Did you hear about the truck driver carrying two tonnes of birds, in a one-tonne carrying capacity truck? Every few hundred yards or so he would pull over, get out of the cab, bang on the side of the truck a few times and then drive off again. A policeman saw him, pulled him over and asked him what he was doing. The driver explained he had two tonnes of birds in a one-tonne truck and so he kept banging on the sides to keep some of the birds in the air! Silly, I know, but isn’t that so true to life – we are continually juggling and have too many things in the air at the same time.
Time
‘If I Could Just Get Organized’
There may be nothing wrong with you,
The way you live, the work you do,
But I can very plainly see
Exactly what is wrong with me.
It isn’t that I’m indolent
Or dodging duty by intent;
I work as hard as anyone,
And yet I get so little done,
The morning goes, the noon is here,
Before I know, the night is near,
And all around me, I regret,
Are things I haven’t finished yet.
If I could just get organized!
I oftentimes have realized
Not all that matters is the man;
The man must also have a plan.
With you, there may be nothing wrong,
But here’s my trouble right along;
I do the things that don’t amount
To very much, of no account,
That really seem important though
And let a lot of matters go.
I nibble this, I nibble that,
But never finish what I’m at.
I work as hard as anyone,
And yet, I get so little done,
I’d do so much you’d be surprised,
If I could just get organized!
by Douglas Malloch
Take time to THINK… it is the source of power.
Take time to PLAY… it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to READ… it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to PRAY… it is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to LOVE and BE LOVED… it is a God-given privilege.
Take time to BE FRIENDLY… it is the road to happiness.
Take time to LAUGH… it is the music of the soul.
Take time to WORK… it is the price of success.
Take time to DO CHARITY… it is the key to heaven.
If you’re too busy to relax and too busy to play,
If you’re too busy to exercise and too busy to pray,
If you’re too busy to read and too busy for fun,
If you’re too busy to finish the things you’ve begun,
If you’re too busy to find time for the ones that you love,
And you’re sinking and struggling to keep your head above,
Then, my friend, you’re TOO BUSY!
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
Benjamin Franklin
“We must govern the clock, not let the clock govern us.”
Golda Meir (1898-1978), Prime Minister of Israel
“Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over.”
Paul J. Meyer
“It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God’s will. If you can’t get it all done, it means you’re trying to do more than God intended for you to do (or, possibly, that you’re watching too much television). Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule.”
Rick Warren
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan Publishing, p.31
Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 NIV
Stress comes from having too many gloves and only one pair of hands; too many hats and only one head!
If you want to fly with the eagles don’t spend all your time around turkeys.
“Every minute spent in planning will save you two in execution.”
Henry Kaiser (1882-1967), US industrialist
“Spending time in God’s presence is like sitting in a room filled with sweet-smelling perfume. If we sit there long enough, we take the fragrance with us when we leave. It will be in out clothing, in our hair and even in our very skin.”
Joyce Meyer
“When we feel that time is simply the ‘entrance ramp’ to eternity, it gives us a feeling of continuity. This life becomes the practice, and the next life becomes the game. Whichever we believe to be the game or the practice is extremely important, for so often we play this life as if it were the game, not understanding much of the drudgery and discipline of practice. When we understand life as the practice with the game coming later, we even accomplish some joy in the practice by anticipating the joy of the game.”
Fred Smith, US businessman, speaker and author
The First Rule of Time-Management: “Never spend a £1.00’s worth of time on a 10 penny decision.”
To waste your time is to waste your life, but to master your time is to master your life.
“Jesus always had time for other people. He talked to them, fed them, healed them, and forgave them. He often met physical needs in order to address spiritual needs. If we’re too busy even to interact with the people around us, let alone engage with their struggles, then we’re not following Christ’s example.”
Craig Groeschel
Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
Time Management: Become effective by being selective, and never confuse activity with productivity.
Time is a more valuable commodity than money. You can always find ways of getting more money but you can never get more time!
When I was a babe and wept and slept, Time crept;
When I was a boy and laughed and talked, Time walked;
Then when the years saw me a man, Time ran;
And finally, as I older grew, Time flew.
Sometimes being B-U-S-Y just means Being Under Satan’s Yoke!
If you don’t plan how you will spend your time someone else will spend it for you.
Q. How much does your TV cost you – not to buy, to watch?
“You wake up in the morning, and lo! Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the magic tissue of the universe of your life. No one can take it from you. No one receives either more or less than you receive. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt. You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you.”
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931), popular English novelist
Don’t let your mouth overload your back.
“To choose time is to save time!”
Francis Bacon
“Don’t watch the clock, copy it and keep going!”
Samuel Levenson
Like all things time must be managed.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), ancient Greek Philosopher
“It’s not what television does to you, but what it prevents you from doing that is the most destructive thing about it.”
Zig Ziglar
“Today is a very important day because, no matter how you spend it, you’ve traded a day of your life for it.”
Zig Ziglar
Van Crouch is an author, speaker and seminar leader. He relates the story how one evening he came home from work and was greeted by his son who said, “Hi dad, what have you been doing all day?” Van relied, “Aw, nothing much.” And then his son responded, “Well, then how do know you when you are finished?” – Good point!
The word ‘No’ is easy enough to pronounce but it can often the hardest thing in the world to say! Sometimes you’ve just ‘gotta’ be strong!
“The greatest single cause of executive inefficiency is overwork!”
Peter F. Drucker
To avoid one of the biggest wastes of time ever, never start your day until you have finished it on paper.
Time is like money: You can spend it any way you want but you only get to spend it once and there are no refunds. Make sure you spend yours wisely.
The only one who got everything done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
‘Minutes of Gold’
Two or three minutes; two or three hours,
What do they mean in this life of ours?
Not very much if but counted as time,
But minutes of gold and hours sublime,
If only we’ll use them once in a while
To make someone happy; make someone smile.
A minute may dry a little lad’s tears,
An hour sweep aside the trouble of years.
Minutes of my time may bring to an end
Hopelessness somewhere, and bring me a friend.
Anon
Committees are groups of people who keep minutes and waste hours.
“Time flies: It’s up to you to be the navigator.”
Robert Orben
Think about it: in just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
The trouble with the future is that it just isn’t what it used to be.
There was an old sailor my grandfather knew
Who had so many things which he wanted to do
That whenever he thought it was time to begin
He couldn’t because of the state he was in!
Here’s a classic way for saving time and keeping business meetings focused and on track. Instead of everyone sitting comfortably around the boardroom table for a leisurely and time-consuming meeting, remove the chairs and hold the meeting standing up. You’ll find that meetings come very much straight down to business. Short and sweet, but also very effective!
“It isn’t the large chunks of time that make the winning difference. The large demands on time fall about the same for most of us. The scraps of wasted time are where the winning edge is. For example, I have noticed that generally the most successful individuals leave a meeting first!”
Fred Smith, US businessman, speaker and author
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674), English poet