Time management is not a struggle

Ever after reading the book Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor with community members, we became so enthusiastic that we turned a couple of things around in the community and made this book our guide on how to deal with time management.

‘Cause we know, once you become a solopreneur, time can be your friend or your enemy.
And it quickly turns into your enemy. Which is something we want to avoid at all costs.

The good thing is, this book—Redeeming Your Time—is stooled on biblical principles and actual scripture. In this blog, I’ll explain one concept of time management that has changed things drastically in managing my day. But not only for me, it was also very effective for others in the community.

THE time management hack!

To give you a bit of context of what my weeks look like:

Right now, I’m married to a man with a busy job, I’m a mom of a toddler who goes to daycare twice a week and I work part-time. I use those two days to work as hard as I can on the Born to Fly community and on my writing career. The others days are for house chores and raising my kid to be a good citizen.

If you know anything about parenthood, you know that things don’t always go according to plan, so bear with me. What I’m going to share with you in this episode is not set in stone, things do get messy and then it doesn’t always work out as I planned, but mostly though, it does! And for me, the most important thing is that I can use my time in the most effective way so I can have the most impact possible.

Now let me introduce you to this weird idea of time management. In order to get more work done, I schedule more breaks!

What?

That’s what I thought when I read about it.

But, I’m serious.

Apparently, our brain can focus for about 60 to 90 minutes on a specific task, depending on how well-trained your brain is. After those minutes, it’s best to give your brain a break and do something else. That means, if you work with your hands, do something that requires some good brain muscle activity, and if you work behind a laptop, do something more physical. 

The result is that you become more productive because you use your brain when it’s at its best.

So, schedule your day in 60 or 90-minute blocks. And then add 5 to 15-minute breaks in between.

If you don’t believe me, just try it.

I’ve done many big projects using this method, like writing the Born to Fly YouVersion Bible plan, or writing my 3rd novel.

What to do with those breaks, you might think?

Well, that’s the good part. You can do stuff you have to do anyway.

Go for a walk for instance. Everybody needs physical movement.

Or, if you work from home like me, clean up the dishes, prep dinner for the night, or fold your laundry… THIS honestly had been the greatest epiphany for me.

Little side note: don’t pick up your phone and start scrolling through your socials. This does not contribute to a rested brain.

So, time management doesn’t have to be a struggle. We know that Jesus managed His time perfectly. He knew when to withdraw and spend time with His Father, and He knew when to move on to the next village even though people kept showing up to be healed. He knew His mission and thus He knew what to focus on and when.

Jesus had the same 24 hours in a day.

He had limited time on earth for His mission.

So there are no excuses.

And since we want to be like Jesus, let’s be like Jesus.

Let’s make time management something fun and exciting instead of a struggle, resulting in something effective so that we can use our time for God’s glory! 

Warmly,
Jane
Founder of Born to Fly

P.s. If you want to read more about time management techniques, check this out.