Getting Off The Treadmill, part V – More Sacrificing

We have talked about identifying and sacrificing unhealthy relationships and sacrificing luxuries.  Now, let’s talk about sacrificing our time.

Most of the work in this department has been accomplished already.  You have already gotten rid of the friends and acquaintances that go out all the time.  You have cut out those people who want to waste time drinking, smoking, and enjoying themselves.  You deaded the people who want to spend all your time gossiping about what somebody else did or said.

More importantly, you are no longer willing to spend money on anything but necessities, so any talk of splurging falls on deaf ears with you.  So what more could I want from you?

Much like with the other posts on sacrificing, I want you to make a list.

Write down a half hour-by-half hour schedule of what you did this past week.  Cover a full seven days.

Notice any blocks of time that you could have been more productive?  Any chunks of time that you wasted?  Is there a lot of “unwinding” or “resting” periods?  Don’t worry, we are about help you make your time count with a new schedule.

This schedule will be the one that you plug into your smart phone and set reminders for.  This schedule will control your life for the next few months.  It will cut out all the wastes of time and should help make you more productive.

Now, create a new schedule.

Plug in your work hours first.  Include lunch breaks and commuting time.  Make sure you use your lunch breaks to eat.  Staying healthy is paramount.

And try to make your commuting time productive.  I commute on public transit.  I use the morning commute to read my Bible or listen to sermons and I use the return trip to read or listen to podcasts.  I admit, sometimes I use the return trip to listen to comedy podcasts or watch Netflix.  When I used to drive to work, I would either listen to sermons, listen to worship music, or listen to podcasts about my vision.  Sometimes, I would just used the drive to brainstorm.  If you drive, walk, or ride a bike to work, consider finding some useful podcasts or some good Christian teaching to listen to.  (You can email me for recommendations).  But no matter what you do, make the time count.

Next, plug in 15 minutes for prayer every night – even if you don’t believe in the power of prayer.

You are in the process of proving that it works.  We will definitely talk more about prayer, its purpose, and its effectiveness later.  But for now, if you are an unbeliever, use that 15 minutes to speak out loud to God.  Ask him to reveal himself to you if he is real.  Ask him to show up in a real and tangible way.  Ask him to show you the truth.

Now plug in a half hour for working out three times a week.

Try to spread it out like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Your workout need not be a Navy Seal regimen.  Just some push ups, sit ups, maybe just a half hour walk to get the heart rate up.  Trust me, keeping the blood flowing is vital to keeping your stress level down and keeping a clear head.  We will talk more about the importance of good health to your vision, too.

Next, plug in 6-8 hours every night for sleep.

When most people start this process, they think they can go without sleep.  After all, almost every rapper has said “I never sleep” in at least one song.  But I promise you, that will only work for so long.  After about a week, your immune system will get weak, you will get sick, you will get headaches, your ability to be creative will take a big hit, and your productivity will go down.  Again, no need to pretend to be a Navy Seal (unless you are a Navy Seal, in which case, do you).

Adding up all the things I told you to include, you have around 18 hours covered on work days.  But there are 24 hours in a day.  Therefore, you have around 6 hours, everyday, to split between your family (quality time, soccer games, kids’ homework, dinner) and your vision – even more on days when you don’t have work.  Maximize that time.  Make it count.  Whether you spend it with your family or on your vision.  Make it count.

My strategy was to split the time in half at first.  Then I tried rotating days and devoting the full 6 hours to either family OR my vision.  The better strategy is to devote some time to both each day but leave room in case you need to spend more time with one or the other on a given day.  For example, you may notice that your child (or significant other) needs more attention one day or there may be an event that you have to attend or you might get carried away with your vision one day.  If you have not planned for that, it could throw off your entire schedule.  But if you go into it with the idea of flexibility, surprises can be absorbed.

Tip: As with the budgeting, you might want to build in a small buffer of time to do nothing.  You are not a robot.  And sometimes the mind will buck at a new strict schedule.  Build in a crash day or two into the month.  Build in an hour every other day to just be a human.  It is healthy and it will give you much needed mental rest before you dive back into life.

So where is the sacrifice?  You will get invited to events that you can’t attend.  You will want to watch TV but won’t be able to.  You have to stay focused and I am telling you, in a few months, you will be well on your way to changing your life and the lives of the people in your community.

Until next time, let’s break bread and eat.

Written by Ivory L. Bishop, Jr., Esq