Archive for May, 2010

Time Management 101

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

ClockToday over at She Seeks I’m vlogging about one of my favorite time management tips. Feel free to click over and watch before coming back here to finish reading this post.

I’ll be honest. Time management is an ongoing struggle for me. It’s never been more apparent than it was a few months ago when I found myself running late to a time management seminar while choking down fast food. Ironic, huh?

In the vlog I talk about how keeping an occasional time-log can help you identify where your time is going and help you figure out what’s profitable and what’s not. This is always a good place to start. Managing time is kind of like balancing a budget. You need to figure out where you’re over spending in order to stop the problem.

Here are a few ways keeping a time-log has helped me.

1. It helped me realize how much time was going to the internet and TV. Now, I’m not going to tell you how many hours in my week were being sucked away by one of these forms of technology (it’s just flat embarrassing). But I will tell you that I had no idea until I sat down and calculated it. The DVR had unwittingly become a curse since it freely recorded shows I wasn’t home to watch. Then I would come home and stay up too late watching all of my recorded shows or I would waste a weekend catching up.

Starting now, I am limiting the number of shows I am even allowed to record and the amount of hours I spend on the internet. If you struggle with how much time you waste online, decide up front how much time you want to invest there and set a timer. When it beeps log off. Period. It’s too easy to get caught up in perusing Facebook profiles or reading blogs. Or (let’s be honest) even shopping.   

2. It made me mindful of interruptions. I learned a lot in the time management class I went to, but there was one point that was more powerful for me than the rest. Marcia Ramsland pointed out that things like emails, text messages and Facebook notifications are interruptions in my day. The downside of being so readily accessible is that people feel like they should be able to get your attention right away and have you drop whatever you are doing. I was literally wasting hours in my day checking email, replying to texts and answering my phone when I was in the middle of something else. I was never finished and always frustrated.

Now, I sit down and reply to emails once or twice a day for 30 minutes to an hour and I don’t answer email on the weekends. I reply to email when it fits in my schedule. I also don’t check every text or voice message as it comes in. I wait until I have time to read/listen and respond. If someone leaves me a message and they need something urgent and I don’t have time for a long conversation, I send a short text message with the answer they need. That way they get their info and I get my time.

If the call isn’t urgent, I return it when I have time to talk. I also don’t hesitate to send a call to voicemail if I’m in the middle of doing something else—even if it happens to be relaxing. I don’t have a lot of downtime in life and I wouldn’t have any if I always picked up my phone.

3. It caused me to evaluate what really was worth doing. I get asked to volunteer a lot of my time to many good ministries and causes. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to do it all. When a new opportunity comes along that I would really love to take advantage of I have to sit down and analyze the fruitfulness of my existing volunteer work. Am I wasting a lot of time in meetings that don’t accomplish anything? Are some of the activities really social gatherings disguised as ministry? Is what I am contributing effective and resulting in the overall growth of the ministry?

Sometimes I’ve had to step back from an existing commitment because it was no longer working or never really did to begin with. Prayerfully (and I emphasize that) stepping down from something that is wasting your time can be a great way to find time for a new opportunity that will be much more fruitful and productive.

These are just a few ways using a time-log has helped me. How do you evaluate how effectively you are spending your time when you get too busy or feel stressed?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Life Lessons, She Seeks | 3 Comments »

Life Unplugged

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Yankee Game

Last week I went on vacation. That’s right. The blog posts you read were scheduled via auto post and my silence on Twitter and Facebook was due to the fact that I was traipsing through New York City and the surrounding areas with my husband.

As we sat in the airport waiting to depart for our long awaited adventure we both tapped out emails and text messages on our Blackberries. We knew the second we boarded that plane we were going to do something we hadn’t done for a very long time—cut ourselves off from the outside world (at least via technology). Aside from a few tweets I sent to one of the Yankees when we were at the stadium and hoping to get an autograph, we both kept up our end of the deal. No emails, no text messages, no Twitter and no Facebook.

You  know what? It was the most fun either of us had in a long time. We were completely focused on each other. We had distraction free conversations and we lived 100% in the moment.

Although I was tempted to tell the world when we encountered exciting moments like meeting Denzel Washington or watching the Yankees beat the Red Sox with a walk off homerun, I refrained. For once, life was more about living the experience than telling other people about it.

