Back to School and Back to Work
It’s been a hot summer and now it’s back to school around this part of the country. With that I have decided to be more purposeful with my work and tell myself that summer break is over. Time to be more focused, more productive, and live more. So what does that mean? It means to take some steps to make life simpler and to keep me focused. Here are some steps I’ve taken that I hope you find helpful.
First, I determined what I want to do along with the have to do – get groceries, cook, clean, earn money. Then the things I like to do – attend Bible study, lunch with girlfriends, projects around the house, visit with friends, read, spend time with family.
Second, I made a list of these items and determined what days I would do what. A schedule of sorts and hope that I will be able to stick with it. It can be a bit flexible but figure if I at least have something to direct me I’ll be more focused and efficient with my time.
Now the part of taking this and putting it into my calendar. Instead of making a to do list – I have made appointments with my to do list. I can begin to write into time slots of my weekly calendar (which you can purchase off the website) when I will do what activity and on what day. This way I can say “no” to the things without feeling guilty and yes to the things that are important and a priority in my life because those items are planned into my life.
Yea I know some of you are thinking – just let life come at you and just be. That may work for some of you but for me things just don’t get done and then I’m tired, frazzled, and don’t end up spending time with the people that mean the most to me. That’s what life is all about anyway – the relationships.
To help me with procrastination I pulled off the shelf Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy. It’s time to get a handle on that little problem as well and make the rest of this year the best it can be and also set some better habits in place. So time to get back to work and be purposeful in what I do each day! What about you? Just remember to write your activities in pencil and give God the eraser.
Be blessed!
Summer Vacation Photos
With summer here that brings lots of great summer photos of the outdoors, vacations, family reunions, and weddings. So where are your photos from last summer? Still on your camera, phone, computer? Or worse you have lost them and can’t find them or your computer crashed. I want to encourage you to not repeat last summer and get those memories into a format that can be displayed, shared, and enjoyed.
We just returned from a trip to Disney World and so I decided to try something new. I did take my laptop with me and downloaded photos and video taken throughout the week. Then was able to edit and delete photos every couple of days – so much more manageable. Our granddaughter who went with us enjoyed looking at the photos and it gave us some down time to relax as well. So it was a win-win for all. It was easy to then create a slide show that allowed me to put in both the photos and video. Added some Disney music and we were enjoying our vacation memories before we left Orlando. I use a simple editing program called Memory Manager that lets me not only edit, but also organize the photos into files and write the stories that were shared by family members. You can check this out and order at www.mycmsite.com/lisakirkley and it is reasonably priced at $39.95.
Now I have the photos ready to go into a digital photo album. Again there are free templates at www.creativememories.com that you can download, but I wanted the predesigned Disney pages so ordered those and it is as simple as dragging and dropping them into the pages, add your story and order – it can be done in a couple of hours depending on the number of photos. A beautiful coffee table book will be delivered to your door in a few days starring your family.
One less thing to worry about or put on my wish list of things I need to do – that creates more stress. Just make it a part of the vacation. Plan a little time to take care of your summer photos while you catch up on the laundry when you get home or in the evenings as you wind down on vacation. You and your family will be glad you did.
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| A free picture slideshow by Smilebox |
A New Season
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
It’s a new season – spring is officially here! I always think of spring as a new beginning as the flowers bloom, temperatures rise above freezing, and the landscape takes on a green hue again, and most of all Easter.
This is also a new season of life for me. A new beginning. Taking another step of faith as I quit my corporate job to not only follow God but actually apply the gifts and talents that He has so graciously given me and share them with the world. So welcome and thanks for joining me as I launch the website, ministry, and business of Time for Living Now.
My vision is to provide a platform for others to share what God has put on their heart for this season of life. So please submit your devotional to be considered for placement on the site. It’s a great opportunity to support one another in our seasons of life. The other is to provide a platform to mentor. To be the Titus 2:5 woman; to learn from those that have walked ahead of us and to train and encourage those that are walking after us. I will share ideas to keep life simple and easy in the Simple Living section and also find some great recipes – most of them very simple and quick – under Favorites.
What I am most excited about is offering an online Bible study on time management with little homework and no guilt. It will be done as a webinar – so put on your pjs, grab a cup of tea, your Bible and laptop then join us as we reveal what God wants us to do.
Register today as sessions will be limited so that we can connect and share life together.
While working with women these past 20 years the number one struggle I continued to hear was the lack of time, being too busy, and feeling totally out of control. I’ve been there and thankfully someone shared some tips with me that have been a great tool in accomplishing the things I needed to do and having time left over to do the things I wanted to do allowing me to take the steps to fulfill God’s purpose for my life. I will be the first to tell you that I have not mastered this, but each day allowing the Lord to be Master of my days does bring me peace. I look forward to sharing God’s Word and personal lessons learned along the way.
Thanks for joining me in this season,
Lisa
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
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Thanks and glad you ended up here.
Lisa, I enjoyed your study so much. While I seem to find a lot of reasons not to “sit” still, the time spent with you in this study not only enriched my life, it helped me to focus on what I needed to do.
I have been truly blessed with a tremendous Godly man, a company where I can be my own boss and blessed in the fact that for the past several years I have not really had to work very much.
While attending your study, I realized my life to get to where I am today was a minute by minute focus and total organization. The sad part of me, once I achieved the level of comfort I found, I ditched the organization and have to admit, totally loved the “non-schedule” for awhile.
Now, I see I need to re-focus, and get organized again as this is what is required not only to sustain but is truly what God desires. I could see where by my lack of planning I was also lacking in my daily time spent in God’s word.
Thanks to your gentle reminders and your friendship I have found myself getting back on track. I have been blessed with a tremendous gift (talent) from God in helping so many people succeed.
I realized that when Jesus gave the “talents” to a few people and one “hid” his so he wouldn’t lose it, I had gone from “investing” to “hording”. Although I am sure Jesus meant financial talent, this hit me as to the true meaning for me was not only my money but this tremendous gift He gave me. This gift has allowed me to help a lot of people in the past yet I somehow decided I didn’t really have to use it anymore.
Matt 25:18-26
18 “But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
20 “And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me; see, I have gained five more talents.’
21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’
22 “The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted to me two talents; see, I have gained two more talents.’
23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed.
25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed.
NASB
I realized that when it comes to scheduling, I am an all or nothing kind of person and with your study techniques, I am finding that “happy middle” where I can relax and enjoy some “unscheduled” scheduled time for me and still get everything done that needs to be done.
THANKS COACH!!!!
Thanks for your comment and testimonial. It’s amazing how God works things out and ultimately His timing is perfect.
Hello, I love your blog. Do you write all of the articles yourself?
Yes I write the articles.
You may contact me at lkirkley2@cox.net. Thank you.
I like Your Article about Time For Living Now — Offering personal organization of home, business, photos, and time. Perfect just what I was searching for! .
Tthank you for your encouraging words and comments.