Just do it

Today I am the queen of procrastination.

I have a mountain (unfortunately not really an exaggeration!) of work that I should be doing, papers, figures and text books all over my office, assignments due in, and goodness knows what else but it is all very important & I am avoiding it all like the plaque.

I fell asleep on top of my desk before and considered as I awoke in my pool of drool that I lock the door, turn off the light and curl up under my desk (out of site in case anyone walks past cos oh my gosh how embarrassing!) and go to sleep.

But I didn't. I kinda wish I had. Maybe I wouldn't be so tired now. or maybe I would have be busted and looked like an idiot!

It has been 3 hours since I was last productive in my work today. In that time I have checked my facebook and bebo, looked at the comments on my photography website, had lunch and then something else to eat, said hi to Phil in the tech cafe, pondered over the new bilboard outside SIT (which featured Phil in make up- ok so it was for Cats) checked my facebook (cos a lot can change in 20 minutes) paced in my office, peeled an orange, drank 3 bottles of water and subsequently visited the loo a lot more than I would have liked (and probably more than the people whose offices I have to continuously walk past to get there.)

So. yeah I got a lot done today.

So you're reading this and going well if you have work to do and its important then why don't you just do it? Why are you on the blog?

Good point......

But no, I have a reason for being here (ok so to begin with I was reading a friends blog and then I thought I should see whats been happening here and well ,you get the picture..) This has got me thinking though - along with reading another awesome blog post yesterday Be strong and courageous (http://www.mnssams.blogspot.co.nz/) Why do we always put off the things we know that we should be doing? Likes of our homework or doing the dishes or changing opur undies (hey I don't have a problem with it! Its good to be clean). Think about it. how many times this week have you procrastinated? How about today? was it worth it?

If we can so easily put off the little everyday things, the ordinary things, then how do we react when God gives us something big and extraordinary to do? Will we recognise the significance, the priviledge , how amazing it is that He trusts us - you and me- with something lifechanging for us and others!

But how would we treat it? Will we have to tell God sorry we are unavailable because we are behind in our homework, the house is dirty and we have yet to change our undies - can He call back later at a more convenient time? What if there is no convenient time because we put off so much of the small things that we don't get time for the big stuff? What if its only a split second of a window of opportunity? What it we miis out? What if we aren't prepared?

And if we can't be trusted to do the small things, is our character ready for the larger ones?

hmmmm... interesting thoughts.

I think its time I did some work:)

[RT: edited so spaces were littler... love you honey...]

Numbering our days...

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom. -MKJV

As I was writing this post, I sat down just for a minute (which turned into and hour), and remembered exactly why I was writing this post in the first place.

A lot of the students at school are starting to get stressed as they prepare for exams (or at least think about it...). One of the main time management strategies they employ is to leave it until the last possible moment, then cram. Similarly, in the school holidays, often I sprint around, furiously trying to cram all the relaxation, coffee, and recreation into a two week space in order to make up for the rest of the term.

I've been thinking about the passage in Psalms which tells us to "number our days". Actually, I'm feeling pretty convicted about it (in the biblical sense of the word). I think about some of the biggest time wasters in my life. At the moment, these seem to be the net (surprise surprise), procrastinating in general (the I'll just have a break for five minutes moments), and indecision (What do I feel like doing? What do I want to do?). Also, there's some low importance, high priority tasks which seem to take up a lot of my time.

Who would I be if I was more organised?

What would God use me for?

Did God wire me this way for a reason?

I actually think that the excuse "I'm too busy" doesn't really apply when it comes to the really important things. Why does it seem sometimes that the important stuff always is put on the backburner in order to complete the everyday, menial tasks which we procrastinate over anyway? Lol, is it just me who has had the thought "I'm too busy to pray today?"

Don't get me wrong. As a society, we are probably busier than any that has come before. My argument though is that if it's self-induced, surely there's something we can do about it.

We're only here for a short time. I think it's time I start reclaiming some of the time in my day, and using it to glorify God.

If you're reading this and going "Ok, I'm with you Ray, but what do I do now?", the answer is "I'm not really sure." Sorry! But I think it's going to be something that God's going to journey me through in the coming months.

Any suggestions?

Anyways, here's a couple of links to get you started :)
How to have a 36 hour day
And on a lighter note (I love the instant shirt removal and egg peel most by the way...):
www.waitless.org
Waitless also has a time management calculator, to see where you are spending your time. It's shocking to think I can add weeks to my life, just by dressing more quickly...