Five Ways To Gain An Extra Hour

You're not alone. Everyone struggles to find time for all the things they know they should do, and typically only accomplish the things which have deadlines. This is why we can get to work in the morning, but often fail to read our Bibles, or why we can get homework assignments done ontime, but fail to spend substantial time in prayer. Without a deadline, your most important tasks get bullied, pushed around, and shoved into the corner by less important, time-sensitive tasks. Instead of trying to rearrange tasks, change schedules, and cut activities, wouldn't life be easier if you just had an extra hour? Maybe 25 hours in a day instead of 24? I'm here to tell you its possible, and you don't need to stop time! I'm going to find you an extra hour, and I'm going to do it NOW!



1. Stop wasting so much time sleeping!

I've found that 5 hours of sleep is plenty for me to function at 100% throughout the day, and this level of rest is sustainable. While I've gone for a couple of months on 2 - 3 hours per night, there is no way I could sustain that level of sleep and stay awake in church, in school, and at work. I can handle pulling an all-nighter once or twice per week, or a 3 or 4 hour night a few times per week, but I need to have some catch-up nights in between. If you know your limits you can work out a routine and use that extra time to get stuff done. Everyone is different, but if you are getting 7 or 8 hours per night right now, I would suggest staying up one hour later or (even better) getting up one hour earlier. You would be surprised how productive you can be when the rest of the house is sleeping. I know most of you are grimmacing right now, but trust me this works!

2. Man shall not live by bread alone...

We all eat. Some more than others. Did you ever consider how much time you spend sitting in the lunch room/break room at work? How about breakfast in the moring? This is a prime opportunity to pull out your New Testament and read. Hey, you may be able to recover an hour or more right here!

3. Turn off the tunes.

Got a car? Do you drive it? Most of us spend at least some time on the road commuting to and from work, the store, church, etc. Download the Bible and use your CD player, tape player, or MP3 to listen to God's Word. It's free, and it would be a great use of otherwise wasted time.

4. Wash the dishes, and your mind.

Few people hate doing dishes as much as I do, but once again its a fact of life. Use the Bible on MP3 (see the previous point) to fill your mind with scripture while you fill the dishwasher with plates. It's not like you would be doing anything else, right?

5. God's Word is sowed in the commode.

Once again, there are certain times of the day that we are all a captive audience. Why not strategically position a Bible in your bathroom? Take a few minutes while you are there to spend with the Lord (He sees you anyway, so don't worry about Him being offended). For some of you, this idea may add 3 hours of Bible reading time to your day!

The bottom line is, nothing is going to happen unless you make it happen. Try one of these suggestions and see if it works for you. If it does, let me know! Also, if you already have a system in place that works I would love to hear about it. Stay young, and stay fundamental!