How to Honor Time
If time were money, would you spend it differently?
Time is an asset that should is valuable. No matter who you are or what you do, everyone gets 24 hours in a day. We have all experienced the frustration of having our time wasted. One way to distinguish yourself in the marketplace is to be someone that honors time (your own and others).
“Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days.” – Ephesians 5:16 (PHILLIPS)
Time + Purpose = Honor
When you combine time and purpose, the result is Honor. I have found that I am more effective at work when I am prepared. An overbooked schedule or an ill-prepared meeting do not set me (or anyone else up) for success. Meetings are a great place to show honor to your team or an individual.
You can so easily communicate value to someone by:
- Starting & ending on time.
- Following an agenda.
- Following up in a timely manner on any action items.
Case Study
There are many ways that we can honor people’s time in our workdays. In my business we work with a lot of sub-contractors, vendors and consultants. It can be easy to overlook the fact that these people are helping us, and we would not be successful without their help. We can honor their time by being prompt in responding to questions and calls. If we do not make them wait, they will be able to fulfil their contract efficiently and on time.
The opposite of this is to become a bottleneck and it tells people they are not valuable – a classic case of dishonor.
In some situations, we will write letters of recommendation for vendors and subcontractors for those that do an excellent job. This is another way we honor them and show we appreciate them by helping them get future work through referrals. This has worked in both directions; we have received job recommendations for the way that we show honor to them.
Honor creates space for God to move in our businesses.
Honor Your Time - Rest
One final thought on how we can honor our time is to create space to rest. Our culture has developed a mindset that we rest from work. This is problematic because there will always be more work to do. If you only rest when everything is done, you will never give yourself permission to take a break. The Bible shows us that we should rest to work. In the Genesis account – man was created on the 6th day and the 7th day was a day of rest. Man’s first full day was a day of rest.
Rest is not a reward at the end, it is the fuel at the beginning.
Challenge
If time is like money, my challenge to you is to look at the budget this week. Where are you over investing? Where do you need to make a deposit? What simple changes can you make at work to honor other people’s time?
