HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE, NOT JUST EFFICIENT.

For many years I have had a "To-do list" that I have tried following though often times I have failed to do so. But I must confess that it has helped me a great deal in trying to organize myself. You, like me perhaps have a "To-do" list that helps you focus on what should be done but more importantly you need a "Stop-To-Do" list that will make you effective.

In order for you to be effective and not just efficient, there are certain things that steal your time that you need to stop doing in order to fully do what is in your "To- Do" list. Once you clearly understand your priorities, things that are important to you and it is only you who can do them like spending time with your family, the next step is learning how to say "NO". It is only a two letter word and yet one of the most difficult to speak.

Regaining margin and control in our lives will never happen unless we develop the ability to say "NO"-yes even to good things. Things we enjoy doing like spending time on Facebook for me. It is easy to say no to bad things, but it is hard to say no to things we enjoy doing. And some of these things are the things we need to put down in our "Stop-to-Do" lists. According to Jim Colins, author of 'Good to Great', we must have the discipline to say “No thank you” to big opportunities that do not fit within our priorities. A “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” is irrelevant if it is the wrong opportunity.

Saying no is not an excuse for non involvement, laziness, or insensitivity. Instead, it is purely a mechanism for living by our priorities and preserving our vitality for the things that really matter. One Pastor told me that in his church, no is a holy word. So don't shy from saying no to the good that is trying to rob you of the great. Just say "NO", that is what a "Stop To Do" list is all about. And once you make your "Stop To Do"list, make sure you execute it ruthlessly.

Have an effective week.

THE ACTIVITY-REST CYCLE

Last year before resigning my position as a full-time Pastor with one of the Local Churches in Town, my greatest fear was what I would be doing with all my time.  My greatest fear then was that of being bored and exhausted with nothing to do. But six months after, now my wife and I are busy doing our own ministry apart from working part-time as Marriage and Family Pastors in another local church.

What I have come to realize, contrary to the fears I once had, working for yourself, especially when you are doing what you are passionate about, can make you become very busy. I’m suddenly realizing that I don’t have time. I don’t even have time to read the newspaper which for those that know me well is unbelievable. In fact we have gotten too busy that the Friday before good Friday, I was shaken to the reality that my body couldn’t take it in anymore. My body forced me into a rest, which I must confess is one of the best things that have happened to me this year.

According to Richard Swenson, author and medical Doctor, if a patient has rheumatoid arthritis, in addition to important medications, two therapeutic measures are essential: activity and rest. Rheumatoid patients need daily activity or their joints will freeze up. But they also need well-defined times of rest or their joints will be destroyed. Our lives are similar to that of the rheumatoid patient. Activity and rest. Together. Balanced. Both important. Both of God. 

"To give the best take a rest" - Grace Achoki