Work-Life Balance for ParentsSýnishorn

Time management is something I often struggle with. As I write this, it is in the middle of the flurry of the Christmas season. I managed to get all the gifts for family, neighbors, and my kid’s teachers. But wait, I also forgot our family Christmas card, a gift for my son’s music teacher, and I’m pretty sure my baked goods for the neighbors didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped.

Every year I tell my husband: we have to start earlier, and every year November turns into December and I think I still have enough time.

Although my forgetfulness is usually worse than others, I do believe I am not alone in poor time management. I also believe I am not alone with the stress and worry that accompanies poor time management.

This is something I work hard on, and I have noticed a few elements that have already helped. Family routines have greatly helped my time management. A weekly schedule of when to clean and when to run errands and a daily schedule of when to do homework and when to go to bed are all examples of better time management. Scheduled breaks also greatly help with stress. When I know I will take a break at a specific time, I can push through and finish a task or complete errands until then.

Jesus also had quite a bit to say on time, and his focus on dealing with worry is applicable here. In Matthew 6, he suggests that we should leave tomorrow’s worries where they belong (in the past), and today has enough worry of its own. When we are tackling a task today, and already worrying about what tasks we have to tackle tomorrow, we create more anxiety and we complete the task of the moment less efficiently.

Jesus also doesn’t want our thoughts to be full of stress and guilt. If we struggle with time management and we don’t manage to complete everything, there is grace to be had. We can work on better time management and try to complete things more efficiently next time, but we can also learn to accept the peace and grace Jesus is always offering us. Life can feel overwhelming at times. Jesus provides in every moment the option to lift our burdens and place them on him and also lift his peace and grace on us. Regardless of how stressful today is, he is also always with us.