EVOLUTION - Time Management | KAIROS GLOBAL | APRIL 2018

Author: Katie Heitmann

Intro: Katie Heitmann  gives us an insight on how to manage the gift of time

Picture this: A toddler is marching around your home with one shoe and no pants, you can’t find the baby’s pacifier, you missed a call from your mother, and Mass starts in ten minutes! Sound familiar? One of the greatest joys of the faith is the centrality of family life. With that, comes the great responsibility of learning how to manage our time in a fast-paced world. We do not seek to match the pace of the world, but we do realize that some things require more planning and an ability to multitask and prioritize. However, I propose that the key to time management is not in “trying harder” or “planning better”, but instead in a complete conversion of the mind toward the concept of time.

 “The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift.” In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis creatively captures truths and temptations of the Christian spiritual life through letters written by Screwtape, a demon, to his inexperienced nephew, Wormwood. In Letter #21, Screwtape instructs his nephew to tempt the Christian into thinking “My time is my own.” This assumption, he writes, will keep him from charity, since the unexpected visitor and the talkative wife will somehow rob him of his “own” time. Although Lewis himself admits that the letters should not be taken as truth, he does in fact highlight an important point about time: It is not our own. In seeking to deepen the understanding of how to manage time, it must be fundamentally remembered that every moment is a precious gift from our loving God.

Recognizing the Gift of Time

As Christians, we believe that our creation flows from the perfect love of God, as we were created in His image and likeness. Likewise, our sustained existence, from moment to moment, is a result of that same overflowing love. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes, “What have you that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Everything that we “have”, especially our time, is from God. Every moment is immersed in the love of the Lord, as the psalmist writes in Psalm 139:7, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” At every moment, the Spirit of the Lord keeps us in existence and sustains us. 

Therefore, we must also remember that this gift is temporary. For, “all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls” (1 Peter 1:24, Psalm 103:15). Just as the plants and flowers flourish and pass away, so too will our lives. St. James speaks to the Christians that say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” He warns that they “do not even know what tomorrow will bring.” He goes on to ask, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” He instructs the Christian instead to remember that their existence will only continue as long as the Lord wishes. This is, in fact, the most essential disposition when approaching the topic of time management. In having the humility to recognize that every moment of our time is a gift from the Lord, we will have the proper attitude towards managing that time. 

Challenges to Managing the Gift of Time

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10). After recognizing that all time comes from the Lord, we often find ourselves still in difficulty to manage that gift properly. It is perhaps due to the following human limitations and spiritual temptations, common to all of us.

1. Pride: As mentioned, the subtle arrogance that accompanies the assumption that time is our own can keep us from valuing every moment we receive. Instead, we can fall into the trap that we lengthen and number our own days, thus keeping us from acting responsibly with the time we receive.

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3. Sloth: One of the seven deadly sins, sloth, coming from the Latin “acedia”, means "without care". It is the reluctance to work or make an effort, and is one of the greatest temptations leading to the mismanagement of time. This sin of omission is characterized by a “sorrow about spiritual good” (St. Thomas Acquinas) and a refusal “of the joy that comes from God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).

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5. Procrastination: Closely aligned to sloth is the idea that something can be done later. C.S. Lewis also writes about this temptation in Letter #12 on Pleasure and Distraction. He writes, “You can make him do nothing at all for long periods. You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a cold room.” This temptation to procrastinate will clearly keep us from managing the gift of time we have received!

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7. Disorganization: One very practical concern for mismanaging the gift of time is having a disorganized nature. Absent-mindedness and being scattered will lead to many wasted minutes. Not remembering when an appointment may be or misplacing your keys will lead to wasted trips, extra phone calls, and time spent searching for your everyday items.

   
   

8. Culture: It is imperative to note that most anthropologists agree that the concept of time has been acquired through cultural influences. The individual’s approach to deadlines, meetings, events, and even maintaining relationships all reflect the cultural concept of time. If you are not aware of your cultural beliefs toward time, it would behoove you to investigate them more thoroughly, helping you to understand your specific pitfalls to the proper management of time.

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Tips for Effectively Managing the Gift of Time

Although each individual must adapt these tips to their own daily practice, the following may be helpful in allowing you to effectively manage the gift of time from our generous and loving God.

1. Begin the day with a prayer. Thank God for the gift of another day, and ask for His guidance through the Holy Spirit to lead you to effectively use your time

2. Act quickly against any temptation to sloth, following St. Paul’s advice to the Romans: “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” (Romans 12:11)

3. Do your best not to procrastinate! As St. Don Bosco said, "Do not put off till tomorrow the good you can do today. You may not have a tomorrow."

4. Get a calendar or a planner and budget your time! A little organization can do a long way!

5. In the evening, examine your day. Did you waste the precious gift of time at all? Can you try better tomorrow? Finish with a prayer asking the Lord to help you as you try again the next day!

   
   

We are all called to be good stewards of the gift of time that we received! Let us begin by reorienting ourselves to the truth that “The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift,” and seek to use that gift to love and serve God and one another.

Katie Heitmann is a teacher of Health Sciences and Spanish in a Catholic school in New Orleans, USA. She also works as a nurse in the Emergency Department during some weekends and summer. She felt called to the spirituality of radical missionary discipleship, which led her to become a Fulltimer. She is currently part of the National Council of JY USA.