Imagine you’re approached by an interviewer at a mall. As she stands with clipboard in hand, she asks, “How much did you work last week? How many hours?” You scratch your head and try to remember. You finally guess, “Oh, maybe 50 / 55 hours.”
Then she asks, “How much TV did you watch last week?” Again you try to think, and find it hard to remember. “It’s hard to say. I don’t watch much TV.”
“Well then, how much did you watch yesterday?”
“Let’s see. I watched CSI, then the news, then a little bit of Jay Leno… I guess it was two hours. But that was not a typical night. I don’t usually watch that much TV.” She gives you a blank look, and you can tell she’s thinking: YEAH SURE … I’VE HEARD THAT BEFORE.
Where does the time go? How do we really spend our time? These are important questions today, because many of us live with the sense that we don’t have enough time. We feel rushed, we worry that our schedules are out of step with our values. We’re bothered by things we want to be doing but aren’t doing because we’re too busy doing something else.
When I talk to people about volunteering in our church programs, they never say, “I don’t really want to do that. I don’t think that’s worth spending time on.” Instead, they will say, “That sounds great, and I’d like to do it, but I’m just too busy.” People have good intentions. They want to make a difference with their lives, they want to contribute — but there’s not enough time. Time is a huge issue for us.
Where does the time go? As I’ve studied this issue, I’ve discovered how hard it is to really figure that out. Much of the research done on this subject is terribly flawed and contradictory. It’s usually based on surveys, asking people for answers based on their memory of a “typical week.” Whenever we think that way, the phenomenon of “selective memory” kicks in — we remember working longer hours, exercising more, and watching TV less than really was the case.
I’ve read the works of several time management gurus who advocate the use of time diaries. In these diaries, people write down on a sheet of paper — in real time, not from memory — what they’re doing as the day goes by. These authors report that when their clients keep diaries, and analyze their actual time usage, without exception they have the same reaction: SHOCK. They’re surprised because the actual results are so different than “what they remembered.”
Keep in mind that these experts are focused on helping people deal with time management when they’re at work. If people are delusional about their use of time when they’re on the job, and have some level of accountability for how their time is spent, imagine how inaccurate their accounting of PERSONAL time is!
We need to approach time stewardship the same way we approach financial stewardship. It’s sad to think of how many people instinctively understand the concept of managing money, but refuse to manage their time and energy. Some people are very disciplined about how they spend and save money — they “watch their pennies.” Yet these same people resist being disciplined about planning and organizing their time, because they don’t want to be “too anal,” or they “want to be able to be more spontaneous.”
Obviously there are limits here … people can go overboard and become compulsive about managing their time. But for most people, “over-control” in use of time is not the problem — it’s LACK of control. They are are clueless about how their time is being spent, and feel stressed-out and victimized because they’re too busy.
Stewardship of time is a spiritual issue. If we squander our time, we lose our ability to do the things God wants us to do. I’ve found myself struck by the wisdom of a 16th century author on this (excuse the pun) timeless issue. In one of his letters to a colleague, Francios Fenelon wrote: “It would be wise for you to think your time too precious to be disposed of by chance and left to be devoured by anything that happens…. Once you know the value and reap the advantages of well-ordered time, you will not long be a stranger to the value of anything else that is of any real concern to you.”
Wise words. Know where your time goes, and manage it … or it will will manage you.
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