Leaders hear a lot about time management. Just about every leadership book, magazine, podcast or blog has something to say about it. The general advice seems to be that the leader must develop ways of proper time management or else they will struggle to succeed.

While time management is necessary for leaders to keep them from getting burned out or constantly living under the stress of not having enough time to get everything done, I want to suggest that more important is to understand the value of time.

Leaders struggle with time management because they lack a clear understanding of the value of time.

I believe Moses came to understand the value of time. This leader of the children of Israel spent his first 40 years in pharaoh’s household, the next 40 years waiting on God in the wilderness and his final 40 years leading the people of God.

The Bible tells us in Deut. 34:7 “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.” I imagine it took some good time management skills from Moses to come to the end of his life and be in such good health.

But Moses’ view of time is more telling than how he managed his time. In Ps 90:12, he wrote, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Moses was saying to God: teach us to be aware of the shortness of life so we will gain wisdom to manage our time wisely.

Moses essentially said, “Unless we are gripped by life’s brevity and place proper value on the time we have, no matter how long or short it is, we will never gain a wise heart.” (NIV Leadership Bible).

In Ps. 90:10 Moses reminds us how quickly the years of our lives pass. For many leaders today they are looking back wondering where the years have gone and what do they have to show for it. They are worn and tired from all the hard work they have put in over the years.

“We can employ the skills and principles of time management, buy a time management tool or app, invest in a planning system—all are of little benefit until we understand the value of time. Granted, we may do a better job of scheduling our time, but that doesn’t mean we’re doing a better job of spending that time. Knowing the difference defines wisdom.” (NIV Leadership Bible)

Unless we understand the value of time and realize the brevity of life, we will lack the wisdom for good time management.

What’s driving your time management?

Here are few questions that should help you consider the wisdom of how you manage you time.

What really matters to you in this life and how is your time management intentionally making room for those things that really matters?

What are you trying to achieve with the time God has given you as a leader and how is your time management intentionally helping you to achieve it?

If you would like help in achieving your goals in any area of your life, call us at 208-880-0307 or email us at errol@errolcarrim.com to schedule a complimentary coaching session. To read Errol’s other posts, visit Christ-Centered Life Coaching.

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