Know why so many people are in debt? Because too many things are too important to them.
Sure, there may have been some emergencies compounding the problem, but emergencies are not the real cause. If you spend 99% of what you make, month after month, you’re setting yourself up to go in debt when an emergency happens; and an emergency WILL happen!
Time is the same way; if we spend too much of it, we don’t have anything left for emergencies, and emergencies WILL happen! The only difference is you can’t borrow time. You get 604,800 seconds each week, and no matter what you do you can’t get more. When you use too much time for anything, you must cover by stealing time from something else.
- Sleep is one of the first things robbed. The CDC estimates a third of adults in the States are significantly short on sleep. Stealing time from sleep hurts everything else we do because it affects our emotions, mental ability, and physical stamina. When you’re short on sleep, other things take more time – adding to your time deficit.
- One of the other most common places to steal time is from one’s spouse. The feeling is they will understand, whereas others will not. It would be more accurate to say a spouse is more likely to put up with it than others are. At least for a while…
- Another common place to steal time is from the children. The kids start to suffer because they don’t get the time they need with one or both parents. Childcare is used more and more, limiting the input parents have in their children’s lives.
- We rob our leisure time, giving up hobbies and only socialising when it helps us with some larger goals. We tell ourselves relaxation is a luxury we can’t afford.
- God is also robbed of time. Again, we figure He will understand. We tell ourselves the other things aren’t more important than God, just more pressing, more critical. It’s the same lie we tell ourselves about our spouse, our kids, and our health.
The truth in all of this is we rob time from these and other things because we’re just too busy! If you don’t want to be too busy, the ONLY solution is to do less.
This is one of seven posts about busyness:
The sin of busyness?
Too busy because too much is too important
Checkpoints
Playing “the kids” card
Employment and priorities
Too busy for good sex
When church/ministry makes you too busy
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I think the key here is priorities. First you take care of yourself, so that you have something to give. Then your spouse. That’s right, spouse next. You have to meet your spouses needs. Of course, that means you have to know your spouse well enough to know what his or her wants and needs are. And of course, the scriptures tell us that certain needs and wants can only be met by you (if you and your spouse are to keep the covenants of marriage). Then, and only then, comes the kids. Then an only then comes the house, the yard, the church responsibilities, the school responsibilities, etc. etc. Only after. Not before.