Have you ever wondered where all of your time went? Even though I keep a daily agenda that I update regularly and I’m incredibly time conscious, I still have days (more than I’d like to admit) when I wonder what happened to the time. I will literally stare at my open schedule and ask myself, “Now, what did you do from 2:00-5:00PM?” I’m not sure that there’s anything more frustrating.

The Crazy Thing

The crazy thing is I don’t even spend a lot of time on social media! When I’m active on social media, I’ll spend half an hour every morning after my devotional time and prayer checking in with friends, updating my posts, and responding to comments. Analytics say my posts will go further if I engage with the comments immediately, but I just can’t. I just can’t. I found that when I went in every time someone engaged, it actually felt as if it were the opposite. Once I cut that out, I would find X amount of people liked my posts the next day, and it’s not really different, but it psychs my mind into making me believe I have a bigger following or higher engagement than I really do. LOL.

SO WHERE WAS MY TIME GOING?

Time Audits

I decided it was time to do a time audit. It turned out I was vastly underestimating the amount of time that it took to do a project, and I was also spending way more time than I really had on any given project that wasn’t necessarily a priority for the day.

I started setting timers when I decided that I didn’t want to spend long on a minor activity so that I could get out of the weeds, but I also downloaded one of my new favorite apps called Toggl. I’m not getting any residual income for telling you about this app. At all. I just love it!

It’s absolutley free, although you can upgrade if you want, and it helps you to see how much time you’re spending on your projects. It’s golden, and I wish I’d found it faster. Turns out, podcasting is a lot more work than I’d recognized. Taking the time to plan the episodes, pray about the guests, invite the guests, record the episodes, and edit them were all huge time investments, but the biggest one blew my mind! Uploads. Whenever I upload a podcast, my computer moves slower because I’m making multiple uploads on multiple platforms at once (I have an audio and a visual podcast).

What About You?

Are you being kind with yourself or are you blaming yourself for not getting enough done? All of those trips back and forth to the grocery store or the practices can add a lot of time to your day.

• Play an audiobook or a podcast on the ride that can help to speak to a need you have or an area you’re working to improve.
• Download or buy some conversation starters to keep in the car to enjoy some quality time with your kiddos if you’re always out and about.
• Enjoy a podcast or app that helps you breathe more mindfully and focus your intentions so you can get some me time in if the commutes help you transition home or to a new responsibility you have.

This year, we will take control of our time and learn how to prioritize the meaningful over the millions of other things we could be doing because spending extra time at spotlights surfing social is not it. It’s not it, sis. Unless of course, you won’t be getting back to social for the rest of the night. Still, be careful with that.

Let’s Pray

Father God, we’re asking that You help us to identify where we’re spending our time. We don’t want to waste anything that You’ve given us the opportunity to steward and time is the one resource we can’t get back. Our hearts our open and we’re listening. Help us to move beyond this procrastination, this lack of progress, these things that are silently stealing our peace once and for all.

Need a Little Extra Support?

If you’re anything like me, I know you need accountability. Listen in to season three of The Best Kept Secret for a few beautiful productivity tips that will help you recognize where your energy will be best spent. This year, we’re prioritizing the meaningful over the millions of things the world tells us we should be doing. I also have a little newsletter I release every other week to help you keep first things first, too. Let’s do life together.

What on earth are you stepping out on faith to do this year? I’d love to pray for you! Drop a comment below.

PS: Can you remind me to change my Facebook settings so I can stop getting put into all those random groups? Giggle, giggle.