Steps to Un-Stuff Your Schedule and Increase Your Margin

“Reverence for God adds hours to each day”

(Proverbs 10:27 LB).

Do you ever get to the end of your day and think, “Did I accomplish anything?” Where does all the time go?

If you don’t master your schedule, it will master you!

Here are three suggestions from the Bible for reducing the stress of your schedule and increasing the margin:

1. Line up your priorities. Obviously, you don’t have time to do everything, so you must make choices. You must decide what’s really important and what isn’t. Take some time to consider the direction of your life. The Bible says, “An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions” (Proverbs 17:24 GNT); “It is stupid to waste time on useless projects” (Proverbs 12:11, GNT); “We should make plans—counting on God to direct us” (Proverbs 16:9 LB).

2. Lighten up your attitude. Do you really have to do everything on your to-do list? No one is holding a gun to your head; a lot of your stress is self-imposed. The Bible says, “Worry weighs us down…” (Proverbs 12:25 MSG); “A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life” (Proverbs 14:30 LB); “Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time” (Proverbs 17:22 GNT).

3. Look up to God. Stress is always a warning light that you’ve taken your focus off God and are looking at your problems from your limited viewpoint.

I believe the single greatest cause of stress is this: We take ourselves too seriously and we don’t take God seriously enough!

Rick Warren