In every day jaunts of life, we find work, friends, family, commitments becoming more taxing as we get older. The demands of sports and leisure activities seems to be speeding up instead of slowing down. For some of us, we like this kind of pressure and for others we become quickly overwhelmed. As for me, in my house, it depends on the subject: Things that I love to do are easy for me to be fully active and things that I have to do or may be required to do for family sake may have a different approach (just being honest here). That being said, I find myself sometimes letting my life lead me instead of me leading my life.One of our pastors put this quote up on Facebook today,

“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” Charles Spurgeon

This got me thinking about leaving your legacy. So here it goes:

My top 10 ways to be more efficient with your time:

Make a priority list - mine (a daily battle) is to put God, Family, Church, Work and community in that order and to understand what my role is as Husband, Father, Elder and Leader means
Make a to do list - each day make a list of things that have to be done, would like to be done, and little things that would be the gravy (note: The key here is if it doesn't get done - don't panic)
Follow through - follow through on what you say you are going to do (and do it)
Limit your Media - limit the TV, social media and computer time (this is one area where i realize that a lot of time is wasted
Encourage others - put positive people, influences (the word of God and Prayer), habits in your life. The old adage of what goes in comes out (aka Garbage in = Garbage Out) having negativity around you and negative people can be draining. You might have a better chance by hanging a 500 pound weight around your neck and trying to swim to shore from 5 miles out.
Set Goals - Set goals for yourself, for you and your wife (work together on vision, dreams aspirations and make them realities) Short term goals are now to 1 year, medium term goals are 1 to 5 years and long term goals are 5 to 10 years. Revisit these goals and tweak them as necessary and as life's circumstances evolve.
Read the Word daily - there is so much truth in this Bible and by doing such we yield to the Holy Spirit who molds us into what God wants us to be
Exercise - this is key and critical to efficiency. When the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus's day tried to trap him, they asked him, "Rabbi, what is the greatest commandment" Jesus simply responded to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, body soul and strength and the second is just like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself. By being emotionally, spiritually and physically fit - you can pave the way to better efficiency with your life.
Pray continuously - I have already listed this, but let me say it again, pray continuously by asking the Lord to reveal to you the things which you need to do, to let go of and to rid yourself daily of in order to be the man (or woman if you are reading this) that God wants you to become.
Comfort, Urge and Encourage - comfort, urge and encourage others around you to live a life worthy of God. By creating a positive and Godly community around you, love will shine and efficiency will be one of its fruits.

What are some of your top 10? And why?

Blessings,

Dante