I turned 59 on June 7th. It has taken me an extremely long time to realize that my calendar is my friend. During my twenties and thirties I spent a lot of time trying out different time management tools: Day Timers; Day Runners; Covey Planners; and many more. What I found out from that pursuit was it took a lot of effort to organize my life, prioritize my life and then actually carry out the plan for my life based on all that organizing and prioritizing. Too often it didn’t seem important enough to invest the time. My calendar often seemed like my enemy. It wasn’t–I was.
What do I mean by that? I mean that thinking our calendars are our enemy is misguided at best and foolish at worst. A calendar is an inanimate object on which we write or record the plans and priorities of our lives. As leaders we need to be the ones who control our calendars priorities. Often we think that if we’re leaders, we must be accessible to others as much as possible. The truth is if we’re always available to everyone, we will neglect the most important areas of life, the areas that have been called the important, but not urgent. The important but not urgent areas of our lives include prayer and Bible reading, which build our relationship with Jesus; building our relationships with our spouses if we’re married, and our children if we have them. If our parents are still with us they are on the important, but not urgent agenda of our lives. What I have often called “offensive reading,” meaning reading to gain information that will help me lead more effectively even though I may not need the information today, is also important, but not urgent. Exercise is also important, but not urgent. How do we make sure that all of these things “fit” in our lives. We schedule them when we are at our best.
I’ve found that if I scheduled prayer, Bible reading and exercise between 5:00-7:00 am no one will interrupt me, or want me to do something else. Occasionally, someone may ask me to go to an early breakfast meeting, but not often. My point is this: if we schedule what’s most important, but not urgent FIRST, our calendars will reflect our true priorities. After that we must schedule “margin.” Margin is extra time, with no specific agenda. Why do we need margin? So, when the car breaks down, we have time to get it fixed without messing up our whole schedule. Of course, we have regular items in our schedule: worship, work, recreational activities, but even those need to be scheduled intentionally. That way when someone calls and says, “Hey, do you want to go to the movies on Thursday night?” You can look at your calendar, see that you have scheduled family time, and say, “Sorry, I have an appointment, but I’m free on Saturday afternoon. Most people don’t schedule their lives, so they’ll probably adjust to your plan. That’s what leaders do.
How do I know this? Because I’m 59 years old and I’ve failed to do it far too many times. No matter whether we’re 19, 59 or 89 life is too short to let others set our agenda 24/7. It’s also to short to live without a plan. Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” I know his words are all too true. Here’s a challenge for you if you are not a planner, or if you think your calendar is NOT your friend: Sit down sometime in the next couple of days and look at July’s calendar. What do you have scheduled on it so far? Do you have a July calendar? Okay. If it’s blank, schedule the important but not urgent things right now. Then schedule an hour of margin each day. Next fill in the things you have to do. If it doesn’t all fit, you need to redefine what you “have” to do. Put the July calendar somewhere you’ll have it with you and the next time someone calls and asks, “What are you doing next Thursday?” If next Thursday is a Thursday in July you will know whether you are doing anything or not. If you are suggest an alternative date if you want or need to get together with the person. If not, just say, “I’m sorry by I really don’t have time to get together in the near future. It’s a really full time in my life right now. That will be true, if you have scheduled your life with important, but not urgent matters first, and then filled in some margin (which is ALSO important, but not urgent), and then filled in the rest.
If you want an actual plan for how to do this planning, Michael Hyatt’s recently published book Life Planning is the best book I have ever seen for prioritizing your life and then planning it in an effective way. He offers some annual calendar, and monthly calendar templates, along with a template for an overall life plan that are outstanding. It has been a big help and blessing to me, because as a natural non-planner, he makes the process clear, simple and it appeals to the leader in me that what’s to make a difference now and to leave a lasting legacy when I’m gone. Since I’ve implemented the plan, I’ve been more effective at doing everything I’ve mentioned above in the way of positive planning and living. My final challenge for today is: DO IT! Don’t say you don’t have time. You do. Don’t say you’ll do it next week. You won’t. Do it today or in the next day or two. “It” is something tangible in the way of making your calendar your friend!
Here’s to leading better by making your calendar your friend–today!