Picking Your Priorities When Everything Matters

Well, hello, listeners, welcome back to the show. This is the Faithful on the Clock podcast, designed to get your faith and work aligned. I’m your host Wanda Thibodeaux, and the episode today is all about prioritization. We’re gonna be laying out some strategies for narrowing down exactly what to put your time and resources into when it seems impossible to pick. So if you’re stressing about how to get it all done, I’ve got your back.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the number of things people have to do today, the expectations and what can all be done, on the line, it’s pretty ridiculous. And I think it’s been like that for a while. But I know, at least for me, through the pandemic, what happened was, I had not only the usual things that I was responsible for, but all these other jobs became my responsibility, too. And that’s kind of what I heard from a lot of professionals, especially you know, if you’ve got kids and all that, too, you’re trying to figure out school and daycare and all that mess. And at least in my case, and I think it’s probably true for a lot of people out there, I didn’t have a roadmap for how to to put all that extra on my plate well. And you know, of course, you try, but it kind of looks like Frankenstein’s monster with a screw loose sometimes. It’s really messy, and it can get really overwhelming really fast.

Now, as professionals, the common advice you hear all the time is that, if you want to avoid burnout, you choose just a handful of priorities to tackle, preferably no more than three. That doesn’t mean you can’t pursue more, you know, you can delegate things to a certain degree. But if you’ve already delegated everything you can, you still can have a bunch of critical things in front of you. And that’s where, it’s not just a matter of being too ambitious or not having focus or discipline. So when everything really is important, how do you draw a line and cut some stuff off your list?

So the first thing I’d say is, look for the item of highest impact. Paying bills is a good example here. And within that, you know, arguably, your car or transportation payment is most important, because if you can’t get to work, you can’t get the money to pay for anything else you need or cover any other bills. Sleep’s another great example, because rest influences virtually every type of wellbeing, as well as your productivity and creativity.

Secondly, identify the area you can’t stop thinking about. You might have other people telling you to do this or that, but if you can’t stop thinking about something, that’s a big sign that subconsciously, you really are putting more value on that area than other things. And it’s a good indicator that, if you tackle that problem or area, you’ll get some peace of mind.

Third, check your values. Because when things get really tough, the only thing you’ve really got to fall back on is the integrity God gives you. And when you make sure you’re doing only those things that really align with your core beliefs, you’ll stay out of the weeds when it comes to your vision. You’ll be able to look back and judge your behavior under a really consistent and stable list of moral criteria, and that’s super important for making sure you don’t have regrets about where you put your time or other resources.

The fourth thing is, consider the people around you. Generally speaking, the more people are involved, the higher an issue should be on your priority list. But there are other factors here to think about that make it a little tricky. For example, did you already make a promise to somebody that, you know, you’d have to break? Or maybe you’ve got a shot to deal with a mentor with some rare experience, and that would change your entire outlook. So that can be a dynamic, there, too.

The final tip is, get some feedback. At the end of the day, you have to make the call about what to do or not do. But we’ve all got our own history and biases. And sometimes that can stop you from seeing situations or the strengths and weaknesses you’ve got, or sometimes we just lack the experience to really have a wiser perspective. So find out what other people, see what they think or would do. I’m not saying you have to just take what they say at face value, you know, even experts can be wrong sometimes. I totally am. All the time. But really think about why they might be suggesting what they’re suggesting, and if you’re going to go against the grain, then just make sure you’ve thought it through and have a clear rationale for it.

So with all of this laid out, we can try to put those under the umbrella of the Christian faith. And the first thing here is, it’s very clear that there is nothing more important than God. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” And then Matthew 6:24, it’s focused on money, but you can apply it broadly, as well, and it says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” I also really find Psalm 127:1-2 interesting, given the always-on culture that we have right now--that reads, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved sleep.” So whatever is going to serve God, whatever He’s calling you to do, that has to trump everything else. And that’s critical because this world is so good at telling you where to look or how to behave, and you’ll get people who aren’t going to understand why you walk away from what they see as being must-do things, or maybe they even give you ultimatums about it and say, hey, if you don’t do this, you’re fired. But you have to have the confidence that when you prioritize God and what He’s asking of you, He’s going to make everything else line up. That really is the promise Matthew 6:33 has.

Then related to this, I also want to point out the story of Lazarus in John 11. Now in that story, Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that Lazarus is sick. They try to get Jesus to come and help. But Jesus just hangs back. And He stays where He was for another two days, and He basically lets Lazarus die. That’s just the reality of the story. And Mary and Martha, they both said to Jesus, “If you’d just been here, he wouldn’t have died.” And they didn’t really understand why Jesus had waited. They probably really wondered just how much He cared. And in the end, Jesus performs a miracle and brings Lazarus back from the dead. But He didn’t do that just because, you know, your friends and family, you take care of them. He did it because He had a bigger plan. You can see that in verse 4, which says, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Did it give some relief and comfort for everybody to have Lazarus well again? Of course it did. Sure. But Jesus performed the miracle because He knew it would put God first. His priority wasn’t the same as the priority those around Him had. And He worked completely on His own timing.

So looking at that story, you know, when you prioritize, it doesn’t mean you don’t eventually handle things others want you to do. But Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, there is a season for everything, and a time to every purpose. So you don’t have to do everything right now in this instant. It is OK to say, yes, it’s important, but I’m going to postpone it because if I do, then the end result of everything is going to be bigger and better. But you have to be willing to zoom out and see how it all connects, and you have to use your head about it. You have to use that cognition about what you’re doing like Jesus did with Lazarus so that you can say, hey, I’m not worried. I’m not going to be anxious. And Jesus was really upfront with the disciples about what He was going to do and why. So you need to communicate just as well and not leave people in the dark. Let them see the priorities completely so they really understand who you are and what you’re working for.

So that is my advice to you. And so let’s go ahead and pray together.

God, especially right now, it’s crazy. You know it is. We’ve got everybody telling us we have to do a million things. So just help us slow down. Help us think through what we tackle and what we postpone or cancel, so that we understand the big picture and keep you at the center of it all. All that anxiety we have, all that pressure, just take that and reassure us that we can always trust you to get us through, and that you’ll give us the wisdom to make even the hardest choices. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

[9:49]

That is a wrap for today. I know it was a long one. So next week, it’s all about the arrival fallacy, this idea that if you just reach your goal, everything’s going to be peachy and you’ll feel awesome. I’m going to talk about how that ties into both setting better goals and keeping your entire team motivated over the long haul. In the meantime, I’m going to be throwing up some resources on Twitter, doing a few polls with you, so follow that account--it’s @FaithfulOTC, tell somebody you know about the podcast, and until next time, be blessed.