Time Management

How many times have you heard some old, retired person say, "I'm so busy now that I don't know how I ever had time for work!"

Okay, so I'm not that busy yet, but there is something on my calendar for every day this week and something for every week this month! Granted, some of it is just personal stuff and has nothing to do with work or ministry of any kind, but it's still something that has to be done or someplace that I need to be.

I'm slow, but I have been making the transition to using the calendar on my phone rather than carrying a day planner or pocket calendar. I'm trying to get used to checking it daily but it's still a habit in its formative stages. I know that there are many features on this little device that I carry with me everywhere (my "smarter than me" phone) that I do not use. I think it's kind of a generational thing. Yesterday, I was taking notes on my phone and got a couple of looks from others at the meeting. When I had the chance, I let them know that I was using it to keep notes, not ignoring what was being said.

In any case, I'm curious about how others manage their time. some people seem to be very good time managers while others never seem to get things done. Some work very hard at it. Others make it look easy. Some people take great pride in letting you know how busy they are and why they can't do one more thing. Other very busy people always seem to be able to make time for one more thing.

Calendar, clock, alarms; how do you manage your time?
How do you guard your time? How do you block personal/family time, study time, exercise time, down time?
How do you keep from wasting time?

Without that eight hour work day, the hour and a half of travel time and the get ready for work time, I have about ten additional hours to manage on my own. Before, somebody else had control of that time. I want to make it productive. I could use some help in figuring out how to do that.

I know, it's definitely a first world problem...and it's my problem, not yours. Still, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

John <><