Are you old enough to remember when a certain brand of tea bag included a message on the paper end that connected the string to the bag? It was either something humorous or a piece of homespun wisdom, kind of like a fortune cookie message. Except there was no cookie to go with the tea.

I kept one of these messages for years. It read, “You’ll never have more time. You have, and always have had, all there is.”

Let that sink in for a moment. Who among us hasn’t muttered aloud, “If only I had more TIME!”?

When I consider my life when my children were young, I can’t recall how everything got accomplished: working full time while being a good mom and wife, keeping house, church, volunteer work….well, you get it. Some of you are living that life right now.

But even as our children grow up and life evolves, there are new demands on our time that eat up our minutes.

I’ve been struggling a bit with time management in this new chapter of my life. Guilt has crept in over not having fully accomplished any of my personal and business projects.

It’s not as if I’m disorganized or lack time management skills. So my self-talk last week was, “Norma, be like Nike and just do it!” The problem is that my list contains too many projects; I couldn’t focus on what my first “it” should be.

I found my answer in Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud. The author told the story of Bill Hybels, a pastor and Christian leadership expert who had been away and was dreading the pile of work he would face upon his return. This was his prayer: “God, in the remaining six weeks of this calendar year, what would be the greatest half-dozen contributions I could make to the church that you and I both love?” 

In a couple hours he came up with a list of six projects to complete in the remaining six weeks of the year. He wrote his 6×6 on an index card and kept it front and center.

That resonated with me. I pulled out my projects worksheet and identified what held the most urgency as well as the most value (either money-making value or personal value) to me.

I devoted a new notebook to this concept. Each of my initial six got its own page with notes to clearly identify the end results I’m seeking. Then on a small card, I wrote a word or brief phrase to identify my six.  For instance, one of my six is “fitness.” That’s a generic word that can mean many things. But what I’m working on are these three aspects of fitness:

• Physical – get 40 minutes a day of some type of exercise
• Spiritual – read the daily portion of “The Bible in One Year”
• Mental – spend half an hour a day on solving challenging word puzzles

And following the 6×6 plan doesn’t mean I do ONLY those six projects until October 14th. Instead, it provides me focus to set aside time each day to work on those six. It’s the inspiration that guides my daily to-do list.

So here’s my first 6×6:

While my brief reminder phrases make no sense to you, that’s ok. They’re abundantly clear to me!

If you feel yourself struggling to “get it all done” or being pulled into too many directions, this process may be something you’ll find useful.

And if your circumstances are so overwhelming, maybe you need to start with three projects in six weeks for a 3×6. Like any goal setting advice, make your choices specific, measurable, and realistic. Setting an unattainable goal and failing is a self-defeating act. So remember to be kind to yourself!

To my readers: Tell us about one project you will put on your first 6×6.