While I’m glad to be back to blogging, Twitter and Facebook I enjoyed my break from my life online more than I could have imagined. And I’ve decided to rethink my approach to all of those things now that I’m home.

While those things will still have a place in my life, they no longer will dictate my life. If there’s a real live person in front of me, then the people accessible through technology will have to wait. I don’t want the people in my life to remember me as the girl who only gave them half of her attention because she always had her Blackberry in her hand.

My vacation taught me that intentional living is much more rewarding that getting more done. Quality relationships are to be valued over quantity of relationships.

With summer coming up you are going to have a lot more time to log online and connect. How do you plan to be intentional about your in person relationships? How will you live 100% in the moment instead of tying yourself to technology 24/7?  

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Life Lessons, My Life | 5 Comments »

Lord, Guard My Scars

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

cryinggirl

A few weeks ago I found myself facing a potentially awkward (and painful) social situation. I thought of excuses to get out of it. But the truth was I wanted to be there. In some ways I needed to be there.

Still, there were knots in my stomach as the minutes ticked away and the reality of walking into that room grew closer. So I did the only thing I knew how to do. I prayed. Just one simple phrase.

Lord, guard my scars.

Anyone who has lived into their teens or twenties has been around long enough to acquire her fair share of battle scars. Now, scars aren’t to be confused with wounds. Wounds are the injuries we bear that are still bleeding. Scars are areas where the Lord has brought us freedom and healing. But sometimes those places are still tender to the touch. They make us occasionally wince at an old memory.

I remember having major surgery over ten years ago. For the longest time afterwards I used my arms to create a physical barrier to protect my wound as it was healing. This barrier protected me when I was jostled in a crowd, squeezed too tight in a hug or just accidentally bumped by someone passing by.

As I prayed I envisioned the Lord creating a similar barricade around the emotional scars on my heart as I walked into a room full of people who terrified me.

I began to wonder if God would really do such a thing and suddenly Psalm 147:3 came flooding into my mind.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

In that moment I knew that the God who had taken great care to bind up my wounds would be just as faithful to guard my scars. And He was. The event I had dreaded so much was as painless as it could have been. In fact, it was actually fun.

All because I took time to pray a simple prayer. Lord, guard my scars.  

Tags: , ,
Posted in Fear, Life Lessons | 1 Comment »

Summer Bible Study Update

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

LeahA few weeks ago I polled my newsletter subscribers and those of you who read the blog and asked which of my books you would like to see me teach a summer Bible study through. The results are in and…

The winner is Leah!

Starting June 15th I will be teaching an online summer Bible study using my book Leah: Confessions of a First Runner-Up. For the next month you will be able to purchase the book for only $5 from the store at my website.

Here is how the study will work: Each week you will do the homework in the book and then you will log on and watch the video at your convenience. The videos will go live every Tuesday but if you can’t watch them until Thursday, no sweat. Just make sure you comment on the post and join the discussion. If you want a weekly reminder to check in for Bible study you can subscribe to my blog in the sidebar to the right (subscribing to the blog and subscribing to my newsletter are two different things).

Some of you may want to watch the vlog with friends and then talk about the book afterwards. I would love that! If you choose this option I would be happy to Skype with your group at some point during the study.

Now, remember, these are vlog style videos so they aren’t professional quality. I will be coming to you straight from her living room. But I do plan to offer solid messages that run for 10-15 minutes.

I look forward to jumping into God’s Word with you in just a few weeks!

Click here to order your book for a special discounted price of $5 today.

 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in summer Bible study | 7 Comments »

The Danger of Being an Expert

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

librarygirl

I teach writing. To elementary students.

While that sounds harmless it really is a scary thing. For the past four years I’ve taught writing to students of all ages ranging from 6 to 19. During that time I’ve seen students of all skill levels pass through my classroom. Some students are gifted, others are diligent and some could really care less about writing or anything pertaining to it.

I always do my best to treat each student the same, but there is one type of student that is especially difficult for me: the expert. This student comes in all shapes and sizes but there are several common denominators making him or her easy to spot within the first week of class.

