5 Keys to Tangent-Proofing Your Time

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Welcome Encouragement for Today devotion readers. If you are joining us and haven’t yet read my devotion today, click here to do so and get up to speed with the rest of us here. Don’t forget to hit your back arrow and come back for 5 keys to tangent proofing your time and a giveaway!

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Have you been there? Allowed the Internet or another hobby or pastime knock you off course and sap your time? How can you prevent this from happening in the future? Here are 5 guidelines that have helped me focus and keep on task:

~ Plan your work and then work your plan, grouping like tasks together.

There is no substitute for a good working list. If you set out to “get things done” without a written list of what it is you need to accomplish, it will sap your mental strength. You will unknowingly be preoccupied with the fear of “forgetting”: to make a call, send an email or pull meat out of the freezer to thaw for supper.

If you can brain dump your tasks on to a piece of paper or “notes” app on your phone or electronic tablet, you can focus all your mental energies on doing the task at hand rather than worrying you’ll forget one you hope to accomplish later that day.

When you are making your list, group like tasks. Think about the errands that require you to leave your home: the dry cleaners, grocery or drug store, post office run or item to return. What about tasks that require the computer: sending an email, making an online purchase or paying a utility bill. Are there around the home chores that must be done? Cleaning, laundry, pulling weeds or organizing a closet?

Rather than just launching out on a “mission to accomplish” and randomly start working, think smart. You will save time, motion and effort if you group like tasks as you work.

I do this, once I have written out my list, by using different color highlighters. I’ll highlight all the “around the town” errands in pink, computer tasks in green, etc… While I’d like to be organized enough to group the tasks as I write the list, that often takes more effort and may require starting over. Just doing a general brain dump and then going back and categorizing with highlighters works best for me. Besides, I like to see pretty colors on my to do list rather than just a black and white list. :-)

~ Utilize your phone alarm.

Work in pre-determined “shifts”. Set out to tackle some household chores, but set your phone alarm for 30-45 minutes later. Then, dive in and work, without thinking about anything else. Roll up your sleeves. Stay focused. Listen to music or an audio Bible on an Ipod or MP3 player. Lose yourself in your work.

When the alarm sounds, read what the screen says. (I “talk to myself” by making my alarm reminder read “Good job girl! Go make yourself an iced tea!”) Wrap up the current task, take a short break and move on to the next thing.

Alternate between working with your brain and working with your hands.

I find that if I am using my brain for an extended period of time perhaps writing, filling out college forms or other paperwork, I need to mix it up after a few hours. Those tasks are not particularly draining physically but do deplete my brain’s energy and creativity .

To remedy this, I will switch to something brainless for a while instead. Yes, I will fold laundry or clean the house while watching Gunsmoke, Bonanza or another retro show. It rests my mind and refreshes me. Then, I’m ready to jump back in and use my brain again.

~ Set up a visual reminder of your time priorities.

I place my Bible on top of my Ipad each night on my nightstand to remind me “Bible over blogs”.

Maybe you’ll need to make your phone’s lock screen read “Have you spent time with God yet today?”.

Or put a picture of your family on your computer’s home page. Anything that will help you connect with God and your family BEFORE you venture off into cyber-land.

~ Less is more.

The less I am pulled by social media and cell phones, the more time I have for God, family and just “being” rather than “doing” all the time.

This has been the biggest lesson lately for me when it comes to electronic devices becoming tangents. I was letting social media, my cell phone and emails I received call the shots and dictate how I spent my time.  With the instant access that today’s culture provides, it can overrun a people-pleaser like me.

Up until a few months ago, I gave out my cell phone number freely. I was accumulating friends on Facebook and also accumulating lots of “invites”, and “requests” and challenges to play games. And, I was getting dozens of emails per week from people asking me questions to which I had no answer or asking for time-consuming favors from me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love helping people. I am thankful for the connections that can happen and the ministry that takes place via the Internet. Seriously thankful.

I am deeply grateful for cyber friends and blog readers and I am a faithful reader of a few blogs myself. However, because I tend to be a people pleaser, I would jump when I got a private Facebook message and feel I needed to answer right away. Or, if a text message came in when I was supposed to be accomplishing a task or spending time with my family, I would feel the tug to text back quickly.

