{"id":3070,"date":"2012-09-07T07:09:20","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T11:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3070"},"modified":"2012-09-07T07:36:16","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T11:36:16","slug":"making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Making the most of your time&#8211;Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/vienna-clock.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"Vienna Clock\" src=\"https:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/vienna-clock.jpg?w=137&amp;h=181\" alt=\"\" width=\"137\" height=\"181\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Making the most of my time often means a few easy steps that I\u2019ve found works; and many time-management professionals agree. \u00a0Here are ten top ways that may help you manage your time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Prepare<\/strong>\u00a0yourself physically and mentally. \u00a0In the days I was writing,\u00a0my office was a spare bedroom. \u00a0Nevertheless,\u00a0I found that I took my job more seriously if I simply got dressed to \u201cgo to the office.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set a<\/strong>\u00a0daily goal. \u00a0Because I was writing professionally at the time, I set a goal of three completely finished and edited type-written words each day.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/messy-writer.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"messy writer\" src=\"https:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/messy-writer.jpg?w=510\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a>Make your goals obtainable and simple. \u00a0My goal of 600 words each day was easily obtainable and I found that I almost never did ONLY 600 words. \u00a0Doing more than my goal gave me an even greater sense of accomplishment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Work out<\/strong> a daily schedule. \u00a0Even though it\u2019s been about 30 years since I began this time management routine, I\u2019ve found that the method of working out a daily schedule for myself has allowed me to accomplish far more than I would have ever dreamed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Accomplish<\/strong> one task at a time. \u00a0When my husband was once asked, \u201cHow has your wife accomplished so much?\u201d \u00a0He said, \u201cThat\u2019s easy. \u00a0She only does one thing at a time. \u00a0She completes one task before she moves to the next.\u201d \u00a0In all honestly, I always felt this was a detriment; but as I analyzed his statement, I began to feel that perhaps he was correct. \u00a0The Lord had taken what I felt was a drawback and turned it into an asset.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t let the magnitude<\/strong> of the overall project deter you from the daily scheduled tasks. \u00a0When we begin a large endeavor, it is important to not be overcome with the fact that this is a \u201cbig job.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/one-arm-method.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"one arm method\" src=\"https:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/one-arm-method.jpg?w=300&amp;h=282\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"282\" \/><\/a><strong>Don\u2019t look<\/strong> at the overall \u201cbig job\u201d but settle to bite off one small piece at a time. \u00a0As a young mother, I often turned on the soap operas during my afternoon breaks. \u00a0In one episode an older woman was knitting a sweater while she and a friend talked. \u00a0The friend was much younger. \u00a0 The young woman asked her knitting friend, \u201cHow can you knit a whole sweater?\u201d \u00a0The older woman stopped knitting. \u00a0She smiled and replied, \u201cOh, I never knit a whole sweater. \u00a0I knit one arm, then a second arm, then a yolk and so on until at the end I have a sweater.\u201d \u00a0I really felt this was a word of wisdom given to me from the Lord. \u00a0I\u2019ve used the One Arm Method ever since.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep a list<\/strong> of the things you must accomplish in a day. \u00a0Then mark off the things you finish as they are completed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make each<\/strong> task a game. \u00a0A friend told me that she had struggled for years with completing her tasks until she was a mother. \u00a0To help my son, I made every working task a game for him. \u00a0\u201dI\u2019d set the timer and see how many toys he could put up in a minute. \u00a0Many times he and I would compete. \u00a0I found it worked so well for him that also started making my tasks a game. \u00a0My daily tasks didn\u2019t become exactly fun but they were easier,\u201d she reported. \u00a0I loved the idea and started playing at my work from that day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t let<\/strong> interruptions destroy your concentration on the task at hand. \u00a0In the office, I find that almost all my interruptions are phone calls. \u00a0With the cell and cordless phones, it is much easier to keep stride and continue to work even when interruptions come.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Naturally, you have your own list of tricks that have worked for you. \u00a0What are they? \u00a0Share with us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making the most of my time often means a few easy steps that I\u2019ve found works; and many time-management professionals agree. \u00a0Here are ten top ways that may help you manage your time. Prepare\u00a0yourself physically and mentally. \u00a0In the days I was writing,\u00a0my office was a spare bedroom. \u00a0Nevertheless,\u00a0I found that I took my job&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,3,40,186,49,16,8,4],"tags":[690,21,688,7,165,699,701,694,507,6,461],"class_list":["post-3070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-eliminating-stress","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-knitting","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-time-management"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Making the most of your time-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making the most of your time-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Making the most of my time often means a few easy steps that I\u2019ve found works; and many time-management professionals agree. \u00a0Here are ten top ways that may help you manage your time. Prepare\u00a0yourself physically and mentally. \u00a0In the days I was writing,\u00a0my office was a spare bedroom. \u00a0Nevertheless,\u00a0I found that I took my job&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-07T11:09:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-09-07T11:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/vienna-clock.jpg?w=137&amp;h=181\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making the most of your time-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making the most of your time-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Making the most of my time often means a few easy steps that I\u2019ve found works; and many time-management professionals agree. \u00a0Here are ten top ways that may help you manage your time. Prepare\u00a0yourself physically and mentally. \u00a0In the days I was writing,\u00a0my office was a spare bedroom. \u00a0Nevertheless,\u00a0I found that I took my job&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-most-of-your-time-part-2.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-09-07T11:09:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-09-07T11:36:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/09\/vienna-clock.jpg?w=137&amp;h=181"}],"author":"Linda G. 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