Weekly Thought – August 15, 2023
Fred took his last breath at 9:15am on August 17, 2007. Dialysis failed. He connected with the dialysis team so closely that one of them returned from his day off as soon as he heard early that morning of Fred’s imminent dialysis failure. He used his gifts well, connecting, stretching, and blessing.
Time Control
When I was consulting with Mobil Oil Corporation, the VP of Marketing and I developed a phrase which we used to minimize unnecessary work and centralize the organization’s thinking on the project. We called it “The Object of the Exercise.” This simply meant putting into one sentence what we were actually trying to do. It is unbelievable how seldom we do this. It is my usual habit to start each morning is to identify and decide what I am really trying to do that day. For me, this is the essence of time control.
One of my early mentors had this sign on his wall: “Results is the only excuse for activity.” On one occasion I was using a great many words to amplify the activity in order to cover up the meager results. He stopped me mid-sentence with, “Fred, show me the baby; don’t tell me about the labor pains.” He wasn’t unkind. He taught me an unforgettable career-influence lesson. As an aside, my children tell me this is high on the list of “things Dad taught me.”
I was having lunch with the President of a sizeable telephone companies after his company meeting. During conversation he told me he decided to stop taking his briefcase home. This surprised me because I knew of no other executive who would walk out of the office without the symbol of his true dedication – the briefcase. He went on to tell me how he came to that decision. “I found out that I spent a great deal of time during the work day sorting papers and filling a ‘take home’ pile. Right then I decided to take those papers out of that pile, stop sorting during the day – and get to work.”
One of my good friends is the CEO of a natural resources firm. “When I walk out the back door of the building and head for my car I make a shift. I am no longer the CEO, but husband and father. And that is the way it remains until I walk back into the building.” His executive friends had a hard time with this, but his marriage is a “’til death do us part” covenant.
Controlling time means seeing it as a limited asset with potential to be spent or invested. I choose investment.
This week think about: 1) What is my biggest time waster? 2) When do I feel God’s pleasure in the use of my time? 3) What would a stranger know about me by looking at my calendar?
Words of Wisdom: “Ascertaining what I am trying to do is the essence of time control.”
Wisdom from the Word: “The sluggard will not plow during the planting season, so at harvest time he asks for grain but has nothing.” (Proverbs 20:4 NET Bible)