He or she typically:

▪Has been told by friends and family members that his/her storytelling is exceptional

▪Has been told by someone not in the publishing industry that his/her stories should be published

▪Has never had any formal writing training

▪Doesn’t see a need for editing

▪Was enrolled in my class because he/she loves writing not because he/she wants to learn anything new about how to write

Students who are experts are hard for me because they refuse to be taught. You would think that the fact I am author of ten published books or that I have a degree in a publishing related field would give me some credibility in their eyes. But it doesn’t.

So the experts continue to tell instead of show, skip the quotation marks, write boring dialogue and use cliché endings in their stories. Every year, without fail, one of my students who began the year at the top of the class finds herself at the bottom.

Average and mediocre writers outshine the expert with their end of the year stories. Yet, the expert sits with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face believing that the shoddy piece of work she has in her portfolio will become the next great American novel.

As my students shuffle out of my classroom I shake my head silently and think to myself, Someday she’ll learn.

You see, I used to be an expert too. From the moment I could hold a pencil my teachers were dubbing me a future author. My family spent hours entertained by my stories. Every writing assignment I ever had seemed too easy for me. Thanks to some God given talent I was always a good writer. For years that was a roadblock when it came to making any progress toward becoming a great writer. (While I’ve still not arrived at the pinnacle of greatness I would like to think I’ve made progress.)

I was a twenty year old college student when I signed my first book contract. While most of my professors were starry-eyed over my accomplishment there was one man who wasn’t. During the day he worked as the sports editor at a major newspaper and at night he taught writing classes to journalism students.

During the semester he took each student’s best work and put it up on the overhead projector (with their name on it) and let the class critique it. When my turn came he chose my worst and sloppiest assignment. It was awful. I know everyone in the class must have thought Um, this is the girl with the book contract? I was so embarrassed.  

If the humiliation wasn’t enough he asked me to stay after class.

“The number one rule of being a published writer,” he said, “is to always do your best work because you never know who is going to read it.”

After I let those words sink in he offered me some parting words before I left.

“By the way,” he said casually, “if anyone else turned that paper in I would give them an A because that might be their best work. But you’re better than that.”

With that he packed up his bag and walked out of the room. He had no idea then that I would think about that moment at least once a month in the years that followed. I am incredibly grateful for that experience, as painful as it was. That lesson alone was worth the price of my college tuition because it made me a better writer.

Being an expert may make you feel important but it stunts your growth. Aim instead to be teachable. You will go much further that way.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Life Lessons, My Life | 6 Comments »

A New Way to Play “I Spy”

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

mmlRight now I’m working my way through Jennifer Rothschild’s Me, Myself and Lies Bible study while my small group is on summer break.

I had the privilege of hearing Jennifer live at She Speakslast year and I knew afterwards that I just had to do one of her Bible studies as soon as I could. She is an incredibly godly woman and in this particular study she talks about our “thought closets” and the lies we let constantly run through our minds.

In this morning’s homework I did a fun excercise I thought I would pass along to you. Jennifer got the idea for it after listening to a little girl play “I Spy” with her dad on an airplane.

Instructions: Read Phillipians 4:8 and answer the following questions:

1. I spy something true because…

2. I spy something honorable because…

3. I spy something right because…

4. I spy something pure because…

5. I spy something lovely because…

6. I spy something of good repute because…

7. I spy something excellent because…

Trust me. It’s fun and it can change your perspective fast. If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend Jennifer’s book.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Shannon Recommends | 2 Comments »

A Godly Legacy

Friday, May 7th, 2010

3 generationsedited

Recently I was visiting my mom and grandma when my grandma pulled out a few photos of her parents that had just been sent to her by one of her sisters. Obviously, the photos weren’t new as my great grandparents have been gone for decades. But the photos were still new to us.

“Look at that,” my grandma said pointing to her mother. “That’s your smile on her face.” I leaned in for a closer look. Sure enough, she was right. If you would have covered up everything but the smile you would have thought the picture was of me.

I never got to meet my great grandma, but I like the fact that I have her smile. There’s something incredibly cool about knowing you’re carrying around parts of the people who have gone before you (if they were good people, which in my case they were).

As I drove home that night I thought about having the smile of a woman I’ve never met. Then my mind wandered to the things I’ve inherited from the two women I know well—my mom Becky and her mother Billie.

