Make Each Day Count

By: D. A. Slinkard

It is amazing how our lives can change in the blink of an eye, or in some instances, a single beat of our heart. We are just one heartbeat away from death, whether we realize it or not. It saddens me when I open up the obituaries and see how many young people are dying all the time; I wonder if these people had a clue it would be their last day on this earth. Unfortunately, we are all facing a death sentence; the question becomes “What are we doing with the time we have?”

Life is too short to get caught up on its mundane things; yet, if we are not careful, Father Time will pass us by, and we will be left saying, “What could have been?” I am constantly on the hunt for new ways, ideas, and techniques to better enhance my time. I think about my two daughters and how quickly they are growing up before my eyes. It is hard to believe I have a senior in high school this year who will quickly be graduating in May and then heading off to my alma mater, the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

I find myself wondering what kind of example I am setting. Am I the best role model I can be? Am I setting the godly example of how a husband should be to his wife? These are all questions and thoughts that I think about. I referenced the new ideas and techniques in the paragraph above; I think you might be able to call it a “life hack.” I am all about trying new life hacks to be able to squeeze more time in my day than what I should be able to have. The new technique that I have been playing around with is assigning a task for every hour of my day.

We are all busy doing something — whether it is at work, spending time on our hobby, hanging out with the family — we are all doing something every day. Yet, we have all these time wasters that grab a hold of us and before we know it, we have wasted three or four hours doing absolutely nothing. Hello! Can you say Facebook, Instagram, Twitter? I finally decided I wanted to maximize my days, and when I looked at my calendar, I had too much white space going on.

I am all about goal setting and strategic planning, but sometimes we need to be a little more aggressive when it comes to the way we attack our daily routine. I have written before that we must write down our goals if we want to achieve them; and I still believe this. However, my way of thinking has changed – we must take each day one step at a time. This means that we plan out our days. Instead of just saying, “Tomorrow, I need to pick up dry cleaning, mow the yard, etc.,” we need to plan out every single minute of the day. We need to clear up that white space so we can squeeze every second of our day for what it is worth.

When we start maximizing our time to the fullest, when we start planning the work, we will then be able to work the plan. We must be intentional though. We must write down what our goals are and what we want to achieve, but then we must work these steps into our daily routine. As we progress through the day, we should be able to see what tasks we get stuck on, and we can use this as a potential way to overcome these roadblocks. We all have 24 hours in a day. We all have 1,440 minutes. But the question is, are we using our time wisely?

The better we use our time, the more we get done; if we fail to use our time wisely, we find ourselves wondering what could have been. Life is all about choices we make daily, and we must look at the day as if it could be our last one here on this earth. The truth is that it just might be. What are you going to do with your time? I ask this question because too many times, we do not even think about this at all. We stop briefly, and then we are busy going to the next thing. If you feel like life is passing you by, this is your chance to slow down and make each day count.

By: D. A. Slinkard

D.A. Slinkard would love your feedback. You can contact him at da.slinkard@gmail.com