I have always been interested in how others use and organize their time.

I’ve watched dozens of “plan with me” videos of people eagerly sharing their tidy — and sometimes, beautifully illustrated — calendars and to-do lists as a source of inspiration. Sometimes, the appearance tricks me into thinking that maybe if my calendar was organized a certain way, I’d be able to accomplish everything I need. I could really prioritize what I need or skip it entirely. I admire the attention to detail in outlining tasks and events, the creativity that is necessary to make it lovely to view and use, and sometimes even envy how they do it.

Depending on our perspective and situation, we either have too much time on our hands or we just can’t get enough of it as the hours fly by. The fact still remains — we only have 24 hours a day and the way we use the time God has given us shows where our devotion lies.

The section of the Bible that first comes to my mind when reflecting on time is the poem presented in Ecclesiastes 2:1-8. The poet writes “a time for” before each action and counteraction, drawing on themes such as birth and death (2:2), tearing down and building up (2:3), speaking out and staying silent (2:7), as well as a few others. What I want to emphasize here is that there are times and seasons for different actions and emotions, and we must strive to understand what season we are in and how we are using our time in that season.

For other examples of time, we can look to how the early church spent time. Acts 2:42 states that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (English Standard Version). They spent time in worship, learning and together with other believers in community, all important aspects of faith we should build into our daily lives.

On a practical level, we devote our time, energy, and attention in different areas of our lives and we should be aware of where we place our attention. So, how do we find out how we use our time? And then, how can we hone in on what really matters to us rather than be sucked into distractions?

Here are some suggestions:

If you find yourself endlessly on your phone, you can try installing a phone usage app to see how much time you spend on your phone and where. If you’re endlessly swiping on social media, you might benefit from setting time limits for specific apps by usage or by the time of the day. Maybe you don’t want to cut yourself off from Instagram entirely, but it could probably wait until the afternoon — at least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

A to-do list with just the key priorities can help monitor what you value most and if you’re spending time there. Want to read the Bible everyday? Put it on a checklist and see how well you do over a week or two. I find that keeping the goal at the top of the list as a reminder is helpful, but be mindful that something like church or reading the Bible shouldn’t be seen merely as something to check off a list. The goal here would be to get into the Word, not just to check off a box that you did it.

Throughout the day you could check what you’re thinking and what you’re doing. Question the purpose and intent and determine if the activity is helpful to you or someone else in some way.

You could also try writing out on a calendar how you typically spend a week. No need to make it fancy, just something that can help visualize how time is spent. Look for the gaps in time between appointments, work shifts and normal events. How are you spending the time there? Be honest and see if those activities or events are building toward what matters the most to you.

Self reflection challenges us to be honest with ourselves, our past and our future. Observing and understanding how we use our time can help us better understand ourselves and how we can pursue our dreams. This way we can better steward the time God has given to us and we can move forward toward spending the time in a way that brings us closer to who God made us to be.

Time Check