My mom is the one who taught me the importance of having a daily quiet time. When I was still a toddler she would sit me down each morning with a basket of books and a children’s Bible and tell me to be quiet while she met with Jesus. A few feet away she would open her Bible, her journal and whatever devotion books she was using and she would have her quiet time while I watched and learned.

She now jokes that she would often look up from her prayer time to see me with my head bowed and hands folded—children watch and learn. I’m grateful I had someone wise and godly to learn from. The intimacy I have with Christ is a direct byproduct of my own ability to have consistent and effective quiet times. The fruit that comes from my quiet times can be attributed directly back to my mother.

My grandma tried in vain to teach me the principles of good financial stewardship for years before I was willing to learn them. She’s a shrewd saver and a generous giver at the same time. When I was in third grade she found out there was a boy in my class who couldn’t afford school supplies so she anonymously went out and bought him everything he needed. She couldn’t stand the thought of him going without. I never knew this until I was an adult.

Now, when I’m faced with tough financial choices to save when I feel like spending or to give when I’d rather buy something for myself I think of my grandma and I follow her example. Her generosity has touched more people than she will ever know—even when I’m the one writing the check.

This Mother’s Day I’m grateful that I have my great grandma’s smile. But I’m even more grateful that I have the discipline and the generosity of my mother and my grandmother. The things they’ve instilled in me are priceless treasures.

Your Turn: What are some things you’ve learned from your mom or grandma?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Life Lessons, My Life | 4 Comments »

Lessons From My First 5K

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Four Runners2

On Sunday morning I competed in the Wahoo’s 5K that was part of the OC Marathon festivities. It was my first professionally timed race (complete with a timing chip I laced onto my shoe) and my husband and both of my parents participated too.

I woke up at 5 am and was standing in position at the starting line at 7:30 sharp when they blew the horn and the crowd took off.

Over the next 3.2 miles my mind drifted to a lot of places as my feet pounded the pavement. Why did I participate in the Wahoo’s 5K? To prove to myself that I could. My competition wasn’t the other 1,300+ runners. My biggest competition was me. I wanted to complete my first real race, obtain the medal at the end and feel the rush that came from accomplishing something new.

The closer I got to the finish line the louder the crowd grew. As the cheers and chants filled my ears I allowed myself to get lost in them and I bolted in a dead sprint to the finish line. My lungs were burning; my heart was pounding—and I was having the time of my life. I—Shannon the girl with asthma—no longer had to wear the label “I can’t” just because I have an incurable disease of the lungs.

My handicap no longer defined me. Victory did. I think this is similar to what the apostle Paul meant in Philippians 3:13-14 when he said:

“…One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”    

After I finished my race on Sunday I found myself pondering what Paul had to forget. In a way he had to forget his handicaps too. One thing Paul had to forget about was his former sins—the things he had done that he wished he hadn’t.

But there’s more. Paul was a former Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). Paul had spent years of his life trying to earn a position close to God. His list of good works and knowledge of the Scriptures would have put most people to shame.

Just as Paul had to forget the bad things in his past if he wanted to press on toward godliness, he also had to forget the good things he did for the wrong reasons. His resume of good works may have impressed the religious elite in his day, but it didn’t produce godliness. It wasn’t comprised of the things that really pleased God like humility, loving God with your whole heart, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Paul finished the race of life trying to beat his best. He realized the race was about making progress toward being the best Paul he could be—not in terms of good works, but in terms of allowing God to work freely in and through his life.  

In chasing that victory he stopped letting his handicaps define him. At the end of his life he wasn’t a Pharisee anymore. Any attempt at earning his way to heaven had been abandoned and his only focus was Christ.

When I was running on Sunday I forgot about the crowd around me. I forgot about the asthma that so often plagues me. Those things got lost as I focused my attention on crossing the finish line.

As you press on toward “the prize for which God has called [you] heavenward in Christ Jesus” you’ll need to let some things fall away too. Some of those things will be former sins that make you forget you are forgiven. Other things will be flashy good works that were really meant to impress those around you and not to please God.

Eventually, as you make your way through the race of life you will hit your stride. Forgetting will become natural and the only thing you will see is the finish line and the One who calls you by name waiting to give you the applause of a lifetime.

Run hard and finish well.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Life Lessons, My Life, My Running Journey | 6 Comments »