Time Management

“This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out.” (Romans 13:11 NLT)

I watch a popular baking show where contestants make towering cakes in a few hours of time. From start to finish, everything is made from scratch. Every task--planning, sifting, mixing, baking, decorating--is geared to the goal of finishing the one project at hand. Cakes of different sizes, multiple colors of icing, macaroons, decorative accents, are all made and assembled in the alloted time. Bakers often crouch next to their ovens and monitor their work, so they know when to adjust the temperature or take their cakes out. They don’t dabble in unrelated activities, even during times of waiting.

Time management skills and attention to detail are just as crucial as creativity and baking in this setting.

The older I get, the more I realize how little time I have left. I don’t have a bucket list or a vision board filled with different things I want to acquire, accomplish, or experience. Nevertheless, I am deeply aware that there is an all-encompassing purpose to my life and limited time to get things done. Everything I do must somehow contribute to this specific role, this ultimate goal. There is a strong temptation to fill up my life with whatever everyone else is doing. Yet, I also sense that dabbling in unrelated activities, however interesting and enriching they might be, merely uses up what time and energy I have left.