When I would fight the urge and, in an attempt to live my priorities, not respond until later when I had time, I would feel guilty. Or others would feel slighted that it took me a day or so to answer. However, when I added up the time it would take just answering people (sometimes to tell them I actually had no answer!) it would be hours per week.

So now I give myself some guidelines and boundaries including limiting answering emails (that aren’t from family or my work-at-home ministry position at Proverbs 31) to 30 minutes a day. That might mean I can’t answer someone for a few days or weeks depending on how full my inbox is. I also got a new cell number and only give the number out to family, close friends, my one son’s school and other sons’ tutors and crucial ministry contacts. I can still communicate with friends (in real life and cyber both) by Twitter messages rather than texting.

I have become so convinced that electronic communication methods, with their instant access to people, have become modern day bullies. They boss us around and burn up our time when we aren’t intentional to use them as tools only. I can’t describe to you the freedom I now feel now that my phone buzzes only occasionally and I don’t feel glued to the computer. Ahhh….freedom!

Now, please leave a comment with which of these tips you’d most like to try. Or, any other piece of advice or thoughts you have on this topic. One gal will be chosen to receive a signed copy of my book The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized and a $15 Staples gift card to purchase some list-making notepads or a new planner to help you use your time wisely.

Winner announced Monday.

239 Comments

  1. Love the brain dump and then highlighting. I think that will be a good strategy for me to try. I love my lists, but this will help me keep them a little more organized and managed. Thanks!

  2. Thank you so much for this blog post, I cannot tell you how frustrated I get with myself when I struggle to limit my text/internet time as I too am a people-pleaser!
    I think I’d like to try the list idea, as well as the switching tasks from using my brain to using my hands tip. They’re all great ideas though!
    The Proverbs 31 email, which I’ve only started receiving, really does brighten my day and helps me to refocus on God. I appreciate it so much :)

  3. Alternate between working with your brain and working with your hands. This is the tip I would like to keep in mind. Hanging clothes out on the line is my ultimate “brainless” activity :)

  4. Hi Karen – great post today! I like a couple of ideas — 1)highlighting tasks of the same nature the same color. In making my To Do List, I like to keep like tasks together and it does take more time on the brain. 2)setting a timeframe to complete my task & setting my phone alarm to remind me. I’ve often found myself looking at the time, which is a distraction and gets me off focus.
    Blessings on your day and weekend! ~Jodie

  5. Thank you so much!!! I love lists, but the hilighter idea is awesome, going to try it!!! Technology can be fantastic, but I see that it can drive a wedge in our relationships and suck up our time. I am avidly teaching my children the “lost art” of handwritten cards and notes :)

  6. I love the highlighting the groups idea. I would usually re-write my list so that I wouldn’t miss something.

    I had been trying to get organized just to be organized; but now that I am working full time, acting as my church’s Financial Secretary, volunteering for the American Cancer Society, going to school part-time and still trying to spend time with my kids, I need to be even better about it. I find that my Bible reading is already suffering.

    One thing I have done is learned to say ‘no’. That’s much more difficult than it sounds.

  7. What a great post! These are all great ideas but the tip I’d most like to try is grouping like tasks with the same color. Thank you for sharing.

  8. I need to set my cell phone alarm to only use the computer/email/FB or any other time zappers for a limited amount of time – maybe 30 minutes. I do use my computer as a tool for my daily devotions, but it’s used more as a toy & definitely more as a tangent. Sometimes, I finish a task (YAY!) but then sit down at the computer to fool around & have nothing of importance to even look up. It’s such a BAD HABIT!! Thank you truly making me realize that I’m not using the time God gave me wisely!

  9. Thank you for all the useful tips. I don’t want my summer to fly by with me not getting my “To Do” list done because I wasted my time. I need to make a list of daily goals and clump them together when possible. I need to make sure I run errands once a week and try to keep them in one area of town as much as possible.

