PLANNING YOUR DAY

PLANNING YOUR DAY.

It is amazing, sometimes how quickly the day goes. Suddenly, and before we know it, our time is up. Then we are awakening to the painful realization that we have manage to achieve nothing meaningful while we had time. How sad!
Charles Schwab, the first American to earn one- million-dollars salary a year, wanted to know how to increase the productivity of executives in his company. And he turned to Mr. Ivy lee, a business consultant, who gave him this advice:

“Take a pad of paper, this evening Mr. Schwab, and list the most urgent projects which confront you, then study the list and number them, assigning number one to the most important job, number two to the next most vital, and so on on the list.

Beginning tomorrow, tackle number one and stay with it until it is finished before you move to number two, work down on the list. When the day is through, prepare a new list, again assigning top priority to the most important task still undone and so on down the list. Do this everyday and after you discover how well it works, share it with your people”. A few weeks later. Charles Schwab sent a cheque to ivy lee for twenty-five thousand dollars. And we all know why.

Dear reader, are you satisfied that you are getting the best out of each day of your life? To get the best, plan your day. One vital key to a successful day is this; you must have a list of things to do, and arrange them in order of priority. God has not given us enough time to do every possible thing we could do on this earth. But he has given us enough time to do the important things we need to do. Moses prayed in Psalms 90 verse 12 ; “teach us to number our days. That we may apply our hearts to wisdom”. Successful people all over the world usually have a list of things to do everyday. And they systematically go through the day, knocking off the items on their list in their order of importance.

Some of us have ideas. we know what to do, but we keep those ideas in our heads. But I think it is better for us to transfer our ideas on paper, so that we can leave our minds free to receive other creative thoughts. Some others write their list on scrapes of paper and lose them during the day. It is better to write our ideas and plans in a notebook, a notepad or a diary. This enables us see the things we have accomplished before, and those that are yet to come. It is also good to write down our list for each day




because writing crystallizes our thoughts and gives them physical expression.

Beloved friend, start this today, and you are likely to get the best out of tomorrow, especially when God himself intervenes on our behalf. Write down all the things you want to do tomorrow, today. Then mark them one, two, three and so on in their order of importance. And when tomorrow comes, attack item one first and stay with it until you finish it. Then move on to the next and the next until…. All is done!
Do this for a few days, and you will notice that a sense of fulfillment is coming will come into your heart. You are an achiever. You see, fulfillment is the mark of success. It is fulfilling to know that you are doing something meaningful with your life.

You may ask, what should I include on my list? Should I write daily routines or just the exceptional things? There are routine items you don’t need to write like eating and sleeping. But there are some others that may be vital like replying mails or making certain phone calls, or some meeting at the office. You should include such.
Then add the items that are not routines. And remember to number them in order of importance.

Let me also add, that you need not worry about finishing all the tasks on your list. Work will never end. What you don’t complete today should be added to tomorrow’s list.

Finally pray, before you make your list asking God for wisdom. And after you have made your list, ask God for guidance and favour. Proverbs 16:9 (Living Bible) says “We should make plans, counting on God to help us “. When you do what successful people do, you will succeed the way they succeed.