Planning for Effectiveness

An effective lifestyle is not something that will happen naturally, it is something that requires planning, determination, and discipline. At times, we may even need to battle against our own indifference, the expectations of others, and the desire to avoid conflict in order to focus on our private disciplines. The Bible does not tell us how Simon Peter and the other disciples responded when Jesus told them that they would be leaving the crowd of people that wanted healing in order to preach in other towns and villages (Mark 1:35-38). It is quite possible that they found it difficult to understand why Jesus would leave a crowd of needy people in order to go and preach to other needy people. Whatever their reaction, Jesus was willing to face the criticism of the disciples and the crowd in order to focus on the areas which the Father had highlighted.

The pressures and demands of life will always be upon us, so we must guard against spending all our time on the demands of others whilst neglecting or assigning leftover time to our private disciplines. Just as food is required to provide the body with the energy resources that are required to sustain it, our private disciplines are necessary to sustain our effectiveness. We do not view time spent eating as wasted time or time spent selfishly, but as being essential in order to meet the physical demands that we place on the body. In the same way, investing regular time in our private disciplines will provide us with the strength, character, and motivation we need in order to meet the demands placed upon us.

The key to implementing private disciplines on a regular basis is to plan our schedule on a weekly basis, and to assess and review our schedule daily. At the start of each week, before we have written anything else into our schedule, we need to identify the times that we will set apart for our private disciplines. The most effective way to do this is to use a diary or organiser and to refer to it every day. If we seek to rely solely on our memories, we may well find that these essential areas are pushed aside and forgotten.

1. A Time to Plan the Week

At the start of each week, perhaps on a Sunday, set aside 20 minutes in order to plan the week ahead. The advantage of planning on a weekly basis is that we can have a clearer picture of the days ahead of us. If we try to plan on a daily basis, we may find that the important private disciplines are continually put off till 'tomorrow', but find that when 'tomorrow' arrives that the schedule is already full.

2. Reflect

As we plan the week, it is good to reflect on why we want to invest in our private disciplines. It may be worth reviewing some of the thoughts that we wrote in the 'What Matters Most?' exercise in Study 3. As we are reminded of the importance of developing ourselves in order to fulfil God's will for our lives, we will gain a fresh motivation to focus on the essential areas of our lives. 

3. Take Aim

The next step is to write down four goals that will invest in our personal development, one in each area of our personal development. As you do so, remember to start small. For example, the goals could be as follows:

  Spiritual: spend 30 minutes each day in devotions.

  Mental: read about leadership for one hour.

  Relational: invite one of the members of the leadership team for a meal.

  Physical: going swimming once, go jogging once.

It is essential that each goal is specific and attainable. The goals are not what you would like to do, but what you will do. Remember that you are not trying to impress anyone, but to invest in your personal development.

4. Plan When

Once you have decided on the goals that you want to set for the week, it is worth writing them into your schedule. This will help you achieve the goals. For the above example, we could write in the diary for our devotions to be done from 7:30-8:00 each morning; the reading to be done on Tuesday evening; to invite John for a meal on Thursday evening; the swimming to be done on Wednesday lunchtime; and the jogging on Friday lunchtime. The act of writing each item into our schedule will increase our commitment to actually fulfil these tasks. Also, by planning these items into the schedule at the start of the week, we can fulfil our other commitments around this schedule.

5. Preview and Review Each Day

Look through your schedule at the start of each day and remind yourself why you are doing each task as well as what you are doing. This can be a valuable exercise in renewing our commitment to the tasks of the day. This also gives us the opportunity to pray over our day and invite Jesus into every aspect of our lives.

At the end of the day, it is worth spending a few minutes to review and reflect on the events of the day. We can give God thanks for the successes of the day and seek to understand the failures that we have experienced. Through the act of reviewing the events we can ensure that we learn from what has happened, rather than continually repeat the same mistakes. 

6. Keep a Journal

As we take time to preview and review each day, God will often speak to us and give us fresh insight into the lessons of the day. It is valuable to write these down in a journal, so that we have a permanent record of these insights. Over time this journal will be a source of encouragement to us and may help us to see areas in which God has been continually challenging us.