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The Most Effective Time-Management Tool I Know

By Anita Mathias

Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Martin Luther


The last 7 days have been exceptionally busy.
Last Thursday, Zoe’s school had a long University open day in which we decided that Zoe should have a gap year, and apply in 2014 for admission in 2015, rather than 2013 for 2014.
On Friday, I hosted a brunch for the women’s group I am co-leading, then had a meeting with my co-leader and the leader of the cluster group in St. Andrew’s, Oxford. St. Andrew’s has a lot of support, oversight (and meetings) for the leaders of small groups.  My church in America had it too, and while it takes time both for leaders and those providing oversight, it prevents the painful toxic situations that regularly occurred in small groups in my previous Charismatic church in Oxford—so that’s good!
On Saturday, I spent the day in London with my university friend, Jane and her family.
On Monday, I had tea in the Kilns, C.S. Lewis’s beautiful house with the acting warden, Malissa Kilpatrick.
On Tuesday, I had a fascinating stimulating coffee at the Ashmolean with Malcolm Guite, poet and priest, talking about G.K. Chesterton and Charles Williams—about whom Malcolm knows an enormous amount and talks captivatingly and engagingly. Well, talks like a poet!!
Wednesday we spent at Tearfund’s headquarters in Teddington, near London. I was to have coffee today with an academic who teaches English, and is interested in women writers in particular, but both of us were shattered!!
And in between, we had our bedroom recarpeted, which meant taking out and putting back everything (well, our housekeeper did it, but some of it in the wrong places) and taking out and putting everything back in the garage, which we got carpeted as part of its transformation to a games room.
Interestingly, until today, when the strain of the unaccustomed extroversion told on me (I am basically an introvert, as, or more, energized by Bible reading, prayer, writing and reflection than by a party or coffee, though those energise me too) I was quite calm. Today, I declared a Sabbath, took the day off to rest and catch up with sleep, and decided to work on Sunday instead.
I’ve managed to write through this busy week, with two full days in London, producing both daily blog posts, and working on my memoir. I think it was because I managed to pray through the week.
* * *
Praying when you are very busy is amazing. It’s like entering a tardis. You feel stressed when you enter it. The world seems too much with you. It presses in on you. There is simply too much to do, but you cannot do anything much because you are stressed.
And you enter the sacred zone of prayer, remove your shoes for you are on holy ground, and enter eternity: the presence of the Blazing Bush which burns and is never consumed. And it’s as if time pushes outwards, enlarges around you in silent, ever growing ripples, becomes unconcernedly silent and vast.
You enter deep peace.  You are in some indefinable way changed and transformed, and can now face the challenges of your day steadily, methodically and with peace. When you leave your prayer room, it’s as if everything that happened before happened yesterday, and today is now a new day.
For me, praying when busy is no longer an option, but a necessity. I simply get too stressed to tidy the house for guests, to read or write or blog if I have been rushing around too much, or fretting, and need to take the time to rest, and soak in God’s presence until I am calm and clear-headed again.
* * *
 Martin Luther wrote intriguingly “On a typical day I am charged with the pastorate of three congregations. I teach regularly at the seminary. I have students living in my house. I am writing three books. Countless people write to me. When I start each day, therefore, I make it a point to spend an hour in prayer with God. But if I have a particularly busy day, and am more rushed than usual, I make it a point to spend two hours with God before I start the day.”
Ah, there speaks a man who know what it was to rely on God!! And no doubt in prayer, God told him what to focus on in his seminal books. (Jack and Rose Marie Miller have been transformed, for instance, by Luther’s Commentaries on Galatians and Romans, and have transformed many others in turn through their Sonship Course). How to get to the heart of the matter with his students. How to deal with tricky pastoral issues. How to answer letters pithily, with no extra words, and which letters need not be answered. How to focus on his resident students intensely, but briefly.
And no doubt, prayer gave him peace and energy. Renewed him. He could work peacefully, efficiently and in a directed way for the rest of the day.
It’s one of those counter-intuitive things that show us that ultimately we don’t control our lives. That if the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labour. I’ve been discovering recently that if I take the time to exercise vigorously for an hour the rest of my day is far more productive. Or if I have a 30 minute afternoon nap. Or a good night’s sleep. Or pray!!
* * *
I am just learning to pray. I published an article in The Christian Century in 2000 called  Learning to Pray, and now, 12 years later, I am still learning. I guess I will always be.
But it really is the most important time-management, productivity and efficiency tool. God through his goodness, in a session of desperate prayer five years ago, gave me a business idea which I could implement and enjoy implementing, and which now wholly supports my family. If I had not prayed, earning the same money would have taken thousands more hours!! He told me to blog during a prayer walk, and I have never enjoyed any sustainable work more than I enjoy blogging. (Well, I love writing poetry, but I know, from experience, I could not write poetry every day. Inspiration would run dry. I’d get bored!!)
I pray too about how to entertain, and frequently am given simple, doable menus, and tips on getting the house ready which are far, far simpler than what I would have done without prayer. God often tells me how to deal with my teenagers or husband or tricky people if I ask (though, sadly, I ask less often than I should!)
                                                                      * * *
I wonder if we only really, really learn to pray when we reach the point of desperation, when we cannot do life on our own.  Sadly, it was the case with me.
To be honest, the things I pray over are just the tip of the iceberg of the things I need to pray over—and that’s just in my own life!!
Balancing blogging and writing; how to do social media efficiently but not time-consumingly; mothering; being a friend to Roy; losing weight; waking early; financial decisions; garden decisions; house decisions; purchases…oh there is so much wisdom I need just for my own life, for starters, and yet, how slowly I learn the habit of praying over everything.
Oh what grace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer…
  

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    March 31, 2012 at 11:39 am

    Thanks Diane, Joanna and Mollie. I wonder if it's going to be a life-long process, to counter-intuitively rely on God's strength rather than our own–to pray rather than worry!!

  2. Miss Mollie says

    March 30, 2012 at 11:27 am

    I linked to your blog this morning on mine. I identify with what you wrote. How we need that time with the Lord. I appreciate your blog. Thanks.

  3. Joanna says

    March 30, 2012 at 7:28 am

    Oh Anita, thank you so much for this. I really, really needed to hear it.

  4. Diane Stortz says

    March 30, 2012 at 2:25 am

    Oh so true, Anita! Thank you for this reminder.

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
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  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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