  10. Wow! This really hit home! Truly an eye opener and definitely see some things I need to change especially since my kiddos are home for the summer. I want to set the example that technology has its place but needs to be limited. Thank you for the gentle reminder to focus on what’s more important.

  11. Dear Karen,

    Thank you for all the great ideas. I do combine my errands and even plan my route for efficiency, and I have gotten much better with my games (former Farmville addict). But texting is newer to me, and I sometimes think I can text this person real quickly even though I’m in the middle of a conversation with my husband… Yikes!. The person sending the text can wait but my priorities cannot. Thank you for the reminder : )

  12. I liked making a visual of my priorities. I feel daily defeat with Facebook. It is a wonderful tool to share encouragment, ideas, ect. but I find myself “sucked in” way too often. Thank you for your tips!

  13. Thanks for your post. I totally agree with the timer idea. My daughter and I just spoke of this last night. She got on the computer after work, and before she knew it 3 hours went by! I like the idea of having the phone talk to me and tell me to get an iced tea too! I like all of your suggestions actually. I’m going to try them all.

  14. This was exactly what I needed to read today! I am definitely using your idea of Visual Reminders, especially Bible over Blogs. I wake up in the morning and look at my phone first. I had downloaded a Bible App thinking that would help me read the Bible before FB or email but it didn’t work the way I thought it would. I think setting my Bible on top of my phone just might be the answer to help me re-establish this discipline! Thank you so much.

  15. I most want to try highlighting a “brain-dump” list in different colors. I make lots of lists on different pieces of paper and lose them or decide I need to “redo” them to organize them and it truly does get me sidetracked and even paralyzed at times! So that the tool becomes a hurdle instead of a help. Great idea!

  16. Great tips! “Less is more” really resonated with me. I need to set up some boundaries with my time on the phone/computer. Why would I want my daughter to think that my phone is more important than spending quality time with her?

  17. I am amazed at the way we are so attached to cell phones & other gadgets, I see it on the bus, in stores, even in church….. Some things need to be left alone and when we start letting it control us that’s when we need to take a look at the big picture. Anyways, would love a chance to win your book as I do need to get organized & don’t know about Staples card as we don’t have one in our area but could always give it to someone….. Have a blessed day! Thanks for the good insights, much appreciated!

  18. I liked the tip on setting a visual reminder. Over the last few weeks we’ve been keeping a devotional book in our car and we do a famly devotion on our way to work/school which has helped reset our focus before our day officially begins.

  19. Karen~
    Your post has left me all choked up! I am online all the time when I am home. My husband and I are havimg major issues with our 16 yr old son, my husband is still recovering from an accident that happened last Oct (he was hit by a SUV while he was delivering to a Mr Hero, the driver crashed thru the window pinning my husband to the counter) I use the computor to “get away” from what is going on in our life and home everyday. I have been diagnosed with some unexpected health issues myself, and am overwhelemed by the clutter that has piled up in my home and do nothing about it. I have let it everything go~~ the shame I am feeling is overwheming, but I am going to write a list and tackle a few things tommorrow.~ putting God back first is my #1 priority, and then family, then my house. Clutter is so un-peaceful, when I look around, it makes me feel awful. I know it t won’t happen in a day, but I will keep chipping away at it, little by little. I also plan to set a limit for online time. Thanks Karen, for showing me my tangents, I now have some hope to change some things around~~~ God Bless You Always, Kim

  20. This is great, I often use my iPhones calendar with alarm reminders of appointments or events and that helPs me a lot… But have never tried the 30/45 minute task alarm, that’s a great idea… Another thing I do is, I have a reminder every day twice a day that says “BE the best mom/wIfe you can be” because I don’t want to get lost in the “to do list” and let life get the best of me with a bad attitude… That reminder helps me to focus and when my husband and daughters get home with all the fun and not so things they did at work/school I can be a good listener ear and answer them with love…
    Thank you fOr a wonderful devotion… Blessings!

  21. I love the idea of using highlighters to group things on a list. I like to have a list, but get flustered when I realize I forget to add something that should have been at the top of the page.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  22. love the idea of seting an alarm. it’s so easy to lose track of time and have an hour go by. thanks!

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