The first quarter of the year is almost coming to an end. In these past four months, I have found myself busier than ever and my rhythms up in the air. I  recently got engaged and spent months in a whirlwind of wedding planning. At the same time, I was in the process of completing on a house, a real run down fixer upper. At my church, we are looking to move into a new building, and the entire project is taxing on all staff members, not just myself, yet rewarding at the same time; and as if that was not enough to be getting on with I am currently writing my leadership masters dissertation of 18,000 words!

Each one of these is not particularly difficult; it is more the fact they are all happening at the same time. What I have discovered is that when we are under pressure with significant life changes, our daily rhythms get thrown out of sync.

There is magnificent power in having routines in your life. Routine times for work, times for rest, times for play, times for family and times for friends.

In the chaos, I have found that often the first thing to be sacrificed is time with friends and family. Perhaps it is because they love you and support you and maybe are more understanding when you’re under strain.  However, there is a limit on how long you can be out of rhythm. The consequences are severe, even if we don’t grasp how severe.

The reason why we should set time apart for crucial areas of our life is that it is of great benefit to others, but also to ourselves.

It will do you good!

You may be thinking ‘this deadline matters’ and ‘stuff has got to be done’.

Absolutely.

But…

I promise you ten years from now you won’t be sat thinking about lost opportunities to do more work. You will be thinking about relationships into which you should have put time. Or, you will be thinking about people you let down. You will be thinking about estranged friendships that fell by the wayside.

Opportunities come and go for all of us. Chance happens to every one of us and will again. You will be far more fulfilled and happier if you surround yourself with an abundance of people that are for you and you for them. If our inner world is out of rhythm, it will hurt everything else.

It always does.

Get your personal rhythm right, and all the other pressures lift somewhat. They don’t go away, but you may find that the edge is removed from the stress. I’m still in the middle of intense deadlines, but devoting every waking hour to meeting them is not necessarily the way. We can be more productive when we are happy and rested than when we are stressed and tested.

HOW DO WE GET INTO RHYTHM?

APPLICATION

Take a moment and write down this question ‘what three things matter to me most’. When you answer it, get a diary, iCal reminder, or whatever you use to track your week, and carve out regular devoted time to investing into what matters most. Do intentionally and don’t wait for it to ‘just happen’. Live on purpose.