by Sue Forde | Oct 26, 2023 | Time Management, work
Have you ever found yourself thinking, where did the day go? Why didn’t I get the stuff done today that I had planned to do? In today’s world of internet, it is so easy to get distracted and off onto what I can “bunny trails”. Scattered thinking. It happens to me, too.
Life is a gift, Life is short, Life is a vapor. Live a good life – Be thankful for each day. Enjoy the blessing of each new day, living each day thankfully and gratefully, not living in the past or taking life for granted.
Here’s what I’m doing to help get my daily “to do” list done:
- Start the day with prayer, asking God for wisdom and guidance throughout the day to first and foremost do His will.
- “Write” a “TO DO” list for the day. I like to wake up, pray, get my morning shower and coffee, then sit at the kitchen table and write the list of things I want to get done “today”.
- If you must get on the internet (to get your mail, etc.), give it a time limit, say of 30 minutes, and set a timer. Then scan first to see if anything needs your “urgent” attention and address those first; if you run out of time, leave the rest until after your chores are done.
- Start working on “doing” what is on your list. If other things pop into your head that you need to do, start a separate list, to be broken out later as to when you will assign time to do those. Same with long-term projects. (We’ll address this later.)
- There will be distractions; there is no avoiding them. However, keep your list in a prominent place, and try to keep those distractions to things that are absolutely “necessary” – like a phone call from a friend who needs to talk, etc. – and then get right back on your list.
- Don’t make your list so long that it can’t easily be completed during the day, allowing for some distractions.
- Once this becomes a daily habit, it gets easier.
- In the evening, address what you couldn’t get done during the day, and carry them over to the next day. This is when you can look at the notes you’ve written about “other” things to do and/or projects, and sort those into categories as to importance.
- Also in the evening, you can review the balance of your emails and new ones that have come in. Unsubscribe to any that you don’t want or have the time to read or address. Plan your upcoming projects – bigger ones (like house or car maintenance), and smaller ones. Think about how important they really are, and plan to take care of the more important, pressing ones first. Write it down. It helps to have it written to refer to during the day – and weeks, if a major project – to keep us on track.
- End the day in prayer and with gratitude to God, and a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is another day.
Prayer: Lord, may I make the best use of my short time here for your purpose and glory. Please grant me the wisdom and direction for each day of my life, so that I can best serve You and the individuals you put in my life. Give me a loving and understanding heart. Thank you for all You do in my life, each and every day. Amen.
by Sue Forde
by Shauna Millar | May 13, 2019 | encouragement, ethics, work
How do you value your employees? How do you value yourself as an employee? or an employer? Are you paying out what you are worth or what your employees are worth? How do you determine the value of someone who does work for you?
Whether you are in the service industry, behind a counter or doing physical labor, or sitting behind a desk, your time is valuable. However, if you don’t value your employees they will go elsewhere. Even the Bible has stated a workman is worth his due. In other words, if you have an employee that you value, you need to pay them accordingly.
This is an area where we fall short. Sometimes, you do pay an employee accordingly but you miss out on the opportunity to praise them for their work. Or you praise them for their work, but you don’t show it via their pay. Finding a balance can be hard. If you are a small company or self-employed, you may think “I can’t afford to pay someone more”. Maybe you don’t even have any employees, but you aren’t treating yourself accordingly. You are working yourself too hard and not rewarding yourself by taking some downtime. You feel like you have to press forward to keep in front of the bills, etc.
The problem with this system of ‘burning your candle at both ends of the stick’ is that you will eventually burn out and not be good to anyone. Finding balance in your life by rewarding yourself for a job well done is both important and beneficial. Making time for your loved ones, for your pets, for your friends also helps you keep your stress levels down. Sure you may worry even while you are out having fun. However, it will be greatly over-shadowed and sometimes you may find yourself relaxed enough for creativity to strike giving you ideas on how to farther grow your business.
If you have grown your business to a point where you have hired others to help you, make sure that you are paying them what they are worth. If you have an employee who isn’t doing much then they shouldn’t be receiving much. However, if you have an employee who is going beyond what you are asking then you need to find ways to reward them or face the possibility that they will become disgruntled and either not do as much or find a job that does value them. Words are great. Praise is appreciated. Making sure that they know you appreciate what they are doing is important. However, if they continue to go beyond you need to look at what you are paying them and if you can give them a raise; before they ask. Which puts you both in an awkward position. Or at the very least a bonus with an “I would like to pay you more but right now we can’t afford it, as soon as we can, I plan on giving you a raise.” Or perhaps you can give a time frame that you will be able to pay them more.
If you have one employee who is doing the work of two and one employees who isn’t doing anything. Perhaps it is time to get rid of the dead weight and pay the one who is working hard more money. In our current day and age, with the cost of living going up all the time, not appreciating your employees and giving them there due is a good way to help them move one step closer to the door. Don’t be surprised, if you are under-paying someone, when they walk out and find a job somewhere else with more room for growth and fiscal soundness.
