When I was in college my professor for preaching (which is what I got my degree in, thus I had him for a number of classes) was the famous preacher Stephen F. Olford.  This morning I came across something of his that I thought might be helpful for all of us in planning out our weeks.

Basically he breaks it into 4 categories.  Assignments, Appointments, Adjustments and Assessments.  Now he did this in light of being a pastor but I think these apply to just about anything.  In fact I’ll change things just a bit to make it more family and business oriented.

You start by looking at every APPOINTMENT (whether it be a meeting or task) you potentiallly have for the week up-coming.  The question then becomes do I need really need to accomplish this this week or can it wait.  If it need to do be done then determine can I ASSIGN it to someone else or do I need to make it one of my APPOINTMENTS.

Now that the week is laid out (he suggested in 15 minute blocks at a time) you proceed with your week.  ADJUSTMENTS of course are major disruptions to your plans.  The key is to deal with it and then as quickly as possible get back into your schedule (side-note from me:  keep in mind that people are always more important than tasks so use caution that you don’t get so locked into the schedule that you jeopardize your relationships). 

The final step then is at the end of the week make ASSESSMENTS of how you did.  What did I set out this week to do?  What did I actually accomplish?  Where did I mess up?  How can that be fixed in the future? 

This would be a good time to pray and ask God to forgive you of your short-comings and to lead you as you begin the process all over again.  Hope this has been helpful. 

I’ll leave you with a scripture…

Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count.  -Ephesians 5:15-16