Scheduling series- A continued look into my own process

Continuing from yesterday’s post, here is the rest of the process that I have been working through as I create a new daily and weekly schedule for myself (and my kiddos).

The third major thing that I did was to sit down with my worksheets from 24 Hours is All You Get (which is an excellent resource- I only have the worksheets, but even these are amazing, so I am planning to get the CD that accompanies them).

Today I completed Priority Planning Sheet #1, where I work through a long list of possible family, home, spiritual activities, and rate them based on the priority that I truly believe they should be (based on scripture, our family values and goals, etc.).

These are broken down into 4 priority levels (this is taken directly from the worksheets):

#1- Essential Must Do’s: Activities that are essential to Godly, healthy (spiritually and physically) human existence.

#2- Very important Should Do’s: Some activities that are very important for God-pleasing human existence, and which are dependent upon regular performance of #1 priorities.

#3- Could Do’s: Some activities are non-essential in most cases but which can be edifying and God-honoring if time remains after #1 and #2 priorities are faithfully performed in your home on a daily bases (beware: we often rationalize these into a higher priority category!)

#4: Would Like to Do’s: Activities that are fun, relaxing, enjoyable, exciting, pleasant, etc. but which are really unnecessary for God-honoring living. In many cases, these activities dominate one’s life and can actually interfere with the observing of the essential and important priorities (beware: we often rationalize these into a higher priority category!).

This challenging exercise was so valuable! Some of the examples of activities listed were:

-Teaching children practical skills for God-honoring, responsible living

-Ministering to the body of Christ

-Visiting with friends on the phone or in person

-Getting adequate sleep

-Participation in sports, clubs, organizations, cultural activities (orchestra, museums, etc.)

-Daily time to teach and train children in obedience

-Maintaining a clean and orderly house

-Recovering/refinishing furniture, or redecorating the house

And many, many more thought-provoking activities!

After I did this, I brought it to my husband, and without telling him my priority rankings, asked him for his. I was really pleased that we were very, very similar in how we ranked items, and it helped me to make sure that I am focusing on the areas that my husband believes are most valuable as I go to make my schedule.

As I mentioned in an earlier post,I had already spent some time considering our current season of life, and need to spend some more time in prayer regarding priority relationships for this current season as well. All of this combined will help me in allocating my weekly and daily time to those things that are most valuable- and that is my current task! Looking at all that I’ve brainstormed and put together, and making it into a workable schedule for me and my family.

That’s it for today! I’ll be back with a completed schedule very shortly, I hope! I’d love to hear from others about how they sort out their priorities, or things that you consider as you are creating a schedule for yourself and your families!