We now have more time on earth than any generation since the Patriarchs. The average life span in America is today twice that of George Washington’s day. An American male may expect to live to be 70.75; an American female, 77.1.¹ We are pushing Moses’ “threescore and ten” a little higher each year (Psalm 90:10). The average workweek has decreased markedly, too. In 1910, the official American workweek was fifty hours; it is now thirty-eight hours.² Unlike our grandparents, we do not have to be in the fields “at the break of day” to work until the sun goes behind the western trees. We get to places faster and communicate with others at the speed of cyberspace. Yet we still say, “We don’t have enough time.” In fact, ninety percent of people claim less free time today than just three years ago.

The paradox is: “Nobody has enough time, but everybody has all the time there is.” The first two steps to gaining more time had nothing to do with externals. They took place in our minds. The third step transfers the mental work to paper.

Good Times Goals are Essential to Glorifying God.

We might not agree with him otherwise, but Pope John XXII gave the world a good thought when he said, “Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage.” It is useless to discuss saving time with a person who has no ambition to use time in worthwhile endeavors. J. A. Vanhorn quipped, “To the philosopher, time is one of the fundamental quantities. To the average man, time has something to do with dinner.” What motivation does a couch potato or a web surfer have to gain an extra hour a day? (It would just be a couple more sitcoms or a few more exchanges in some chat room.) But a person who values time and wants to glorify God with his/her life will have something profitable to do with time saved.

John Alexander said, “I suppose that the worst thing we can do with our lives is actively pursue wickedness: oppression, rape, hatred—they are hideous. But doing things that don’t matter is nearly as bad. God created us as wonderful beings, capable of loving, caring, growing. And what do we do most of the time? Nothing. We’re intended to grow into ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13). We’re meant to be like trees planted by rivers of water, like redwoods (Psalm 1:3). We’re intended to treat others as we’d like to be treated ourselves (Matthew 7:12). But instead we go about our daily routines, rarely asking whether what we’re doing matters. Most of the time, we’re redwoods transplanting ourselves to the desert.”³

“Don’t just mark time; use time to make your mark.”

Good Time Goals are Ambitious.

Plan BIG! Jesus said, “…with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Saul predicted that David would do “great things” (1 Samuel 26:25), which he did, as we can when we have the same faith in the same God. David was not afraid to be ambitious. As a teen, he faced a giant in a battle to the death (1 Samuel 17)—and soon towered over a decapitated corpse. As a young king he picked the impregnable Zion as his capital—and soon sat his throne there (2 Samuel 5). As an older man, he meticulously planned a beautiful temple for God—the like of which had never been seen among God’s people (1 Chronicles 28). Paul, too, set ambitious goals. He wanted to preach where Christ had not been named (Romans 15:20), and after making a considerable time investment, was able to say that the Gospel was preached “…to every creature…under heaven” (Colossians 1:23). The disciples, though barely above a dozen in number at the time, were commanded to carry the Good News. They were not told to tell it to Jerusalem—a whole city—which would have been a pretty big assignment. They were not told to cover the whole province of Judea, or even the whole country of Palestine. They were not limited to the whole empire of Rome’s Caesar. They were commanded to take the Gospel to the whole world in every generation (Mark 16:15,16). That’s thinking big!

Be ambitious! It is important in time management that we set worthy goals. Projects have a way of filling up the time allotted them, so by having many things to do, we tend not to waste too much time on any one project. Most people could do much more than they have ever imagined. With God, a little can soon become a lot (Deuteronomy 32:30; 1 Samuel 14:6). It is possible to over-do it, of course, but most err on the under-do-it side.

Good Time Goals Take Into Consideration the Pareto Principle.

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist (1848-1923) who devised the 80/20 Principle. He calculated that 80% of progress comes from 20% of efforts. Conversely, 80% of tasks yield only 20% of the results. In a list of ten tasks, two will accomplish more than the other eight combined. In a business, 80% of profits come from 20% of clients. You likely wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time and talk to the same 20% of people 80% of the time. Twenty-percent of mail yields 80% of the value obtained.⁴ The trick to getting the most accomplished, then, is to focus on that which brings the greatest return. If the ark were sinking, Pareto would advise Noah to get the elephants off before the gnats. Good stewardship of our time requires discipline—focusing more on “elephants” and less on “gnats.” Solomon said, “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established…” (Proverbs 24:3), or we could say, “by wisdom is a worthwhile life planned.” God has given each of us talents—something we are especially good at (cf. Matthew 25:14-31). If we can focus on the one or two things we do best instead of dabbling at many things, we will likely spend our time much more wisely.

Good Time Goals are Attainable and Measurable.

Human nature being what it is, if we have no particular objective to accomplish on a given day, we tend to meander around rather aimlessly. As you write out your time goals remember that a goal is different from a dream. A dream is a picture of the world the way we want it and a goal is a picture of the world the way we are willing to work to make it. Unspecific goals, “I want to use my time better,” or, “I want to pray more each day;” or unreasonable goals, “I’m going to limit my sleep to four hours a night so I can get more done” are unproductive in the long run. Thus, “I want to spend a half hour each night reading the New Testament,” is better than, “I want to read my Bible more.”

Good Time Goals are Written and Accountable.

“Put it on paper,” otherwise it never becomes “real.” Make a covenant with yourself and keep it. Tell your spouse or a friend your goals, and encourage them to ask you about them. Build in deadlines, too. Write down: “I want to have this done by ___.”

By the way, what were your goals for today?⁵

Endnotes:

1 National Center for Health Statistics

2 World Press Review, 10/91.

3 The Other Side (May 1987).

4 Time Management, Marc Mancini, p. 36

5 Remember, if we aim at nothing, we are likely to hit it.