Captured Time

Being the planner that I am, I will regularly do an overview of my calendar and see what I have coming up in the next week or month. At the end of February, I looked at several months and realized I had overbooked myself. (I said I was a planner yet not necessary a good one.)

I had a two-day meeting in Dallas, TX…a mission trip to Uganda with a long weekend in Kenya….a bunch of high school baseball games and tennis matches…another meeting in Dallas…a trip to Houston…a couple of speaking engagements and more. As I sent my prayer letter to my prayer team and listed this all out, I was a bit overwhelmed.

Well, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I sure don’t have that problem anymore! Not all of the above has canceled but a big chunk has and now my calendar is much clearer. So what am I going to do with that time? (See the planner in me still coming out.)

There are three areas I will focus on:

·       Content Creation This free time will allow me to write more and develop content for blogs, courses as well as speaking. I have already scheduled 3 hours each day (M-F) to focus on this.

·      Knowledge Increase John F. Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” In my evening hours, instead of sitting in the stands cheering on the nephews, I am going to read. I have pulled out four books to read to help me….

1.     nurture relationships better by asking questions

2.     develop contentment by trusting

3.     deepen my dependence by enduring

4.     cultivate joy by laughing

·       Physical Health This area has really been a struggle for me this year. Exercise has not been anywhere on my to-do list and my eating is a bit out of control. So I am taking the time to do what I know to be right in this area and getting back on track.

What about you? How are you going to take advantage of this “captured” time?