Do you ever just feel frustrated with your day? A few weeks ago I was standing in the kitchen talking to my mom about how I was feeling that way. I didn’t have any ideas for posts for the following week and I was a bit stressed about it. Right there she stopped and asked me if I had what I needed for the current week. I did. “Well then you have manna for today.”
So here’s the thing. Manna is a weird food that the people of Israel used to gather daily as their sustenance. Every day they would gather what they needed. If they gathered too much it would rot. Key word in this example is daily. They couldn’t gather for two weeks and sit back and be done. They couldn’t even gather for two days except on the sixth day so they could have a rest day. No, this offer was only good for 24 hours before it had to be renewed. What do you need today?
So here’s some easy tips for you.
Are you feeling frustrated with all you need to do next week, tomorrow, in a month? What you need today is to focus on the tasks at hand. This will make all the difference. This doesn’t mean you don’t hustle and get things done. It does mean you can stop stressing about it. Today you just need to put one foot in front of the other.
Write out a list of everything you need to do. I know everything probably feels like a priority but order them in such a way that highest priority is at the top. What’s at the beginning of the list needs to get done first. Do that item. Take a break. Do the next thing on the list. Work your way down. Don’t put things that can be done another day on the list!
This leads me to my second tip. Work in 25-30 minute intervals with a 5 minute break. At first I thought this was a super bad idea since I feel like it’s usually at about 30 minutes in that I finally get ideas flowing and progress made. Yet since my progress was seriously lacking of late I decided that maybe I was just getting too brain dead staring at my computer hours at a time thinking I would actually get more done. (I wasn’t.) When I stick to the 30 minute method I get WAY more done. I think knowing you only have a short amount of time forces you to move past the distractions and zero in. It’s also a great motivation knowing that once you’ve put in those 25-30 minutes you can be rewarded with a little break. I know a few other people that do this and they’ve said it works for them as well.
During your breaks grab a snack, drink some water, have a mini dance party, or go the bathroom. Maybe check social media…but make sure you set your timer! The bottom line is to be intentional.
You can’t do everything today. That is okay. Start with what you have, where you are, and let today be your focus. Worrying about future days only robs from today.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34
What do you need to do today? Let me know what’s the highest priority for you today in the comments below.
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