yes, this is the season of celebration and the one thing I am most excited to celebrate with NACWE is that our leader, Karen Lindwall-Bourg, leads us first and foremost to the Lord. She consistently demonstrates inviting the Lord into everything we do because we do what we do for His glory. We do this as He gives us ideas, passions and goals, He directs and guides us, and He helps us finish what He has given us to do. Actually, we can celebrate because of HIM!

Celebrate a New Year

So as we start another year, may we continue to celebrate all that God has done in our businesses, our homes, our relationships, and our lives! May we continue to “Purposefully Plan” so we bring Him glory and point others to Him!

And Thank You, Karen, for leading the way!

Danika Deva, NACWE Education Coordinator

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