My life changed when I gave birth to two babies in just a little over a year. My time was no longer my own as I rushed to meet their needs. The high physical demand morphed into emotional investment as they grew and we began homeschooling and navigating our way through the turbulent teenage currents. I remember dreaming about what life would be like when they moved out and got married. I would finally have the luxury of time. I planned to be extremely productive with all the free time I was certain I’d experience.

Fast forward many years and both children are grown, flown, and happily married. They need me less. I do have many more free hours in my day, but I am finding that I struggle with productivity. When I only had a few minutes to accomplish tasks between basketball practice and drama rehearsals, the urgency spurred me to move quicker and procrastinate less. Without the distraction of the family and their full schedules around, I can get absorbed in a book or podcast and find that an hour has gone by, and I haven’t completed anything on my checklist. The luxury of time has become a responsibility.

I get an opportunity every day to develop self-discipline. Each morning when I awake, I spend time in God’s Word, seeking His wisdom for my life. After I have prayed, I make a list of eight blessings for which I feel gratitude and eight tasks I believe that He wants me to carry out that day. I try to vary my choices from household chores, relational connections (emails, phone calls, snail mail, and texts), new skill achievement (Spanish and crochet are my current areas for growth), and progression on much larger tasks. I try to be realistic about what I can get done so I set myself up for success and allow for the detours of life. Time is not a renewable resource, but we do have a choice how to use it.